Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
Actress Michelle Yeoh has had an impressive run over the course of her career. In recent years she’s elevated high-grossing movies such as Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings with her graceful performances. However, as the protagonist of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Yeoh furthered her presence as a powerful and versatile artist. Her work on this movie led her to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 2023 ceremony. True to the domineering and dignified nature of her characters, Yeoh told the pianist to “shut up” when they tried to cut her speech short.
Yeoh stated how it’s been an “amazing journey and incredible fight” to be there, and how it’s been worth it, before addressing the race barriers that shaped the beginning of her career. “I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here. Because look at this face. I came here and was told, ‘You’re a minority’ and I’m like, ‘No, that’s not possible.’ And then someone said to me, ‘You … speak … English,’” the actress recalled. “I mean, forget about them not knowing Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Asia, India. And then I said, ’Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long. So I learned.”
She also went to explain how she has had to face yet another barrier. “I turned 60 last year, and I think all of you women understand this: As the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well. And I probably was at a time where I thought, ‘Well, hey, come on, girl, you had a really, really good run. You worked with some of the best people,’” she continued,, “It’s all good. Then along came the best gift: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’”
Yeoh was almost interrupted by the exit music, signaling she had to wrap up her speech. Instead, she turned her face and said, “Shut up, please,” and laughed, before adding “I can beat you up, okay?” she joked. “And that’s serious.” Anyone who has seen her martial arts chops in films spanning her career knows this very well.
The actress then thanked the movie’s directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who “had the the courage to write about a very ordinary immigrant aging woman, mother, daughter who was being audited by the IRS,” as well as her co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu.
“I was given this gift of playing this woman who resonated so deeply with me and with so many people, because at the end of the day in whatever universe she was at, she was just fighting, fighting for love for her family,” she said, before thanking all those who came before her and the ones on the journey with her. “Thank you for believing in us.”
Michelle Yeoh won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. As she was giving a powerful speech about race and aging, she told the pianist to shut up and continued.
Michelle Yeoh: Instagram
h/t: [Variety]
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