TAN SRI Michelle Yeoh has won the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical. Yeoh took home the award for her starring role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“Whew! Okay, I’m just gonna stand here and take this all in," she quipped on stage. "40 years, not letting go of this. So just quickly, thank you Hollywood Foreign Press for giving me this honour. It’s been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today but I think it’s worth it."
The accolade marks the second time an Asian actor has won in the category, with the first being Awkwafina in 2020 for The Farewell.
In a previous review of the film, this author praised Michelle Yeoh’s “glorious standout performance” which masterfully exhibited her “comic timing and cements her ability as a highly kinesthetic actor.”
Yeoh beat out four other actresses in the category – Lesley Manville for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Margot Robbie for Babylon, Anya Taylor-Joy for The Menu, and Emma Thompson for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
In her speech, she reflected on the long journey it took to get to this point.
Despite becoming a household name after the release of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Yeoh has rarely made top-billing – her previous major role was as Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson’s The Lady released in 2011.
She has often been relegated to supporting roles and cameo appearances, most notably in Crazy Rich Asians, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Shang Chi. "It's been an amazing journey and an incredible fight to be here today, but I think it's been worth it," she said.
"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 was like, 'No that's not possible.'"
"Then someone said to me, 'You speak English?'" she recalled. "I told them, 'The flight here was about 13 hours long, so I learned.'"
"As time went by – 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.
“Then along came the best gift, Everything, Everywhere All at Once."
She closed her speech by thanking her castmates, especially fellow winner Ke Huy Quan (Best Actor in a Supporting Role), Jamie Lee Curtis, and Stephanie Hsu.
“This is for all the shoulders that I stand on and all the people coming with me on this journey going forward.”
In the press room after receiving the award, a journalist asked Yeoh what advice does she have specifically for the Asian diaspora.
She responded, “I’ve been in the business for 40 years, and finally I get to be number one on the call sheet. If you believe in yourself, if you believe and have passion in what you do, you don’t give up.”
She said that through the years she has been working, the industry is changing for the better, adding that issues of representation and diversity are no longer “lip service”. – The Vibes, January 11, 2023
"I'm just gonna stand here and take this all in. 40 years. Not letting go of this."
— Variety (@Variety) January 11, 2023
Michelle Yeoh accepts her #GoldenGlobe. https://t.co/IpBnF0ZqEp pic.twitter.com/EbQZk624xD
