Actress Michelle Yeah wins Golden Globe for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once
This year, a little movie called Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the Golden Globe nominations and garnered two of its biggest awards. Michelle Yeoh, who plays the main character of Evelyn, received the trophy for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy. Her speech was profound, and she asserted herself in a big way. Besides thanking her costars and directors, she talked about coming to Hollywood as a minority. “Someone said, ‘You speak English?” and I replied, ‘Well, the flight was about 13 hours long, so I learned on the way,” Yeoh said, laughing.
As Yeoh continued speaking, the pianist started playing the exit music around her two-minute mark, interrupting her speech. Yeoh playfully silenced him, remarking, “Shut up, please. I can beat you up, okay? I’m serious.” For many Asian women, it’s a universal experience to try and make themselves small for others. Yeoh, however, insisted on taking up space, continuing to speak about the Asian-American experience. She also affirmed Jamie Lee Curtis (good-naturedly referring to her as “my hot dog lover”), Stephanie Hsu, her on screen daughter, and Ke Huy Quan, her on screen husband (who won for Best Supporting Actor). “This is also for all the shoulders that I stand on, all who came before me, who look like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward,” Yeoh closed her speech with. “So thank you for believing in us, thank you so much.”
Yeoh’s triumph at the Golden Globes was not the end of her achievements with Everything Everywhere All At Once. On January 24, 2023, Yeoh made history as the first Asian to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. “I am overwhelmed and overjoyed with happiness!…It is truly the role of a lifetime,” she captioned her Instagram announcement post. The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 12, 2023.
Naomi Ko ’24 is a Vol. 71 Managing Editor
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