Michelle Yeoh makes history as the first Asian woman to be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards
Michelle Yeoh just made history when the first Asian woman was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars on Tuesday morning.
The news comes just weeks after the 60-year-old Last Christmas actress became the first Malaysian to win a Golden Globe.
“I think to me it means all these Asians out there are like, ‘See, it’s possible. If she can do it, so can I.’ That’s the most important thing,” she told Deadline after the news.
Congratulations: Michelle Yeoh just made history as the first Asian nominee for Best Actress at the Academy Awards on Tuesday morning (to be seen earlier this month)
She continued, “I’m very ordinary. I just work really hard. There are so many brilliant actresses, actors out there who know they have a seat at the table.”
The Shang Chi star went on to encourage others to “find an opportunity and get there.”
Last month, Yeoh said the win was for the “entire Asian community.”
Role of a lifetime: Yeoh starred above as Evelyn Quan Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Proud: When asked last month about the prospect of making history as the first Asian actress to win Best Actress, she explained what that would represent (seen after winning her first Golden Globe earlier this month).
Yeoh continued to reflect on her peers, many of them white actresses, who are constantly recognized for their talents.
“I look at all my peers — Cate Blanchett, Olivia Colman, Helen Mirren — and I’m like, oh god, I envy you all the different opportunities you get to show your talent over and over again,” Yeoh said.
“When you get an opportunity like this, you have to put your heart and soul into it because you don’t know when the next opportunity is. I think that’s my biggest fear: Please don’t let that be the only thing,” Yeoh admitted.
“It’s not about needing it. It’s that feeling that doesn’t need to be explained: it’s love from other people. My arms are open,’ she said; seen in October 2022
When asked about the prospect of making history at the Oscars, she explained what that would mean.
“It’s not about needing it. It’s that feeling that doesn’t need to be explained: it’s love from other people. My arms are open,’ she said.
Yeoh remains quite busy filming Avatar 3, the new TV series The Witcher: Blood Origin and Transformers: Rise of the Beast.
Her previous work includes a variety of films such as martial arts action projects (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), James Bond thrillers (Tomorrow Never Dies) and superhero films (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2).