Michelle Yeoh becomes first Asian to win best actress Oscar – SUCH TV

Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh is, for want of a better phrase, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

The 60-year-old, female, Asian actor has been making headlines for playing Evelyn Wang in the same-titled hit film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known as “the Daniels”), for which she became the first Asian winner of a SAG award and second Asian winner of a Golden Globe for best actress.

Now, she is also the first Asian to receive an Oscar for best actress in a lead role.

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof to dream big and dreams do come true,” said Yeoh as she accepted her award.

She was already noted as the first “Asian-identifying Oscar nominee,” a distinction made because she was preceded by “The Dark Angel” lead Merle Oberon, who was nominated in 1935 without winning — and reportedly hid her South Asian heritage.

Long famous in the Hong Kong film industry, Yeoh was known for performing her own stuntsImage.

Yeoh’s winning streak has made her a role model to people of color, Asians and women, especially those of a “certain age” — an aspect to which she also alluded to in her Oscars speech: “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re ever past your prime.”