Michelle Yeoh has bagged the Best Actress nomination at this year’s Academy Awards for Everything Everywhere All At Once. While it’s unknown if she will win or not, she has at least secured a win elsewhere. The actress has won the 2023 Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) award for the category of female actor in a leading role. In her acceptance speech, the actor did something unexpected and dropped an f-bomb that stunned everybody.
Michelle Yeoh Wins SAG Award For Leading Actress
Michelle Yeoh made history after winning the SAG Award in the leading actress category. She beat out behemoths and favorites like Viola Davis (The Woman King), Cate Blanchett (Tár), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), and Ana de Armas (Blonde). In her acceptance speech, the 60-year-old actress thanked SAG-AFTRA and acknowledged that she was among the heavyweights of the acting world. Yeoh said:
“SAG-AFTRA, to get this from you, who understands what it is to get here, everyone of you know the journey, the roller-coaster ride, the ups and downs. But importantly, we never give up. I thank you for your love, for your support because I know I’m up against titans, rightly so.”
She took a moment to collect herself, said “S*it,” and then dropped the f-bomb that made everyone go crazy and applaud. The underappreciated Hollywood veteran continued her speech and said that the win was for every girl who looked like her. Yeoh said:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is not just for me. This is for every little girl that looks like me. Sally Field, you said all the right things. We’re here because we love what we do and we’ll never stop doing this because we really, really love it. But thank you for giving me a seat at the table because so many of us need this. Tonight you have shown us that it is possible and my mom will be eternally grateful to you.”
Yeoh’s win doesn’t come as a surprise because Everything Everywhere All At Once is the favorite this awards season.
Michelle Yeoh Is Happy With Her Career
During an interview with People magazine, the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress said that the role of Evelyn Wang was challenging because it was unlike anything else she has played. She explained:
“What I really enjoyed doing [in Everything Everywhere All at Once] was the physical comedy, which I’ve not really done before. You’ve seen me in martial arts films — I’m always serene. I know exactly what I’m doing. I am the teacher, the mentor. And suddenly in this one, [my character] Evelyn Wang, she knows nothing. She’s a very ordinary, aging housewife who’s got so many troubles in her head. It was really fun.”
The star also added that she is excited about her career and what the future brings for Asian actors. She said:
“What [is special about] this moment in my career is having so many people who look like me, especially the younger generation [of Asian actors], come up to me and say, ‘Finally, I can see myself doing all these kinds of things because you are doing it.”
Yeoh is up against Cate Blanchett for Tár, Andrea Riseborough for To Leslie, Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans, and Ana de Armas for Blonde at the Oscars for the Best Actress award. It remains to be seen if she can bag the biggest award of the year.
The 95th Academy Awards will air on 13 March 2023.
Source: SAG Awards
