As Everything Everywhere All At Once dominated the Oscars, Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win best actress.
Seven awards, including the best picture, director, and original screenplay, were given to the imaginative multiverse adventure.
Michelle Yeoh said as she received the award: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.
“And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you that you are ever past your prime.”
Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis, Yeoh’s co-stars, won the awards for supporting actor and actress, respectively.
No other movie in Oscar history has ever taken home the best picture, best director, and three acting awards.
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Michelle Yeoh portrays a Chinese-American laundrette owner in Everything Everywhere All at Once who is entangled in a tax audit, bound to a failing marriage, and finding it difficult to connect with her daughter Joy.
But she must use the abilities of the various selves she has found in the multiverse in order to save the world.
“This is proof that dreams do come true,” Yeoh said in her speech. “I have to dedicate this to all the moms in the world because they are the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight.”
In this year’s Oscar race, the 60-year-old experienced a late surge in popularity, eventually passing the early front-runner Cate Blanchett.
Yeoh, who won for Monster’s Ball more than 20 years ago, is just the second person of color to be named best leading actress. The first was Halle Berry.
Best supporting actress winners over the past ten years have included Ariana DeBose, Yuh-jung Youn, Regina King, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o, and Octavia Spencer. Best leading actress winners have historically been much less diverse.
