Following her historic win for Best Actress at the 95th Academy Awards for her outstanding performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh returned to the press room for interview questions backstage. During this time, she emphasized the moment’s significance for herself and others within the Asian community (Deadline).
In speaking about the need for diversity within Hollywood, she stated:
This is actually an historical moment so I really have to thank the Academy for acknowledging and embracing diversity and true representation… This is something we have been working so hard towards, for a very long time…I’m still here today. Finally after 40 years I get this… It just goes to show we will win. That’s what we’re doing. Don’t give up, because once you give up that’s a loss. Don’t let anybody put you in a box, don’t let anybody say you are past your prime.
Yeoh’s speech becomes even more impactful when one acknowledges that she is only the second woman of color to win this award – the first being Halle Berry back in 2002, which was 21 years ago. Using the second person makes it apparent that Yeoh champions the efforts of the team behind her, her supporters, and the larger community of people who have been typecasted and let down by the system.
She continues this theme with, “We need this because there are so many who have felt unseen and unheard, not just in the Asian community—this is for the Asian community—but for anybody who’s identified as a minority. We deserve, to be heard, we deserve to be seen, we deserve to have opportunities so we can have a seat at the table. That’s all we are asking for. Give us that opportunity. Let us prove we are worth it.”
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