Michelle Yeoh

Baz Luhrmann, cinema's reigning maximalist, films constantly during preproduction. “In Elvis, half the screen tests are in the movie,” he says.

Yeoh is in a tight battle with Cate Blanchett for Best Actress.

See our [latest prediction champs](https://www.goldderby.com/best-prediction-scores/awards/league-data/). [the 2023 Oscar winners through March 12](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) [Make your predictions](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) at Gold Derby now. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our [famous forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forums/) where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. [hid](https://people.com/movies/merle-oberon-first-asian-best-actress-oscar-nominee-who-hid-her-heritage-from-hollywood/) her ancestry.) Speaking to PEOPLE, Yeoh said the recognition she has received this year has been overwhelming. The “ [Everything Everywhere All At Once](https://www.goldderby.com/t/everything-everywhere-all-at-once/)” star made a couple of high-profile media appearances this week, first appearing on the cover of PEOPLE magazine and then also as a guest on “The Late Show With [Stephen Colbert](https://www.goldderby.com/t/stephen-colbert/).” Download our free and easy app for [Apple/iPhone devices](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460576753) or [Android (Google Play)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pmc.goldDerby) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. “So I would love to see [the lack of award recognition for Asian actors] be a thing of the past, where this is a norm that you see faces like ours up there being nominated and being given equal opportunity to play those roles.” Both performers won at the Golden Globes, albeit in different categories – Blanchett in Best Drama Actress, Yeoh in Best Comedy/Musical Actress. (Merle Oberon, who was a nominee in 1936 for “The Dark Angel,” was of South Asian descent but How can it be me?’ Because I’ve worked with so many amazing actresses who should have had this privilege, and so I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to sit at the table and to be seen.” Yeoh said in those days she was often offered roles that adhered to offensive cliches about people of Asian descent. “They would talk very loudly and very slow.”

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" star Michelle Yeoh discusses the Oscars, her Golden Globe win, and AAPI representation.

Yeoh has become [the first Asian woman(Opens in a new tab)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/01/25/michelle-yeoh-merle-oberon-best-actress-oscar/) to be [nominated for the Academy Award for best actress](https://mashable.com/article/oscar-nominations-2023-full-list), telling host Stephen Colbert that while she fluctuates from shock and joy, she also reflects on the milestone. [less than 4 percent(Opens in a new tab)](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/asians-and-pacific-islanders-in-hollywood-films-1234954926/) of leads and co-leads across Hollywood. Yeoh goes on to say it's time such nominations to become "the norm, where you see faces like ours up there being being nominated and being given equal opportunity to play those roles, so that we can have a seat at the table."

In a new interview with "People," Oscar frontrunner Michelle Yeoh opened up about taking a Hollywood hiatus after playing a Bond Girl in 1997.

She also noted that as actors age, "the roles get smaller" and "you start getting relegated to the side more and more." The film was a box office hit in the U.S. She also explained why she took on the role, despite the franchise's rocky history with race, [particularly Orientalism](https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=wwu_honors). After competing in Miss World and getting her start in the Hong Kong action films of the '80s, Yeoh eventually made the jump to Hollywood, appearing in the 1997 [James Bond movie](https://bestlifeonline.com/worst-james-bond-movies-news/) Tomorrow Never Dies. "I think every film should have the right to speak for itself on its own merit," Yeoh said. In 1999, she returned to Hong Kong cinema to star in the romance Midnight Express. In the years after Tomorrow Never Dies, Yeoh received several movie offers. [Bond had to evolve](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/michelle-yeoh-interview-everything-everywhere-b2077621.html) because the fan base was also evolving. "First you must fall before you learn to fly," she said. Speaking to People recently, the star noted that her character thankfully didn't fit the mold of earlier Bond women. [Oscar nomination](https://bestlifeonline.com/oscar-nominated-movies-streaming-news/) this year for her role in the trippy family drama, Everything Everywhere All at Once, she's also considered a frontrunner after winning the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Golden Globe, and various other honors. Yeoh's first acting role was a commercial with Jackie Chan, and her career took off from there.

I'm still rooting for Michelle Yeoh to take the Oscar on the 12th. I saw Tár. Cate Blanchett did a good job, but I want it to go to Michelle.

Of course, they don’t actually want her to be anything other than the exisiting mold they’ve cast for women once she shows up for the part, but they want to be able to say they have this bad@$$ woman on board. A woman breaks the mold in a film and studios flood her inbox. Yeoh left Malaysia at 15 to study ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. “When I started off in 1984, women were relegated to being the damsel in distress,” she says. It’s only taken 40 years for people to wake up to Michelle but at least we got here, and in no small part to Michelle not allowing herself to be put in the corner. When she embarked on her film career in the 80s, she was cast as the “damsel in distress” which were, she said, the roles reserved for women.