Michelle Yeoh becomes first Asian woman to win ‘Best Actress’ film award at SAGs
Michelle Yeoh, star of Everything Everywhere All at Once, has become the first Asian woman to win a leading film acting award, taking home the ‘Best Actress’ film prize at the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Accepting the award, Yeoh tried to steady herself. “I think if I speak my heart will explode,” she began. “SAG- AFTRA, to get this from you who understand what it is to get here… everyone of you know the journey, the roller coaster ride, the ups and downs. But most importantly we never give up. I thank you… This is not just for me, this is for every little girl who looks like me.”
Turning away from the audience, the actor took a moment to breathe but couldn’t stop herself from releasing a stream of excited expletives, yelling “fuck” and “shit” to an equally elated crowd. “Thank you for giving me seat at the table and tonight you’ve shown us that it is possible,” she said. “I’m grateful and my mom will be eternally grateful to all of you.”
Remarkably, Yeoh is only the second Asian woman nominated for the ‘Best Actress’ category after Ziyi Zhang for 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha. She is only one of two Asian female actors to win a film acting prize. The other was Yuh Jung Youn, who took home the ‘Supporting Actress’ prize for 2020’s Minari.
Yeoh was nominated alongside her Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Ke Huy Quan, who became the first Asian male to win an individual film acting award. Stephanie Hsu also received a ‘Best Supporting Actress’ nod alongside The Whale’s Hong Chau, marking the first time in SAG history two Asian actors have been nominated in the same category.
This year’s SAG Best Actress category was the most ethnically diverse lineup in the award’s 29-year history. For the first time, women of colour were in the majority, with Ana de Armas, Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler all included in the nominees. De Armas and Yeoh have also been nominated for Oscars, where they’ll be up against Tar’s Cate Blanchett and The Fabelman’s Michelle Williams.
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