Oscar 2023: who is Michelle Yeoh, the dancer and martial arts expert who won the award for a role intended for Jackie Chan

“And the Oscar goes to…”, there was a short pause and after a few seconds of tension her name was heard: “…Michelle Yeoh”.

A moment that will forever remain in the history of the Oscars by the first woman of Asian descent to win the Best Actress statuette.

“For all the boys and girls who look like me (…) This is a beacon of hope and possibility. This is proof that dreams, and you should dream big, come true,” said an emotional Yeoh upon receiving the award.

“And ladies, don’t let anyone tell you you’re past your prime,” the 60-year-old actress added to applause from those who attended the ceremony in Los Angeles.

friend and mentor

When Michelle Yeoh came to Hong Kong from her native Malaysia to take part in a commercial starring Jackie Chan, she never imagined that meeting would lead to a successful career spanning more than four decades.

Also, it was not easy to imagine that one day he would win an Oscar with a role that was initially intended for that actor who was an expert in martial arts.

Because Yeoh is starring in the critically acclaimed multiverse adventure “Everything everywhere at once” (Everything everywhere at once) it was originally offered to Chan.

“That’s how they wrote it, with Jackie in mind and me as his wife, so the roles are completely reversed,” the actress once said.

Now it’s hard to think of a multiverse without Evelyn, the character who got Yeoh his Oscar.

From “Miss Malaysia” to “Bond Girl”

Yeoh grew up not thinking of becoming an actress, but of having her own ballet school and teaching what she loved most, which was dancing.

But in Yeoh’s life, plans don’t always obey his wishes. For example, in her youth, she participated in and won the Miss Malaysia contest and represented her country in Miss World at the insistence of her mother, who entered her in the pageant without informing her.

Although it was through her collaboration with Chan that she decided to immerse herself in a world that, as she said in an interview for the BBC, was dominated by men: action movies about martial arts.

“That world fascinated me because it seemed like great choreography. It really looked like a dance and I started trying because I thought I could,” she said.

Yeoh’s fame increased in the 1980s until she established herself as one of the leading action movie actresses in Hong Kong, and was recognized for being able to do the most dangerous scenes yourself no need for a double.

In 1997, he had his first big break in Hollywood. It was like “Bond girl” in the movie “Tomorrow never dies” (tomorrow never dies), where she plays a Chinese journalist who meets Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan).

Role that marked a before and after in her life, recognized by the magazine People as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world, although the impact was not only professional.

From minority to role model

Yeoh reflected in the BBC interview that his arrival in Hollywood was a bit of a shock.

“At that time it was a bit strange for my system, when you leave Asia to go to the United States and suddenly you start to be known as part of a minority. That word was new to me,” he explained.

In 2000 came his first major worldwide blockbuster, “The Tiger and the Dragon” (Crouched tiger, hidden dragon), earning him a nomination for the British Academy of Film Awards, the Bafta.

Always connected in some way with characters of Asian descentYeoh participated in several less successful productions for almost two decades until in 2018 his career got a new boost with the movie “Locamente millionaires” (Crazy rich Asians).

Then he managed to enter the Marvel Universe with his participation in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and make history as Evelyn in “Everything Everywhere at the Same Time”.

magazine last year Time embraced her among the 100 most influential people in the worldrecognition that not only highlights Yeoh’s acting career, but also her role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme.

“I can be a voice and speak for all the people who don’t have that voice so they can be heard,” Yeah said.

“Female leaders are important because the little girls growing up now can see them and say them ‘look, that’s for me, I can do that’and that is the most important message,” he concluded.