(Kuala Lumpur) From Malaysia, Michelle Yeoh’s mother wept for her ‘little princess’ when the actress became the first Asian to win the Best Actress Oscar.
Yeoh’s family and two Cabinet ministers were among fans who celebrated the actress’ win at a special Oscars viewing event in Malaysia on Monday morning.
Her trophy for her portrayal of a laundromat owner was one of the film’s seven Oscars Everything Everywhere All at Once (Everything, everywhere, all at once) at Sunday night’s ceremony.
Janet Yeoh, 84, described her daughter as smart and hardworking.
“I love my daughter so much and she has made Malaysia proud,” her mother said at a press conference after the event.
Janet Yeoh said she was immensely proud of her “little princess”, who wanted to be a ballerina before entering the film world. Yeoh said she pushed her daughter out of her cocoon despite protests from her late husband, a lawyer she described as “old fashioned”.
In her Oscar speech, Yeoh dedicated her award to her mother and said “all the moms in the world” are the real superheroes.
Shortly after, Yeoh made a video call to his mother, with his trophy in his hands.
“It was such an amazing moment. I was speechless, I cried, told Vicki Yeoh, the niece of Michelle Yeoh, who was also at the special screening. The nominees are really strong, but we had no doubts. We kept telling her (she) was going to win. »
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also praised the actress for making history.
“With this achievement, Michelle’s illustrious and exemplary career in this field will certainly continue to be a great source of inspiration and motivation for our local actors and actresses and will provide even greater momentum for the growth of our local industry” , he rejoiced in a press release.
Michelle Yeoh, 60, learned ballet before turning to acting. Her first major role in Hollywood was playing a Chinese spy in the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies (tomorrow never dies) in 1997 alongside Pierce Brosnan.
She rose to prominence in the martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tiger and Dragon) in 2000, a film that won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.