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The movie that won ‘Everything Everywhere’ at the 2023 Oscars

Michelle Yeoh becomes first Asian woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress. (Courtesy: michelleyeoh_official/Instagram)

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s, Everything Everywhere All At Once, lived up to its name at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, sweeping the most awards with seven trophies. 

It was history in the making for the protagonist, played by Michelle Yeoh, in particular, who won Best Actress for her performance in the multiversal film, and became the first Asian woman to win an Oscar in that category.  

This is a huge win for Asians and Asian representation in film.. Following her win, crowds and cheers erupted in Yeoh’s hometown of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with her mother expressing the utmost joy. 

The 60-year-old Malaysian actress went from winning Miss Malaysia in 1983 to being known as the “Bond girl.” Yeoh has done it all. 

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true,” she said in her acceptance speech, adding “And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re ever past your prime”.

The iconic star began her career in the 1984 action-drama film, The Owl vs Bombo, and from there she quickly became a titan in the action movie industry. And if that isn’t impressive enough, she had no formal training in martial arts and did most of her own stunts. Due to her past experience as a former ballet dancer, she was able to learn kung fu on the set, while training with veteran action stars on the side. 

READ MORE: Many are wondering why Black filmmakers and actors were snubbed by the 2023 Oscars

Then in 1997, she expanded her audience with the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies. Since then, she’s appeared in numerous English-language projects garnering global stardom. Her critically acclaimed movies include Memoirs of a Geisha, Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, among others. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once Success

Yeoh’s Oscar was only one of seven awards that the film collected. The interdimensional, wonderfully weird adventure won best picture, best director, best editing, best original screenplay, best supporting actor and best supporting actress. Clearly, the hot dog fingers, sex-toy wielding, mind-bending film has come a long way. 

In their acceptance speech for best director, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, a.k.a the Daniels, dedicated their win to their parents and shed light on their creativity as kids. 

“We want to dedicate this to the mommies, all the mommies in the world, to our moms, specifically, my mom and dad, Ken and Becky. Thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid which is a threat to nobody” Scheinert said. 

“I know every director agrees with me when I say a director is nothing without their incredible cast and crew. This crew is my family, my friends. If our movie has greatness and genius, it’s only because they have greatness and genius flowing through their hearts and souls and minds and they gave that precious gift to our film” Kwan said. 

Yeoh’s co-star, Ke Huy Quan, won best supporting actor and delivered a heartwarming speech about his comeback to Hollywood after experiencing a career standstill. The Vietnamese-American actor got his breakthrough in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom but found it difficult to find acting gigs afterward. 

“Dreams are something you have to believe in, I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive,” Quan said emotionally. 

Jamie Lee Curtis was also overwhelmed with tears near the end of her speech when she received the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film. It was a competitive category for Curtis who was up against notable actresses, including Angela Bassett for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The 64-year-old actress, known for being in the Halloween franchise, thanked her parents, who were both Oscar nominees, in her speech, along with the hundreds of people that helped her achieve this award. 

“To all of the people who have supported the genre of movies that I have made for all these years, the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together,” exclaimed the actress. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once led in nominations with a total of 11 in 10 categories. The film is also the most awarded best picture since the 2008 drama, Slumdog Millionaire. For Asians everywhere, this year’s Oscars is definitely one for the books and will be remembered for years to come. 

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