During her Golden Globe Awards acceptance speech, Michelle Yeoh hushed a pianist attempting to encourage her exit.
On Tuesday, the Malaysian actress accepted her Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role as the character of Evelyn Wang in A24’s indie blockbuster, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
At the start of her acceptance speech, Yeoh highlighted her fight against racism, sexism and ageism in Hollywood.
“I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here,” the Golden Globes winner stated. “Look at this face. I came here and was told I was a minority.
‘And then, someone said, ‘You speak English’… And I said, ‘Yeah, the flight over here was about 13 hours long so I learnt.’”
“I turned 60 last year,” the actress continued amidst the applause. “I think all of you women understand this: as the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well.”
“Then along came the best gift: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’” Yeoh began in an attempt to express her love of the film.
At that moment, Yeoh was interrupted in the middle of her speech as a piano began to play in the background, seemingly urging her to exit the stage.
However, Yeoh refused to step down, responding with a quick, “Shut up, please,” which prompted laughter from the audience.
“I can beat you up,” the actress added with a laugh.
Yeoh then continued her speech by thanking directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who she described as having the “courage to write about a very ordinary, immigrant, Asian, woman, mother, daughter.” Yeoh also thanked her costars — Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu — and “all the shoulders that I’ve stood on, all who came before me, who looks like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward.”
Alongside Yeoh, Quan also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role as Waymond Wang.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” was nominated a total of six times at the 2023 Golden Globes. In addition to Yeoh and Quan’s wins, the film’s nominations included Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Since 1944, the Golden Globe Awards have been presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize the excellence of English and international film. The awards have a total of 25 categories for both motion pictures and television.
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