Michelle Yeoh dedicated the Best Lead Performance award she received at the 38th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards for her “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (“EEAO”) performance to all the mothers and women “who support their husbands.”
During the event’s awarding ceremony on Monday, the multi-awarded Malaysian actor thanked A24 and her directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, for giving her the opportunity to “be seen and heard” in their hit film “EEAAO.”
Thank you for writing such an incredible script, that gave us the opportunity to be here… I want to dedicate this to all our mothers. Without our mothers, none of us would be here. And to all the ladies [who] are sitting at that table who support their husbands. Thank you all for believing in us, and giving us a seat at the table and [thank you to] all the little girls, boys, who look like us and think that it is possible.
Yeoh bested fellow nominees Dale Dickey (“A Love Song”), Mia Goth (“Pearl”), Regina Hall (“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Aubrey Plaza (“Emily the Criminal”), Jeremy Pope (“The Inspection), Taylor Russell (Bones and All”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”) and Cate Blanchett (“Tár”).
Yeoh’s win marked the first time the Indie Spirits established gender-inclusive acting categories. It was part of a full-on sweep of the ceremony for “EEAAO,” which won every category the film was nominated in for a total of seven awards.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won the Spirit Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay, respectively, Paul Rogers won Best Editing, Stephanie Hsu won Best Breakthrough Performance and Ke Huy Quan won over co-star Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Performance.
“EEAO” completed a near-sweep at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Feb. 26 and became the most-awarded film in SAG history with four wins: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Michelle Yeoh), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Ke Huy Quan) and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Jamie Lee Curtis). Stephanie Hsu was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
