Michelle Yeoh wins a Golden Globe in the best actress in a comedy category.
Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan basked in their historic moments as they won best actress and best supporting actor awards, respectively, for their roles in the Everything Everywhere All At Once motion picture.
Quan is the first Asian artist to win a Golden Globe in his supporting role category. Yeoh is only the second Asian artist to win a Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy. The first winner in the same category was Awkwafina for The Farewell.
As she accepted her award, Malaysian-born Yeoh said "I'm just going to stand here and take this all in." Looking over the audience and clucthing her trophy tightly in both hands. "Forty years, not letting go of this," referring to her 40-year career which began in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
"I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here," she continued. "I came here and was told, 'You're a minority.' And I'm like, 'No, that's not possible.' And then someone said to me, 'You speak English.' And then I said, 'Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long, so I learned on the way.'"
When she was given a musical cue to end her speech, Yeoh, known for her martial arts movies, told the pianist, "Shut up. I can beat you up." She continued to thank her castmates and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who jointly wrote the script and directed the movie.
"I turned 60 last year, and 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," she said, noting that she had even told herself she'd "had a really, really good run" and so "it's all good" -- until Everything Everywhere All at Once, which she called "the best gift," came along. In the film, Yeoh plays an immigrant mother involved in an epic adventure through a multitude of universes.
SCREEN CAPTURE
Ke Huy Quan kissed his Golden Globe trophy as he was named Best Supporting Actor in a musical or comedy.
Quan, who played Yeoh's beleaguered husband in the movie, gave an acceptance speech that was perhaps the most sincerest speech of the night.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he accepted his award. “I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you,” Quan said, acknowledging the role that gave him his start as a child actor inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, directed by Spielberg.
“As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck,” he added. “For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.” Clearly, that didn’t turn out to be true, and Quan went onto thank Kwan and Daniel, the directors of the science fiction hit, for casting him as Waymond.
“More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid and they gave me an opportunity to try again,” he said, choking with emotion. “Everything that has happened since has been unbelievable.”
Finally, Quan thanked “the most important person in (his) life,” his wife, "who never lost faith in me."
RRR, the 3-hour film from India, won a Globe for Best Song but failed to win Best Foreign Film, which was given to 1985 Argentina.
Dolly de Leon, the actress from the Philippines, did not win in Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, was considered a dark horse for her role in Triangle of Sadness and drew the attention of Hollywood studios as her role as a cleaning lady on a luxury yacht.
Maybe one day we can write about a Hollywood awards show and not use the word "historic." Maybe, one day. But not today.
CORRECTION: 10 a.m., Jan. 11. Earlier versions incorrectly identified Michelle Yeoh as the first Asian actress to win best actress in a musical or comedy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
For a first-time event, the Gold House Gala was a star-studded affair honoring its list of A100 inductees in Los Angeles, last Saturday night.
Since this is L.A., the center of the movie-making industry, the affair had all the glitter and glamor of a Hollywood premiere featuring some of the biggest names in media, entertainment, business and political worlds. Instead of the traditional red carpet, celebrities walked down a gold carpet showing off the creations of AAPI designers.
Although Gold House has been creating its list of the 100 for four years, this is the first time for the in-person Gold House Gala, after the nation has undergone two-years of pandemic-induced health restrictions which also saw a dramatic rise in anti-Asian attacks.
At the Gala with the theme of ushering in a New Gold Era for AANHPI communities, three Legends -- Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Yeoh and Mindy Kaling -- were honored for their lifelong dedication to advancing API excellence:
“I arrived here and saw the sea of amazing Asian beautiful faces and realized I’m not in Hong Kong, I’m not in Malaysia, I’m in freaking in Los Angeles, and we are celebrating each other,” Yeoh said as she was introduced by directors Jon M. Chu and Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Jonathan Wang.
"We have so many stories to tell in our own way with our own voices. So I am so happy to see this. This is a long time coming," said Michelle Yeoh.
Yeoh, who stars in the recently released and critically acclaimed film, Everything, Everywhere All At Once, proved that she is as bold as some of the heroic roles that she has played.
“Science tells us women outlive men. But even with extra time, we have to get a lot more done,” Yeoh said in her acceptance speech for the SeeHer award at Gold House’s inaugural Gold Gala.
“If you try to have a baby after the age of 35, science tells us that is a geriatric pregnancy. While men are just starting their lives” – Yeoh paused to give a playful nod to the three men who introduced her, directors Jon M. Chu and Destin Daniel Cretton and producer Jonathan Wang – “women are already starting the geriatric part of their lives. Hardly seems fair, right? Get down on your knees, boys.”
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, added: "Our differences are our greatest strengths, and recognizing representation in entertainment and amplifying the voices and contributions of our AAPI community is of the highest importance.
"I could not be more proud of my Black and Samoan heritage," Johnson continues, "and one of my greatest passions in life is enriching my daughters' lives with our people's history so they also understand the importance of our great ancestry and its meaning.
"Both cultures represent love, respect and power that ignites the universal feeling of family, our mana, and nodding to those who paved the road before us so that the 'rough places are made plain' and we can pursue our dreams today. Let us embrace, celebrate and illuminate the Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and all people of color, who contribute to making this country great today and every day," he said.
After being introduced by “Never Have I Ever” star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who was discovered by Kaling, the actress/writer/producer said:
“I like to write about complex women and some people label complex women as ‘unlikable’ because it doesn’t align with their expectations of how a character on TV should be,” she said. “Audiences have gotten used to tired Asian stereotypes, and with that it can be disorienting.”
“You want the people to be presented with a young Indian female protagonist who is funny, unapologetic, ambitious and yes, sometimes angry.”
The outspoken and unapologetic Kaling vowed to continue improving representation for AANHPI actors and stories. “If I can be a leader of some of that change, that will be the honor of a lifetime. I’m still learning. I make mistakes, but once I know better, I do better,” she said.
A recent study found that the majority of Americans could not name a significant Asian American and Pacific Islander, not even the country's Vice President Kamala Harris.
Hoping to remedy the apparent invisibility of AANHPI, the Gold House list and gala honors the 100 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who have most significantly impacted American culture and society in the last year.
Besides the aforementioned "Legends," this year's A100 honorees are:
Activism, Advocacy, & Politics
A1: Michelle Wu (Mayor of Boston)
A1: Aftab Pureval (Mayor of Cincinnati)
A1: Bruce Harrell (Mayor of Seattle)
Ai-Jen Poo (Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance)
Alice Wong (Activist, Writer)
Alliance for Asian American Justice
Andy Kim (US Congressman)
Chantale Y. Wong (US Ambassador and Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank)
Lina Khan (FTC Chair)
Maria Angelita Ressa (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2021)
