Michelle Yeoh makes history as first Asian best actress Oscar nominee

• Once again, Michelle Yeoh is making history.
• She received her first Best Actress nomination for the Academy Awards on Tuesday.
• She also made history by being the first actress of Asian origin to do so.

The 60-year-old star of Everything, Everywhere, All the Time, who received her first Best Actress nomination for the Academy Awards on Tuesday, also made history by being the first actress of Asian origin to do so.

Yeoh told Deadline following the Oscar nomination news: “I think what it means to me is all those Asians out there go, ‘You see, it’s possible. If she can do it, I can freaking well do it as well.’ That is the most important thing. I’m very ordinary. I just work very hard. There are so many brilliant actresses, actors out there who know that they have a seat at the table. All they have to do is find an opportunity and get there.”

The Malaysian-born actress, who is a front-runner for Best Actress at the upcoming Academy Awards for her portrayal of Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once, admitted to having “thought about” the fact that no Asian woman has ever won Best Actress at the Oscars in a recent interview with TIME. She continued, “And not just me — I feel like my full Asian community has thought about it.”

“They come up to me and they say, ‘You’re doing it for us,'” Yeoh told TIME.

The Academy Awards have faced criticism in the past for favouring mostly white actors in their nominations. But this year, a number of Asian performers have received nominations from the Academy, including Hong Chau for The Whale and Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu.

According to Variety, this is the most Asian actors who have been nominated for acting awards in the Academy’s history.

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