'I WANT TO DEDICATE THIS AWARD TO ALL OUR MOTHERS'

ACTRESS MICHELLE YEOH THANKS WOMEN FOR HER MOVIE TRIUMPH EVERYWHERE

- RHONA MERCER AND RHIANNA BENSON

Michelle Yeoh is having the best year of her four-decade-spanning career – and it’s only March. Last week, as she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, the 60-year-old actress was overcome with emotion as she stood on the podium, clutching yet another gong.

Michelle, who’s already bagged a Golden Globe and a SAG award for her role as Evelyn Wang in the surreal drama – and at the time of going to press, was nominated for an Oscar too – wore a blue velvet Gucci gown as she thanked her peers “from the bottom of my heart” for voting for her.

The actress described the award as “so special”, before addressing the movie’s co-directors and writers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, saying, “Thank you for writing such an incredible script that gave us the opportunity to be here, to be seen, and to be heard.” She dedicated her award “to all our mothers,” saying “without our mothers none of us would be here”. Gesturing towards her cast and crew, she then thanked “all the ladies sitting at that table who support their husbands”.

She also gave a dedication to “all the little girls, boys, who look like us and think that this is possible.”

Michelle’s moment in the sun has been a long time coming after almost 40 years in the industry. As she says herself, the role of launderette owner Evelyn was the part she’d been waiting for all her life.