Michelle Yeoh: From Miss Malaysia to first Asian winner of best actress Oscar

Michelle Yeoh has made history as the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for best actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

From Malaysia to Hollywood via ballet school, beauty pageants and death-defying stunts, Sky News takes a look at the 60-year-old’s journey to winning an Oscar.

The early years: ballet to beauty pageant

Michelle Yeoh was born Yeoh Chu-Kheng on 6 August, 1962, in Ipoh, Malaysia.

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Her early dream was to be a ballet dancer and at the age of 15 she moved to England to train at London’s Royal Academy of Dance.

A back injury meant she had to abandon her ambition of dancing on stage and she returned to Malaysia, where she won the Miss Malaysia competition in 1983.

An introduction to acting – and Jackie Chan

Yeoh first worked with Jackie Chan when she was called up with a last-minute offer to work on a watch advert.

She was subsequently offered a film contract with Dickson Poon’s Hong Kong production company D&B Films and made her debut in The Owl vs Bumbo.

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Kicking down the door to martial arts

Yeoh did not have any formal martial arts training but asked to be given an action role, spending hours each day training in the gym.

Her role in Yes, Madam saw her perform her first on-screen stunts, and from there she went on to star in In The Line Of Duty, Easy Money and Magnificent Warriors.

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A brief retirement and return to acting

Yeoh married Dickson Poon in 1988 and retired from acting – but the couple divorced in 1992 and she returned to the screen in Supercop.

She proved her mettle as an action star, matching Jackie Chan stunt for stunt.

However in 1995 a stunt gone wrong almost ended her career after she threw herself off an overpass bridge during the filming of The Stunt Woman, fracturing a vertebra and several ribs on impact.

Hollywood comes knocking

After making a name for herself in Asian cinema, Yeoh gained international recognition.

She was credited with creating a Bond girl who was finally James Bond’s equal in her role as Mai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Yeoh received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which showcased her balletic prowess, while Memoirs Of A Geisha proved she was skilled at more than just fighting.

In 2018, Yeoh starred in Crazy Rich Asians, the first Hollywood major studio film to feature an all-Asian cast in 25 years.

Everything Everywhere All At Once and awards season

Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a middle-aged laundrette owner transported into ever more baffling parallel worlds, in the multiverse madness that is Everything Everywhere.

Speaking in advance of the BAFTAs, Yeoh told Sky News: “Normally people would go like, this is too insane. But our world is chaotic and insane and unpredictable, and we have to learn to embrace whatever comes our way.”

She admitted she doesn’t like the pressure, saying this was the first time she had been nominated for lots of big awards.

“So, I don’t understand how intense it is. Just getting the nominations was terrifying… Because it felt like a big part of the world was wanting it so bad.”

In her Oscars acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to her mother – who was pictured cheering her victory in Malaysia – and “all the mums in the world because they are really the superheroes and without them none of us would be here tonight”.

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” she said.

“Dream big, dreams do come true.”

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