Actress Michelle Yeoh didn’t put up with Golden Globes producers trying to cut her acceptance speech short Tuesday night during the awards ceremony.
The 60-year-old replied with a joking, “Shut up,” when the music started playing, a common tactic used to usher talent off the stage when their remarks drag on too long.
“I can beat you up,” Yeoh continued. “And that’s serious.”
Yeoh was on stage accepting the award for Best Actress in a motion picture, musical, or comedy category for her depiction of laundromat owner Evelyn Wang in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The Malaysian star has been working in Hollywood for decades, starting with the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997).
She also starred in the Oscar-winning martial arts drama “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Congratulations Michelle Yeoh for WINNING Best Actress – Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy win! 🏆 #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/Y4jlpaDoq7
— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023
“I’m just going to stand here and take this all in,” she said during her speech on Tuesday. “Forty years … I’m not letting go of this.”
“When I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true … until I got here. I came here and was told, ‘You’re a minority,’” Yeoh said of her career experience. She also discussed getting fewer parts as she got older.
“I thought, ‘Hey, come on girl. You had a really, really good run,’” she said.
“Thank you A24 for believing in these two goofy, insanely smart, wonderful geniuses, [directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert], who had the courage to write about a very ordinary immigrant, aging woman, mother, daughter,” Yeoh said of the film company which distributed “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“I was given this gift of playing this woman who resonated so deeply with me and with so many people because, at the end of the day, in whatever universe she was at, she was fighting for love, for her family,” she continued.
Yeoh previously talked about her mother’s reaction to her role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress revealed her mom’s surprising criticism.
“I was really worried about her seeing the sex toys that were flying around in the movie, but I guess she never noticed those. Instead, she said, ‘Why do you look so old? You should look like the film where you had the ballgown on!’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’” she said.
“But that’s so typical of my mom: She wants me to run around the entire movie looking like a movie star.”
