Michelle Yeoh — ballerina-turned-beauty queen-turned-action-heroine-Oscar recipient—was undoubtedly the highlight of last night’s 95th Academy Awards.
“Tonight, we’ve broken that glass ceiling,” she said. We need this because there are many who have felt unseen and not heard. Not just the Asian community.
This is not for the Asian community, but for anyone who identifies as a minority. We deserve to be seen.
We deserve equal opportunity so that we can sit at the table. That’s all we ask. Give us this chance, and let’s prove we’re worthy.”
Yeoh, 60, made history as the first person of Asian descent to win Best Actress for her role as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere at Once. Her co-star Ke Huy Quan was the second Asian to receive a Supporting Actor Award and the first Oscar winner of Vietnamese descent.
WINNER: Michelle Yeoh — ballerina turned beauty queen, turned action hero, turned Oscar winner — was undoubtedly the highlight of last night’s 95th Academy Awards, writes Alison Boschoff.
The Speech: “Tonight, we are rocking ‘breaking the glass ceiling,’” she said. We need this because there are many who have felt unseen and not heard. Not just the Asian community, Yeoh said
It was a night of rise and revival, the return of kings and queens, and a night when actors of a certain age discovered their long-cherished dreams had come true.
Of the four winners for Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress, all were over 50, and all were returning to the spotlight after periods of service, or outside the industry. And they were all huge emotional favorites with the audience at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
All of them were also first-time candidates. Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, began acting when she was in her teens and was rewarded at the age of 64 with her first Academy Award nomination — Best Supporting Actress — and first win.
He gave it to her parents, saying: This is the joy of my life. My mom and dad have been nominated for Oscars in different categories and I just won an Oscar.
She then added, “I don’t believe in a world where there’s a bunch of people out there looking at us. I think we’re them with our actions and our actions and we pass it on to our children and live through it. I’m a producer of them and a proud producer of them and I know they’d be incredibly proud of me.”
Ms. Yeoh was a first-time nominee for her role as laundry owner Evelyn Wang, and said of her award, which, as Ms. Curtis, came after 40 years in the business: ‘Dream big, your dreams come true — ladies, don’t.’ Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re past New Year’s Eve. Ms. Yeoh said she would bring the little golden man home to visit her 84-year-old mother in Malaysia.
Ceremonies: Yoh and Curtis in the press room during the 95th Academy Awards last night
She spent relatively little time partying after the Oscars, saying around 2 a.m. at the film’s party at Soho House, West Hollywood: ‘I’m going to go back to my place and go for a long swim — I’ll do it. is now.’ She was trolled all night by well-wishers, one of whom was Killer Eve actress Sandra Oh.
Brendan Fraser, who won Best Actor for his performance as chubby teacher Charlie in The Whale, had reason to celebrate this fact in his own life as he achieved the latest triumph in his film, ‘Brenaissance’.
The leading man he once was, star of George of the Jungle and The Mummy movies, wept throughout his acceptance speech and backstage again. British actress Lily James said she was moved to tears by his performance and said she hoped to bump into him at the Vanity Fair party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
“He’s the most calm and lovely person,” she said.
Perhaps the most surprising story belongs to former child actor Ke Huy Quan. His first movie role was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984 as a child actor playing a Short Round. He returned to acting only three years ago.
On Sunday night, he was recognized for his performance as Waymond Wang, in the multiverse action comedy Everywhere, All at Once.
Quan was given a standing ovation, accepted the Oscar and wept. He said: Thank you! My mom is 84 and she is at home watching.
“Mom, I just won an Oscar. I started out on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow ended up here on the biggest stage in Hollywood.
“This, this is the American dream.” Kwan’s habit of snapping hilarious selfies with every celebrity he met over the course of the Oscars campaign probably made him the darling character at this year’s event.
Top Gun was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, and took home just one – for sound. Maybe his co-star Tom Cruise had figured it wasn’t going to be his night and so stayed away.
As always, Sunday night was a high point for partying in town. Jay-Z threw one at Chateau Marmont with his wife, Beyoncé, which was a pretty hot ticket.
Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary also hosted a big party in the Hollywood Hills even though by 2am it was seriously packed and organizers had stopped shuttling it.
Among those at the Vanity Fair party was Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough and British actress Suki Waterhouse, who stars in the TV show Daisy Jones and the Six – who seems to have become the person everyone passes by on the way to another party.
Jimmy says women could lose out if prizes give up on races
Jamie Lee Curtis has indicated that she will be against gender neutral Oscars.
Academy sources told this paper last week that they are reviewing their categories and considering changes to them.
But Ms Curtis, who has a transgender daughter, said: ‘Obviously I’d like to see more women nominated, so there’s gender parity across the board, across all branches, and I think we’re getting there, even though we’re not Nowhere near there.
“And, of course, inclusivity… which involves the bigger question, which is, how do you include everyone when there are binary options, which is very difficult.
Movie Star Parents: Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, began acting as a teenager and was rewarded at age 64 with her first Academy Award nomination — Best Supporting Actress — and first win
As a mom to a trans daughter, I totally understand that, however, removing gender from the category I’m also concerned would reduce opportunities for more women, something I’ve also been working to try to promote.
So it’s a complicated question, but I think the most important thing is inclusivity and more women. Basically, just receive more women anywhere, anytime and all at once.
The Brit Awards’ decision to dispense with gender discrimination meant that not a single woman was nominated as Female Artist of the Year in January and the other categories were dominated by men – as was widely expected.
My daughter Ruby said in an interview: ‘When I was about 16, a transgender friend asked my gender. I told them, “Well, I’m male.” After that, I was brooding. I knew I was – maybe not Ruby per se – but I knew I was different. Curtis said changing her daughter’s name from Tom was the hardest thing.
The name you have given to a child. You’ve been telling them their whole lives. And so, of course, that was the challenge in the beginning. Then the conscience. My husband and I still slip up occasionally
And the worst interview award goes to Hugh…
Hugh Grant locked eyes with Ashley Graham in a conversation on the red carpet that has been described as “the worst interview ever.”
The actor, 62, has publicly shown his disdain for the 34-year-old model’s questions.
The Four Weddings and Funeral star kept his answers to her questions as short as possible and made his disinterest completely apparent in the uncomfortable confrontation.
Awkward encounter: Hugh Grant locked eyes with Ashley Graham and rolled his eyes at her in a red carpet conversation described as ‘worst interview ever’
He has a cameo role in the murder mystery film Glass Onion, for which he is nominated for a screenplay.
At the beginning of the conversation, Mrs. Graham asked: “How did it feel to be in Glass Onion? How fun would it be to film something like that?”
But he just replied, “Well, I’m barely in it, I was in it for about three seconds.”
“It must have been fun though,” Mrs. Graham tried again. “You had fun, didn’t you?”
“Erm…almost,” the actor replied, looking away.
The investigator, fighting back, asked: “What are you wearing?” “My suit,” said Grant. Viewers largely praised Mrs. Graham for her handling of Grant. One said that she “deserves an honorary Oscar for enduring with Hugh Grant”.
Indiana Jones reunion
Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan came to life in full. The former child star shared a blissful hug on stage with Harrison Ford, his former co-star in 1984’s Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom.
The 51-year-old Vietnamese-American actor looked elated as he took to the stage to take home the Best Picture Oscar for Everything Everywhere, presented by Ford. He was just 12 when he appeared in a short round role opposite Ford, now 80, in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, but later quit acting when he found a shortage of roles for Asian actors.
Reunion: Life Came Complete for Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan. The former child star shared a blissful hug on stage with Harrison Ford, his former co-star in 1984’s Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom.
Actor: Quan was only 12 years old when he appeared in a short round role opposite Ford, now 80, in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster but later quit acting when he found a shortage of roles for Asian actors
