Michelle Yeoh has just won the Academy Award for Best Actress at this year's ceremony. Yeoh took home the highly coveted prize for her standout role as Evelyn Quan Wang in the wildly popular film Everything Everywhere All At Once. During her speech, she said that her Oscar was a "beacon of hope and possibilities" for the boys and girls who "look like her". She added: "This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true." The former Bond girl then also told women to never let anybody tell them that they're "past their prime. Never give up!" Check out Yeoh's inspirational words below: [[jwplayerwidget||https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/KpIRogiH-dkXnENEs.mp4||KpIRogiH]] At 60 years old, Michelle Yeoh may be the oldest actress in the category but she is certainly one of the most well-deserving. The Malaysian actress has been open and honest about how she's often felt overlooked and typecast by the film industry, especially as an asian woman. Yeoh has spoken at length about how much her role in the sci-fi movie meant to her, especially since she's often been given supporting roles in the past, telling the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2023-02-07/michelle-yeoh-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-oscar-interview-evelyn-wang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Times</a>: "The first thing is you feel like, 'Finally, thank you. You guys see me, you guys really see, and you're giving me the opportunity to show that I'm capable of doing all this.' As an actor, you need the opportunity. You need the role that will help you showcase what you are capable to do." She then continued: "You know, as you get older, the roles get smaller. It seems like the numbers go up and these things go narrow and then you start getting relegated to the side more and more. So when Everything Everywhere came, all at once it was very emotional because this means that you are the one who's leading this whole process, who's telling the story. "It's about this ordinary woman who becomes a superhero. It's about you being able to be funny, dramatic, martial arts, like, almost like a horror film. It was like five genres made into one," Yeoh concluded. <img class="wp-image-1263199186 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2J2AWR8-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" />[[imagecaption|| Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy]] This year's Best Actress category was arguably one of the best we've seen in recent years, with viewers elated that Leslie Riseborough managed to snag a nod for Best Actress for her role in the little-seen To Leslie. Prior to her nomination, Cate Blanchett was the most decorated actress in the list of nominees - having already received two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes. Having broken into theater acting in the early 90s, the Melbourne-born actress is known for her versatile acting - having appeared in a range of movies from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to Cinderella. Her recent nomination for Tár has made her the most nominated Australian in the film industry, with the 53-year-old telling <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/12/cate-blanchett-tar-interview-todd-field-oscars#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%20a%20way%2C%20it's%20a,painful%20and%20funny%20and%20unsettling.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a> that she still gets surprised by the attention she receives from fans in public. "I don't get bothered by it. There is so much to do in the world, and I have learned over the years to just focus on the task at hand, so if someone in the supermarket taps me on the shoulder, I'm always surprised by it," she admitted. "And there are a couple of films I've been privileged to be part of that have affected people [...] and I'm very always very moved by the responses," Blanchett continued. <img class="wp-image-1263199176 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2M65CB2-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: FlixPix / Alamy]] It came as no surprise that Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas, 34 - who barely spoke English when she moved to Los Angeles in 2014 - was nominated for her role as Monroe in Blonde. While based upon the famed actress, the flick was centered on a novel written by Joyce Carol Oates, who penned a fictionalized account of Monroe's life. Many people were confronted by certain themes in the movie, including scenes showing sexual violence against Monroe - though de Armas has argued that the chief aims of portraying this was to highlight the ways Monroe was taken advantage of in the entertainment industry. In an interview with <a href="https://people.com/movies/ana-de-armas-blonde-tough-for-audience-to-understand-not-biopic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PEOPLE</a> about the role, de Armas stated: "I think that's what has been tough for the audience to understand about the movie; the emotional truth is so powerful in the film that it's hard to separate that it's not a biopic. I've heard, 'You missed this part of her life,' and 'She was not only sad or depressed.' And I'm like, 'I know, but we're not telling that story.'" <img class="wp-image-1263199175 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2JWA8PX-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1918" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy]] Newcastle-born Andrea Riseborough, 41, was this year's underdog, having been the only actress to be nominated for her role in an indie movie. Her portrayal of Leslie Rowland - an alcoholic Texan mother who wins the lottery and subsequently spends her winnings into oblivion - was praised by audiences. There was some controversy over her nomination, however, as many people argued that she took a spot that the believe Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler were robbed of. Regardless, To Leslie has already received a whopping 94% on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/to_leslie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, and Riseborough herself has admitted that she was shocked to receive the nomination, especially following the praise she received from fellow actors Sarah Paulson and Gwyneth Paltrow. "I think a lot of times when actors take on the responsibility of playing a person at the lowest point in their lives, what you get is a glamorized version of it for fear of being seen in an unflattering light. What I was so struck by was the total lack of vanity in her performance. I'm not talking solely about the way she looked," Paulson said of Riseborough, via <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/andrea-riseborough-interview-oscars-nomination-to-leslie-1235325509/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. "It felt to me like I was looking through a keyhole and I was watching something I shouldn't be watching," she added. <img class="wp-image-1263199173 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2MPYP66-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1707" height="2560" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: FlixPix / Alamy]] Michelle Williams is one of the more decorated actresses on the list - having received two Golden Globes and nominations for five Academy Awards. The 42-year-old's role as Sammy's mother in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans has been widely praised by viewers. The flick - which is a semi-autobiographical account of Spielberg's life - follows the story of Sammy Fabelman, a young filmmaker who harnesses the power of film to expose the dysfunctionality of his family and those around him. Speaking of her role as the cool, complicated mom in the coming-of-age movie, Williams told <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/michelle-williams-the-fabelmans-spielberg-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">W Magazine</a> that she was shocked when Spielberg asked her to play the role of his mother, stating: "He didn't really say that outright [at the beginning]. So I asked him, 'For clarity's sake, if I'm understanding correctly, you are asking me to play your beloved mother?' And he said, 'Oh yeah.'" "One of the things that I loved most was that they gave me a track of Steven's mother laughing through the years," she added. "When she laughed, she collapsed into people. Before every take, I would go back to her laugh track. And then I'd have this euphoria running through my body." <img class="wp-image-1263199171 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/2NNB4WG-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1384" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy]] Congratulations to Yeoh! <h6>Featured image credit: BFA / Alamy Stock</h6>

Michelle Yeoh wins Best Actress at the 2023 Academy Awards

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