‘Shut Up, Please!’ Michelle Yeoh Insists on Finishing Heartfelt Golden Globes Speech: ‘I Can Beat You Up, Okay?’
Michelle Yeoh defiantly finished her acceptance speech for Best Actress at Tuesday night’s Golden Globes ceremony, very politely telling whoever was playing the exit music to “shut up” and reminding them that the martial arts practitioner could beat them up.
Yeoh, 60, won the award for her turn as Evelyn Wang in 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, beating out competition like Margot Robbie and Emma Thompson.
“Okay. I’m just going to stand here and take this all in. 40 years. Not letting go of this,” Yeoh began, adding:
So, just quickly, thank you, Hollywood Foreign Press, for giving me this honor. It’s been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today. But I think it’s been worth it. I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here, because look at this face. I came here and was told, ‘You’re a minority. And I’m like, No, that’s not possible.’
And then someone said to me, You speak English? I mean, forget about them not knowing Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Asia, India. And then I said, ‘Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long. So I learned.’
“As time went by, as I just said, I turned 60 last year. And I think all of you women understand this as the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well,” she continued.
“And I probably was at a time where I thought, well, ‘hey, come on, girl, you had a really, really good run. You worked with some of the best people, Steven Spielberg, you know, Jim Cameron and Danny Boyle. And so it’s good. It’s all good,’” Yeoh said.
“Then along came the best gift. Everything. Everywhere. All at Once,” Yeoh continued as the exit music began to play.
“Shut up, please! I can beat you up. Okay?” Yeoh jested, as the audience laughed and she showed no sign of leaving the stage.
“And that’s serious,” she joked.
“And I thank you A24, Ley Line, for believing in these two goofy, insanely smart, wonderful geniuses, the Daniels, who had the courage. Who had the courage to write about a very ordinary immigrant, Asian woman, mother, daughter who was the worst thing trying to do her her audit,” Yeoh continued, adding:
She was being audited by the IRS, played by the most amazing Jamie Lee Curtis. 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 just fighting, fighting for love for her family.
And without, Evelyn Wang was none without Ke Huy Quan, Raymond Wong and there was no joy in her life without Stephanie Shu, the most amazing Stephanie Hsu and my hot dom lover, Jamie Lee Curtis. To Jonathan Long, my producer, thank you for being there with us every step of the way. My managers, David Unger and Kit Wong, who believed in me. And this is also for all the shoulders that I stand on, all who came before me, who looks like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward. So thank you for believing in us. Thank you.
Watch the full clip above
