Michelle Yeoh becomes Asia’s first Best Actress Oscar winner: ‘This is history in the making’

(A hill) — Michelle Yeoh won best actress at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, becoming the first Asian woman to win an Oscar in the category.

“Thanks to the Academy is history!” said the Malaysian-born actor in his speech.

“For all the little boys and girls like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and opportunity,” she said. “This is proof that dreams are big and dreams do come true.”

Yeo won the award for her role as Evelyn, a laundromat owner who is investigated by the feds as she tries to navigate the multiverse in Everything Everywhere and At Once. The film won seven awards, including Best Film.

“And ladies, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re ever past your prime,” Yeo added in her comment, clearly striking a chord with CNN anchor Don Lemon, who caused criticism last month for saying that a woman is only in her prime until “perhaps 40.”

Yeoh, 60, dedicated part of her speech on Sunday to her mother and all mothers, saying they are true “superheroes”.

“I have to dedicate this to my mom [and] all the moms in the world because they really are superheroes and without them none of us would be here tonight,” she said.

This year, Evelyn Yeo also won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role.