Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is up for the annual "Women in Motion" award which will be presented in May at the Cannes Film Festival during a dinner in honor of women in cinema.
The "Women in Motion" prize was created by the French luxury group Kering in 2015 and awarded to actresses such as Jane Fonda, Isabelle Huppert, Gong Li, Salma Hayek and Viola Davis in 2022.
"Internationally acclaimed Malaysian-born actress and producer Michelle Yeoh has been challenging conventions for decades. By portraying complex and determined female roles on screen, she has helped challenge gender and age stereotypes in the cinema", Kering said in a press release.
"I am very moved to have been chosen to receive this Prize. I am convinced that times are changing; awareness has undeniably taken place among the general public in recent years. It is essential that women continue to carry, in front of and behind the camera, roles and stories that reflect all the diversity and all the complexity of the world," Yeoh said in a statement.
Kering and the @Festival_Cannes are delighted to present the 2023 Women In Motion Award to actress Michelle Yeoh on Sunday 21st May 2023.
— Kering (@KeringGroup) April 6, 2023
Learn more on : https://t.co/NW6nKNz4CI #WomenInMotion pic.twitter.com/hSVJ5JPXVi
Believe in yourself
Just two months ago, the 60-year-old actress won an Oscar award for Best Actress for her role in the sci-film "Everything Everywhere All at Once," becoming the first ever Asian woman to do so.
Yeoh plays a Chinese immigrant laundromat owner locked in battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain -- who happens to be her own daughter.
The unorthodox movie -- which features multiple universes, sex toys and hot dog fingers -- also won best director, best actress, best original screenplay, best editing, and both the best supporting actor and actress prizes.
Upon receiving her prize, Yeoh hailed the emerging diversity in cinema.
"There is a lot more inclusiveness. There is more diversity. Look at me. I have been in this business for 40 years and I finally have the chance to be the first on the list. It just goes to show that if you believe in yourself, if you believe in it and you do things with passion, you never give up".
Ballet, Bond and beyond
The former James Bond girl ("Tomorrow Never Dies") was born to Malaysian-Chinese parents in 1962 in the city of Ipoh, 200 kilometres north of Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.
She embraced dance as a child and specialised in ballet, which she studied in England.
On a vacation while visiting family, her mother entered her in the Miss Malaysia contest without consulting her.
"I agreed to go to shut her up," Yeoh commented later. She unwittingly went on to win the beauty pageant.
A back injury made her give up her dancing career, but by the mid-1980s, she was using the body control she had learned in ballet to appear in action films alongside the likes of Jackie Chan.
Yeoh was awarded the title of "Tan Sri" by the Malaysian king in 2013, one of the country's highest honorifics awarded to civilians.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, where Yeoh worked for a decade before becoming a Hollywood star, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung congratulated Yeoh, calling her a "shining star with impressive achievements."
