"I am very happy (...). I am proud of my daughter. She is very hardworking", rejoiced Janet Yeoh with the journalists, her daughter having become the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for the best actress.

"I will call her to come back (to Malaysia) and (we) celebrate (that) very soon. Next month is my birthday."

Ms Yeoh, accompanied by family and friends, attended a live broadcast of the Academy Awards at a cinema in Kuala Lumpur, where cheers, hugs and tears of joy erupted the second the announcement broke. been made.

"It was an amazing moment," Michelle Yeoh's niece Vicki said.

"I was speechless, I cried. Everything happened so quickly. We are so happy that she won, that our aunt won."

"We kept telling him: + You are going to win (...) You are going to go on stage with the golden man", she said, in reference to the Oscar statuette.

"Pride of Asia"

The 60-year-old Malaysian actress won this award for her role in the crazy comedy "Everything Everywhere All At Once".

Cate Blanchett had long been a favorite to win her third Oscar thanks to the film "Tar".

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" is based on a family plot.

We follow Evelyn Wang, a Chinese immigrant played by Michelle Yeoh, who runs a laundromat in the United States, catapulted to the rank of elected official, on whom rest the hopes of thousands of parallel worlds threatened by an evil force which happens to be her own daughter.

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Oscar for best actress for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once", photographed with her award in Hollywood (United States) on March 12, 2023 © ANGELA WEISS / AFP

"She is not only the pride of Malaysia, but she is also the pride of Asia," said Tan Ooi Hong, a fan of the actress.

Michelle Yeoh, who emerged on the planetary scene with the James Bond "Tomorrow never dies", was born in 1962 in the city of Ipoh, 200 kilometers north of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

As a child, she took up dancing and specialized in ballet in England.

Back in her country on vacation, her mother entered her in the Miss Malaysia pageant without telling her.

"I agreed to go there to shut her up," Michelle Yeoh shared with a laugh.

And she wins the title.

A back injury forced her to abandon the idea of ​​a career as a ballerina.

Back in Asia, she is looking for another professional path.

She began her career on the big screen in 1984 and collected films, mostly action, notably alongside Jackie Chan.

In 2013, Michelle Yeoh received from the King of Malaysia the title of "Tan Sri", one of the country's most prestigious civil honors.

In Hong Kong, where the actress worked for a decade before becoming a Hollywood star, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung praised her and called her "a shining star of achievement. impressive".

"It's a testament to the strong potential of Hong Kong's talent and film industry," he said.

© 2023 AFP