KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh was honoured with the SeeHer award at the inaugural Gold Gala on Saturday night at the St. Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating the 2022 A100 list, which honoured the most influential celebrities, politicians, and business leaders of the Asian Pacific Islander community over the past year.
Others honoured at the event included Henry Golding, Daniel Day Kim, Mindy Kalling, and Chloe Kim.
During Yeoh’s acceptance speech the actress spoke about her long journey as an actress to get the role of her dreams in this year's Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.
"I’m not going to lie, I waited a long time for this, and I am so lucky for this opportunity,” Yeoh said to Vanity Fair at the event.
"So many Asian actresses and actors wait their whole life for this to happen in their career and the opportunity might never come.
"I was resilient and I fought hard. I never stopped learning. I was ready when the opportunity did present itself."
Yeoh began her career in Malaysia as the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983 before starting her film career in Hong Kong action films working with Jackie Chan in the 1985 Police Story 3: Supercop.
After getting the attention of Hollywood, she began starring in major international blockbusters like Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Crazy Rich Asians.
She spoke on being typecasted auntie or grandmother roles assigned to women in their 50s.
Yeoh also told Asian artists in attendance to fight to get their stories made.
"We should never give up. We should always push. We should always step up and step forward to make sure the changes are there," Yeoh said in her speech.
"Don't wait for Hollywood to change this course."
Yeoh also recently made TIMES’ 100 most influential people of 2022 list alongside other artists like Simu Liu, Andrew Garfield, and Zendaya.
Upon accepting her award, Yeoh dedicated it to the women who have worked tirelessly and remained unrecognised.
