The Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role has been awarded to Michelle Yeoh for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, as just announced at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The award winner was presented with the famous gold statuette at the 95th Academy Awards.

Last year saw Jessica Chastain take home the Oscar for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, beating out her competition in the form of Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart.

Yeoh, the legendary Malaysian actress, had received her first Oscar nomination for her role in the Best Picture front-runner Everything Everywhere All At Once as Evelyn Wang, a dissatisfied laundromat owner who finds herself battling across the multiverse attempting to stop the collapse of humanity - while being audited by the I.R.S. She recently appeared in the mainstream blockbusters Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. She will appear in next year’s Avatar 3, the sequel to the highest-grossing and third-highest grossing movies of all time.

Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Image via A24

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The Nominees

Michelle Yeoh had earned her first nomination for her role in the Best Picture front-runner Everything Everywhere All At Once as Evelyn Wang, while Cate Blanchett was nominated for her titular performance in TÀR as Lydia Tár, a fictional renowned conductor. Ana De Armas was also rewarded for the commitment she showed in embodying the legendary Marilyn Monroe in Netflix’s Blonde, while Michelle Williams, an Academy favourite, picked up another nod for her role in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiography The Fabelmans. Andrea Riseborough completed the line-up for her performance in To Leslie, a little seen indie film that had picked up buzz - and was the subject of both scrutiny, praise and controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the tactics used to secure the nod.

Everything Everywhere All at Once came into the evening as the favourite and front-runner. With 11 nominations, the movie shows up in more categories than any other nominee this year, while All Quiet on the Western Front - the German-language film from Netflix - and The Banshees of Inisherin followed with 9 nominations each.

The return of audiences to movie theatres following the pandemic was also acknowledged, with two films - Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick - both being nominated for Best Picture, having earned over $1 billion each at the worldwide box office, marking the first time two films to pass that milestone had earned nominations.