Watch: Why Michelle Yeoh almost rejected 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian to win Best Actress at the 95th Academy Awards on March 13, 2023 (Image Source: AFP)

Actor Michelle Yeoh has become the first actor of Asian descent to win the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role creating history at the 95th Academy Awards. Her performance as Evelyn Wang, a multiverse-travelling mother running a laundromat in “Everything Everywhere All at Once, won universal acclaim and applause.

But Yeoh had almost passed on the career-defining role because she had one change in the script and refused to come onboard with directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan if they didn’t implement it.

The original name of the character of Evelyn Wang was Michelle Wang, Yeoh told fellow actor and Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett on Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. And Yeoh didn’t want to user her own name to tell the story of the character.

“The only thing I said to them was, ‘The character cannot be called Michelle Wang.’ They’re like, ‘But why? It’s so you.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not an Asian immigrant mother who’s running a laundromat. She needs her own voice.’ That was the only thing. I’m like, ‘If you don’t change the name, I’m not coming in.'” Yeoh told Blanchett.

Yeoh ultimately convinced the Daniels to change the name of the character to Evelyn.

“Put away your phones, put on your safety belts. With the Daniels, I had to see if they were certifiably insane, in the best possible way. It’s very important that I feel the director is a visionary and I’m one of their tools,” she said.

Watch the video here:

Michelle Yeoh required her character's name in #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce be changed: "The character cannot be called Michelle Wang...I'm not an Asian immigrant mother who's running a laundromat. She needs her own voice." https://t.co/Ais7qUnVYd pic.twitter.com/WA0MMQQBAR

— Variety (@Variety) December 8, 2022