by The 2023 Academy Awards made history with some groundbreaking firsts and major career milestones.
– Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh is the first person of Asian descent to be named Best Actress.
She is also only the second non-white performer to win the award.
The first was more than 20 years ago in 2002 when he went to Halle Berry for the movie Monster’s Ball.
Berry was on stage this year to help present the award to Yeoh.
Of the five people in the running for Best Actress, all were white except for Michelle Yeoh, who was nominated for the offbeat comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once.
– Best director
Yeoh’s success was just one of several successes for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which saw the film finish the night with seven awards.
Another win came in the Best Director category, which went to Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
It is only the third time in the history of the Oscars that this award has been presented to a directorial duo.
The other two occasions were in 1962, when Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins won for West Side Story, and 2008, when Joel and Ethan Coen won for No Country for Old Men.
– Best Supporting Actor
Everything Everywhere All at Once also helped make history in the Best Supporting Actor category, with Ke Huy Quan becoming the first person of Asian descent to win the award.
Four of the 10 most recent winners of this award come from a non-white background: Mahershala Ali in 2017 (Moonlight) and again in 2019 (Green Book), followed by Daniel Kaluuya in 2021 (Judas & the Black Messiah) and Ke Huy Quan this year.
– Best costume designer
Ruth Carter made history in 2019 when she became the first black woman to win the award for best costume design, for her work on the first Black Panther film.
Her success in the category this year, for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, means she’s made history again and became the only black woman to win the award twice.
– Multiple wins
It’s the first time in nearly 50 years that the same film has been responsible for three out of four acting awards.
Everything Everywhere All at Once earned a trifecta of Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), and Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis).
The last time that happened was in 1977, when Network nabbed Best Actor (Peter Finch), Best Actress (Faye Dunaway), and Best Supporting Actress (Beatrice Straight).
