Michelle Yeoh Wins Tight SAG Best-Actress Race

The Screen Actors Guild has spoken: Michelle Yeoh is this year’s pick for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role. Yeoh won for her kinetic, kaleidoscopic work in Everything Everywhere All at Once, a crowd-pleasing multidimensional saga featuring the Malaysian grande dame in a profusion of different roles, emerging victorious over a tough crowd: Her fellow nominees included Cate Blanchett for Tár, Viola Davis for The Woman King, Ana de Armas for Blonde, and Danielle Deadwyler for Till.

“I think if I speak, my heart will explode,” Yeoh said before delivering an emotional speech—one that was only partially foiled by her Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown, which kept brushing against the microphone. (At one point, Yeoh started laughing and swearing, trying to move away from the mic to finish her remarks.) “Every one of you know the journey, the roller-coaster ride, the ups and downs. But most important, you never give up. I thank you for your love, for your support, because I know I’m up against titans.”

Yeoh’s win followed victories for two of her costars: Jamie Lee Curtis, in supporting actress, and Ke Huy Quan, in supporting actor. It’s is a pivotal one on the road to the Oscars, where the best-actress race remains too close to call. Yeoh and Blanchett have both racked up numerous precursor awards; Blanchett has taken the BAFTA and the Critics Choice Award, while Yeoh has been cited by the National Board of Review and numerous critics’ groups. Both were honored a few weeks ago at the Golden Globes, which gave Blanchett the prize for drama and Yeoh the prize for comedy.

But by nabbing the SAG—an award determined by the members of the Screen Actors Guild, many of whom also vote for the Oscars—Yeoh may just have gotten an indication that she’s about to win another statuette.