The Theory of ‘Everything’: Why Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar Chances Rest on SAG Awards

Are the SAG Awards Michelle Yeoh’s last stand in the battle for best actress Oscar? 

SAG-AFTRA is the final industry group to bestow awards before final Oscar voting begins. With Academy members’ eyes on that Feb. 26 event, all hopes for Yeoh — after losing Critics Choice and BAFTA — are in the hands of the org’s approximately 16,000 members.

Her role as Evelyn, a laundromat owner on a quest to save the multiverse, is among the 11 Oscar nominations for the sci-fi comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Multiple pundits predict a big night for the A24 feature, including supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan, original screenplay and director for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

Yeoh’s main competition is Cate Blanchett, who is nominated for her performance in Todd Field’s “Tár.” Despite the critical acclaim and career admiration that have flowed all awards season long, Yeoh has fallen behind the two-time Oscar winner in awards group accolades.

Blanchett and Yeoh have won Golden Globes in their respective lead actress drama and comedy categories. Before that, however, Blanchett walked away with the Critics Choice Award. Now, following the BAFTA Awards, where the Australian performer won her fourth statuette, a victory for Yeoh isn’t entirely out of the question — but the odds are greatly diminished. 

If Yeoh fails to take SAG, winning the Oscar is virtually impossible. The last actress to do so with only a Golden Globe was Jessica Lange for “Blue Sky” (1994). Moreover, if Blanchett wins all four major televised prizes — BAFTA, Critics Choice, Globes and SAG — best actress will be nearly cemented. In Oscar history, only one actor in any category has lost the Academy Award after winning those four: Russell Crowe for “A Beautiful Mind” (2001) to Denzel Washington for “Training Day” (2001). 

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, Michelle Yeoh, 2022. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection Courtesy Everett Collection

Why hasn’t Yeoh caught on with the voters of these groups?

One reason is that they’re missing a vital component of her role: Yeoh, 60, delivers a physically demanding performance, full of martial arts moves and stunt work that is as spectacular as Tom Cruise flying a jet in “Top Gun: Maverick.” And she achieves the daunting maneuvers while exquisitely conveying the pain and regret of a Chinese immigrant seeking a pathway to life’s happiness.

“I’m still shocked when I see clips from the movie and reminded how different Evelyn Wang is from Michelle Yeoh,” Scheinert says. “She did her homework.” 

Industry voters may not see the effort in her effortless turn. Says Kwan: “I think she talks about our movie in a way that kind of diminishes what she did.”

Another factor is that comedic outings are rarely given their flowers. In some of the most competitive Oscar matchups of the past decade, Golden Globe winners for lead actress comedy — such as Amy Adams (“American Hustle”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) — couldn’t overcome their counterparts in the drama category.

A similar scenario to that of “Everything Everywhere” is Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Birdman,” which landed four Oscars — best picture, director, original screenplay and cinematography — but didn’t come away with one for star Michael Keaton. As with Yeoh, the appreciation for the veteran actor was a major theme on the campaign trail, with career tributes and emphasis on his memorable roles dominating the conversation. Keaton’s comedic turn lost to Eddie Redmayne as scientist Stephen Hawking in the biopic drama “The Theory of Everything.” 

Will SAG give Yeoh “Everything” she needs? Whether or not the dream of her standing on the Dolby Theatre stage becomes a reality in our universe, we, like Evelyn Wang, will “cherish these few specks of time.”

The final SAG Awards predictions are below.