So where does Michelle Yeoh go after making history at the Oscars? Back to space: the final frontier.
The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star, who became the first Asian performer to win the Oscar for lead actress in March, will return to the world of “Star Trek,” Paramount+ announced Tuesday.
Yeoh will reprise the role of Emperor Philippa Georgiou in the streaming film “Star Trek: Section 31.” She first appeared as Starfleet Captain Philippa Georgiou in Season 1 of “Star Trek: Discovery” and conceived the idea for a spinoff before the series even aired in 2017. (Season 5 will begin streaming next year.)
“Star Trek: 31” will follow Yeoh’s Philippa as she “joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past,” according to Paramount+.
“Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of ‘Star Trek’ launched,” Yeoh said in a statement. “To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams.”
A “Star Trek” spinoff featuring the “Crazy Rich Asians” star has been in the works since 2018, Deadline reported. Yeoh confirmed its development in in 2019.
Yeoh will serve as an executive producer on “Station 31,” which will begin production later this year.
The “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” actor departed “Star Trek: Discovery” in December 2020. Yeoh’s final episode showed her character getting a second chance at life in the Mirror Universe, leaving the Discovery crew behind.
“Discovery” is one in a handful of “Star Trek” projects at Paramount+. The streamer also touts “Picard,” starring Patrick Stewart, and the animated series “Lower Decks.”
Yeoh won her first Oscar for her work in the multiverse-hopping “Everything Everywhere All at Once” at the Academy Awards last month. The A24 film swept the awards show, winning seven prizes including the marquee best picture award.
“We need this because there’s so many who have felt unseen, unheard. It’s not just the Asian community,” Yeoh said of her win in the Oscars press room. “We deserve to be heard. We deserve to be seen. We deserve to have equal opportunity so we can have a seat at the table. That’s all we’re asking for. Give us that opportunity. Let us prove we are worthy.”
Last week, Yeoh brought her Oscar, which she named “Mr. O,” home to her mother in Malaysia. She shared photos on Instagram showing the trophy in her mother’s embrace and in front of her father’s grave.
