Awards shows always run way, way too long, which is why they boast a very important job: the musicians who play winners offstage if they ramble too long. They’ll play off anyone. They’ll even play off Jennifer Coolidge. But at this first Golden Globes since their temporary semi-hiatus, the piano player tasked with nudging people off stage messed with the wrong person.
At the Globes, Michelle Yeoh won a well-deserved trophy for Best Actress for a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, for last year’s crossover sci-fi action hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was her first ever Golden Globe. She wasn’t even nominated for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to say nothing of Yes, Madam. She really milked the occasion, launching into a beautiful monologue about sticking with her craft for four decades and not letting Hollywood treat her like crap.
She eventually reached her speech’s emotional peak: getting Everything Everywhere All at Once, which allowed her to scratch her dramatic, comedic, and action itches all at once, and become an awards season frontrunner. And it was at this exact moment that the piano player tried to play her off.