Michelle Yeoh made history when she became the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards earlier this month. The Malaysian film star told millions of watchers as she held the award for her stunning performance in the highly acclaimed film Everything Everywhere All At Once: "This is a beacon of hope and possibilities."
And it's a journey that has strong roots in the north west. Mancunians were stunned to learn that Michelle had graduated with a BA in creative arts from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1983.
And before this she was honing her skills at Crewe and Alsager College. Her close friend at college Steve Barlow has now given a great insight into their time at the college more than 40-years-ago.
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Steve told CheshireLive: "Nobody at that stage, during a degree course, would expect themselves to go on that kind of trajectory." They met in the 1982/83 academic year and specialised in dance in their final year.
He added that he was often the victim of homophobia during his college years and could be 'very nervous', but he found an 'ally' in Michelle and talks of her with 'great fondness'.
"I'm not quite sure what the event was or what the context was but I just remember being outside the main building on the Alsager campus and this young woman, who I never met before, was just treating me and speaking to me as if I was an old friend," he said.
"And that was just her manner - she was very embracing, generous and warm-hearted. We just got on from the moment we met and we became very close during that year.
"Allies weren't called allies back then, they were just people who affirmed you and connected with you. Michelle was one of those people and actually was the first person to be extraordinarily warm and welcoming to me."
Due to the homophobia Steve suffered at that time, he would feel 'unsafe' in his own halls of residence. He would therefore spend much of his free time over at Michelle's halls where they'd indulge in their shared love of horror movies.
He said: "This was the 80s so it was the age of the splatter movie. We watched horror movie after horror movie while nestled in her room.
"We were never out of the local video shop. We were always going there just hiring horror movie after horror movie after horror movie. We were watching Evil Dead, The Last House on the Left, Zombie Flesh Eaters - we were both huge horror nuts."
Steve also recalls trips to London's West End where Michelle introduced him to pork buns in Chinatown. "Whenever I went to town after college was over, I would, almost nostalgically, go and buy pork buns from Chinatown because it reminded me of our friendship," he said.
Despite Michelle moving back to Malaysia after college to pursue her acting career they met up another three times in London. At this point she had already starred in a number of martial arts films, such as Police Story and Police Assassins.
"I was just like 'what is this world you're living in'. I knew her from a dance studio, doing crazy assessments, and then I'm hearing about an injury that could've proved to be fatal," he added. "I couldn't wrap my head around it.
"The leap from Crewe and Alsager to doing all these extraordinary things was just incredible to see. She would never brag about having these skills. She never used to do martial arts at college. It was an amazing transformation."
Unfortunately they lost touch due to the difficulties of long distance communication at the time. Steve also pursued a career in performing arts, working at the West End before becoming a psychotherapist, now based in Hanley.
On when he saw his college friend win the Oscar, Steve said: "You obviously have flashbacks and it's very surreal to think 'I remember you from a little campus that no longer exists'. You know somebody in a particular time and a place but then the next time you see or hear of them, it's in a kind of land far, far away.
"We all tend to forget that anyone we consider a star or Hollywood legend weren't born that. There'll be other people who have similar stories about someone like Brendan Fraser or Jamie Lee Curtis.
"It is good I have this story to tell but I am just one of those people whose path crossed with Michelle's at one point in time during my journey and her journey. I just think those are precious moments in life."
And asked what he would say to her if he managed to see her again, he said: "It's hard to know what I would say. I think I'd hug her and say something like 'isn't this crazy? Because the last time I saw you, you were doing my dance assessment and dancing to Call Me by Blondie in a studio in Alsager'.
"But paths cross and paths uncross when people go their separate ways. It's the magical thing about the journey that we go on in life. Maybe at some point our paths will cross again but probably not. It would be wonderful. I can't imagine it would ever happen but you never know.
"And I have no reason to believe that she hasn't continued to be the young woman I experienced - somebody who was utterly accepting and embracing of me. I'll always remember her as a very special person."
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