Michelle Yeoh says she is looking for new challenges including as a producer, as she credited perseverance, hard work and passion for her historic Oscar win in March.

Yeoh, 60, became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress for her performance as a laundromat owner in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Returning to her native Malaysia to celebrate her mother’s birthday, Yeoh said she felt a sense of relief after clinching the award.

“It was a roller-coaster ride that started last year when the movie first came out. It was a whole year of not knowing, wanting, hoping, wishing,” she said during a news conference Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur. “During the journey, everyone was asking, ‘Do you want the Oscar?’ I said hell, yes, of course I want the Oscar. Who doesn’t? I am not going to beat around the bush and say no because it represents so much to so many of us.”

Yeoh reiterated that her Oscar victory was a “beacon of hope” for Asian women. “It shows us it can be done and all of you can do it,” she said.

While she has no interest in directing, Yeoh said she may branch out again as a producer. “I love producing,” she said. “I have produced before and now I can start to do so again … now I am able to branch out more because people have started to listen and appreciate what you can bring forward.”

Yeoh hopes to return to Asia in the next few months. “I am always looking for a challenge,” she said. “I believe there is so much to do in our part of the world … We are collaborators, we are storytellers. Let’s work together, and do great things.”

BTS’ J-Hope joins South Korean army: J-Hope, a member of K-pop boy band BTS, entered a South Korean boot camp Tuesday to start his 18-month compulsory military service, becoming the group’s second member to join the country’s army. Bandmate Jin, 30, entered the army in December.

Dozens of fans, who call themselves the “Army,” showed up near the base after arriving via buses wrapped with large photos of J-Hope and words hoping for his safe service.

“I love you, Army. I’ll see you again,” J-Hope, 29, said Monday in a message posted on Weverse, with photos of himself with a military buzz cut.

Soundgarden, Cornell’s widow settle lawsuit: The widow of singer Chris Cornell and his bandmates in Soundgarden — guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd — said Monday that they have resolved her lawsuit against them out of court, clearing the way for the release of the band’s final recordings more than five years after Cornell’s death.

Vicky Cornell sued Soundgarden in 2019 over royalties from recordings her husband had made that she said were intended to be a solo project but the band contended were part of their partnership with him.

No details of the agreement were released, and no court documents declaring that a deal had been reached have been filed in court.

Chris Cornell died in May 2017.

April 19 birthdays: Actor Elinor Donahue is 86. Actor Tim Curry is 77. Actor Tony Plana is 71. Actor Kim Hawthorne is 55. Actor Ashley Judd is 55. Singer Luis Miguel is 53. Actor James Franco is 45. Actor Kate Hudson is 44. Actor Hayden Christensen is 42. Actor Catalina Sandino Moreno is 42. Actor Ali Wong is 41.