A24's Everything Everywhere All At Once triumphed at last night's Oscars with seven (seven!) awards. The speeches, naturally, were full of heightened emotions.
With Michelle Yeoh becoming the first Asian person in the ceremony’s history to win best actress, and internet favourite Jamie Lee Curtis picking up best supporting actress, it was Ke Huy Quan’s acceptance speech that perhaps packed the most dramatic punch.
Quan, 51 – who stars as Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All At Once – spoke of his long and arduous path to the podium, including the fact his “journey started on a boat” from Vietnam and that he “spent a year in a refugee camp”, adding that this truly was his American dream, quipping that “stories like these only happen in the movies”.
Over his time in Hollywood, Quan also pulled off the almost unthinkable career goal: a child star in the Eighties – starring in the The Goonies and Indiana Jones And the Temple Of Doom – turned later-life Oscar winner, with few people ever able to sustain the two. He admitted how difficult it had been in the 40 year gap between his hit films: “I almost gave up on my [dream].”
Finally, as Quan thanked all the most important people in the film, the Daniels [the directors], Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, with his voice cracking with emotion, he saved the biggest thanks for the two women in his life, his 84-year-old mum (“Mum, I just won an Oscar!”) and his wife, Echo: “month after month, year after year for 20 years, [she] told me that one day my time will come.”
Quan’s acceptance speech in full:
“Thank you. Thank you. My mum is 84 years old and she's at home watching. Mum, I just won an Oscar! My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood's biggest stage. They say stories like these only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it's happening to me. This– this is the American dream. Thank you so much.
“Thank you so much to the Academy for this honour of a lifetime. Thank you to my mum for the sacrifices she made to get me here. To my little brother, David, who calls me every day just to remind me to take care of myself: I love you, brother. Thank you to Ken for all of your support and for everything you've done. Thank you to A24, (directors) the Daniels, Jamie (Lee Curtis) and Michelle (Yeoh) and my 'Goonies' brother for life, Jeff Cohen.
“I owe everything to the love of my life, my wife, Echo, who month after month, year after year for 20 years, told me that one day my time will come. Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive. Thank you, thank you so much for welcoming me back. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
