After winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” actor Ke Huy Quan gave an emotional speech that moved everyone to tears.
“Mom, I just won an Oscar!” the 51-year-old said while holding back tears.
Quan, who played Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, had quit acting for 20 years due to a lack of Asian role, but made an incredible comeback in the Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
Quan was born in Vietnam, where his family fled in 1978.
He spent a year in a refugee camp in Hong Kong while his mother and three other siblings fled to Malaysia before his whole family was admitted to the US as refugees in 1979.
“My journey started on a boat,” Quan said. “I spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage.”
“They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me,” he said. “This, this, is the American Dream.”
He also asked everyone to believe in the power of dreams.
“Dreams are something you have to believe in,” he added. “I almost gave up on mine.”
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” was a big winner on Sunday night, taking home seven awards in total, including Best Picture, Best Director for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as Daniels), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, who made history as the first Asian woman to win the award in the Oscars’ 95 year history.
