Former child star from Indiana Jones Ke Huy Quan wins Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once
The former child star who made a name for himself starring alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones has just won an Oscar.
In case you had your head buried in a sandpit for the past year, yes, that is the kid from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies who just won an Oscar.
Ke Huy Quan just claimed victory for Best Supporting Actor for his versatile, emotional and powerful performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. And he and Harrison Ford had the most adorable onstage reunion.
Quan was widely expected to triumph after sweeping through almost all the precursor awards and in addition to winning gongs, he’s also won hearts with his amazing “can you believe this is happening?” energy.
Quan has given plenty of inspirational speeches pointing to his unexpected comeback in the industry, but his Oscars one will be one for the ages.
Quan and Ford also had a bless-your-heart reunion moment on stage when Ford presented the cast and crew of Everything All At Once with the Best Picture gong.
this is actually my favorite moment of the night pic.twitter.com/PLlHEhtmQF
— sean yoo (@SeanYoo) March 13, 2023
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 13, 2023
In his acceptance speech, Quan said, “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 this only happens 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 good care of myself. I love you, brother!
“Thank you to Kendall for all your support and everything you’ve done.
“Thank you to A24, the Daniels, Jonathan, Jamie, Michelle and, my brother for life, Jeff Cohen.
“I owe everything to the love of my life. My wife who month after month, year after year, for 20 years, told me that one day, 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 for so much for welcoming me back!”
Quan was discovered was a child actor by Steven Spielberg who cast him as Short Round opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
When he won at the Golden Globes in January, he even thanked Spielberg who was in the audience. He said, “I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you.”
The year after Indiana Jones, he starred in The Goonies. After a couple more roles in the early 1990s – Breathing Fire and Encino Man with Brendan Fraser – Quan found the roles dried up.
He told Interview, “Stepping away from acting was not an easy decision to make. I had to be realistic, there were not a lot of opportunities for an Asian actor at that time. I had no choice but to do something else, so I went to film school, graduated, and started working behind the camera.”
After a 20-year break, Quan decided to have another go at his dream, and within two weeks he read the script for Everything Everywhere All At Once.
“And I got the part! So for all those doubters out there who don’t think their dream can come true, look at me. Your dream can come true as well.”
Everything Everywhere All At Once is nominated for 11 Oscars.
In that same speech, Quan talked about the challenges he faced as an actor of Asian heritage in an industry where the opportunities were few and far between.
“For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.”
Quan isn’t the only former child actor to win an Oscar today with Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley picking up the gong for Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking.
Polley starred in a string of movies as a kid, most notably in Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. As an adult, she has been open about the traumas she experienced from what she alleged was Gilliam’s unsafe sets.
Polley is also an actor who has featured in the likes of Go, Dawn of the Dead and The Event.
But it’s her work as a filmmaker that has earnt her the most acclaim, starting with her 2006 movie Away From Her starring Julie Christie. She also made the documentary Stories We Tell, based on her own story about finding out who her biological father was. It won a Writers Guild of America award for Best Documentary Screenplay.
Polley said in her speech, “First of all I want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words women and talking put so close together like that. Miriam Toews wrote a novel about radical act of democracy about people who don’t agree on every issue, managed to sit in a room and carved out a way forward free of violence.
“They do so not just by talking but also by listening. The last line of our film is delivered by a young woman to a new baby and she says, ‘Your story will be different from ours’.
“It’s a promise, a commitment and an anchor and it’s what I would like to say with all of my might to my incredible kids Eve, Isla and Amy as they make their way through this beautiful world.”
Polley is also nominated for a second Oscar this year in Best Picture as a producer of Women Talking.
Nicole Kidman’s beauty secrets revealed
Gucci Westman has worked with the world’s most stunning faces, from Anne Hathaway to Nicole Kidman. Here, the Hollywood makeup artist debriefs on beauty trends post-Oscars.
Truth about ‘offensive’ Oscars moment
It was the jaw-dropping faux pas that overshadowed Hollywood’s night of nights and now the megastar responsible has spoken.
Star arrives late to Oscars shouting message
An Oscar nominee who was rushing to Hollywood’s night of nights shouted in support of the protesters who made him late.