Everything Everywhere Actor Ke Huy Quan's Oscars Speech Will Have You Crying Happy Tears
All the universes can now call Ke Huy Quan an Oscar winner.
While accepting his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Everything Everywhere All At Once star once again delivered a heartfelt speech at the 2023 Oscars that had us wishing he could win everything, everywhere. (See the full list of 2023 Oscars winners here.)
"My mom is 84 years old, and she's at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar!" an emotional Quan said onstage at the Dolby Theater. "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 happen in the movies. I cannot believe it's happening to me. This, this is the American dream!"
The actor—who edged out Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Brian Tyree Henry and Judd Hirsch—for the honor, thanked his mom "for the sacrifices she made to get me here," his brother, who he said "calls me everyday just to remind me to take care of myself."
From the stage, he also gave shoutouts to co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh, as well as his Goonies co-star and "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, one day my time will come," he continued. "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 so much for welcoming me back. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
The award completes Quan's incredible awards season run in which fans saw him pick up trophies at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards and SAG Awards. And every time he graced the stage, he delivered an impassioned speech that often left the audience in tears.
"This is a really emotional moment for me," Quan said Feb. 26 at the SAG Awards. "Recently I was told that if I was to win tonight, I would become the very first Asian actor to win in this category. When I heard this I quickly realized that this moment no longer belongs to just me, it also belongs to everyone who has asked for change."
The Oscar marks a significant achievement in Quan's career, which stalled for two decades due to lack of acting opportunities. Now, Quan—who was a child actor in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom—is living out his dreams.
"Every year, I would imagine what it's like to walk down the red carpet, to be in that room, to get nominated," he told The Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 23. "It's a dream that only existed in my imagination for the longest time."
Keep scrolling to see more stars who won big at the 2023 Oscars.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking
The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg
Tár, Todd Field
Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund
Cate Blanchett, Tár
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans
WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Bill Nighy, Living
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Babylon
WINNER: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Elvis
WINNER: Top Gun: Maverick
All Quiet on the Western Front
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Living
Top Gun: Maverick
WINNER: Women Talking
The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Tar
Triangle of Sadness
WINNER: An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase
WINNER: The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It
"Applause" from Tell It like a Woman, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick, Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
"Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
WINNER: "Naatu Naatu" from RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
"This Is A Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
WINNER: Navalny
WINNER: The Elephant Whisperers
Haulout
How Do You Measure a Year?
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger at the Gate
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
EO
The Quiet Girl
WINNER: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
WINNER: The Whale
All Quiet on the Western Front
WINNER: Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Elvis
Empire of Light
Tár
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
