On March 12th 2023, the 95th Academy Awards (most popularly known as the Oscars) was held by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the films released in 2022. The film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” led the ceremony with eleven nominations and seven wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and three of the four acting awards. Actor Ke Huy Quan won one of the Oscar for the Best Supporting Actor in the movie, “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” 

When Ke Huy Quan was a small child, his family made the decision to escape Vietnam in the middle of the night with five of his other siblings. This is where the story of Ke Huy Quan begins. Quan and his family traveled by boat and arrived in Hong Kong where they stayed in a refugee camp for an entire year until eventually they were granted political asylum and left Hong Kong for Los Angeles. Four years later in 1984, Quan landed on a job in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” This movie “changed my life,” as stated by Quan in his interview with Variety Magazine. For a time period in Quan’s life he was unemployed and was struggling to find a job, Quan would go on to graduate film school and this experience helped him understand the dedication of everyone on set for the production of a movie.

Quan’s dedication to the film industry would not go unnoticed, he is now an Oscar winner. “We have a seat at the table now, our voices are being heard, our faces are being seen, it  feels amazing this is what we wanted for the longest longest time.” Quan’s win as an Asian actor would also encourage future generations of aspiring filmmakers/actors like him to work hard for the opportunities ahead of them. Quan believes that his win was not just the result of his hard work but the hard work that his parents had put in. By placing one brick down at a time, they paved the road of success for him. “My mom is eighty four years old and she’s at home watching. Mom, I just won an Oscar!!!” Quin stated emotionally, as he stood on to one of the largest stages of Hollywood.  Congrats Quin! You are an inspiration!