Ke Huy Quan won an Oscar after struggling as an actor for decades. Here are key 5 moments from his big night.
Someone pass the tissues 🥹
Ke Huy Quan won an Oscar Sunday — and he played the long game to win Hollywood’s top accolade.
Quan, 51, got his start as a child actor. His debut was in a little film called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, where he played Short Round, and a year later, he was Data in The Goonies. After his initial burst of child stardom, Quan would land smaller parts in films, including Encino Man, where he played Kim from the local computer club. Then, work dried up.
“I remember not having one single audition for an entire year,” Quan recently told The Guardian. He shifted to stuntwork, studied film in college, and suppressed his acting dreams.
Quan’s role as Waymond in best picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once marked his big comeback. But — citing the COVID-19 pandemic — work fizzled out again, causing the actor to lose his health insurance.
Anxious, the actor said he called a producer from Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“[The producer said], ‘Ke, Just be patient. You just wait,’” Quan said. “The movie came out in March of last year and my life has changed.”
Sunday marked Quan’s first Oscar nomination and win for best supporting actor. It also launched a winning night for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which was up for 11 awards and won seven, including best picture and directing. Quan has roles lined up in Disney+’s American Born Chinese and Season 2 of Loki.
As he went on stage to accept his award, tears in his eyes, Quan was met with a standing ovation. Here are our top five moments from his emotional speech and win.
1. Thanking his 84-year-old mom who was watching from home
“My mom is 84 years old and watching,” Quan said. “Mom I just won an Oscar.”
He added, “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 is the American dream.”
2. He shouted out his Goonies costar who’s also his entertainment lawyer
Apparently, Quan and his Goonies costars have kept tight. The cast did a virtual reunion for charity during the pandemic. But one castmate in particular, Jeff Cohen aka Chunk, plays an extra special role in Quan’s life. Cohen left acting to become an entertainment attorney. He’s Quan’s lawyer and handled his contract for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“When the producer of our movie was trying to make my deal, he said he never imagined that he’d have to talk to Chunk and Data for his movie,” Quan joked in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
3. Fellow Encino Man alum, Brendan Fraser, won best actor marking ultimate comeback moment
Sunday’s best actor and best supporting actor wins signified a full-circle moment for Quan and his former Encino Man costar Brendan Fraser. After he 1990s flick, both actors described feeling snubbed by Hollywood.
Their reemergence to the top wasn’t lost on fans and movie buffs, including Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted Sunday’s event.
“Thirty-one years ago in 1992, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan were in Encino Man together,” Kimmel said. “Two actors who were in Encino Man are nominated for Oscars. What an incredible night it must be for the two of you and what a very difficult night for Pauly Shore.”
Fraser won for his starring role in The Whale. Following their wins, the pair were seen embracing while holding their new trophies.
“Oh my God. We did it, we did it, we did it! Wow,” Quan said to Fraser.
4. An embrace between Quan and Harrison Ford mirrors their Indiana Jones hug
In arguably one of the most wholesome moments ever portrayed on live television, Harrison Ford and Quan reunited on stage. Ford was presenting the winner for best picture, which went to Everything Everywhere All at Once.
When Quan made it on stage, he and Ford, 80, began grinning and giddily pointing at one another. They hugged and Quan kissed Ford on the cheek, jumping in excitement. The embrace mirrored a cinematic moment from Quan’s debut in Indiana Jones and was almost instantly posted with side-by-side comparisons online.
In the crowd, Steven Spielberg — who directed Indiana Jones — smiled and applauded. Quan regularly thanked Spielberg, who was nominated for The Fabelmans, throughout his awards show run.
5. He implored others not to give up on their dreams
At the end of his speech, Quan thanked his wife for constantly believing in him, “month after month, year after year, for 20 years.”
He told the crowd, “dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, pleas keep your dreams alive.”
We’re not crying, you’re crying.