Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan are both up for Oscars for their roles in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
A24
After rising to fame as a child star in the 1980s, Ke Huy Quan is more popular than ever following his recent comeback to the big screen. He is one of the stars of A24’s hit film Everything Everywhere All at Once, garnering Quan a plethora of award nominations along with widespread acclaim from critics and filmgoers alike. The actor has been visibly ecstatic in recent interviews about this resurgence in popularity, and the fans couldn’t be happier to see Quan getting his well-deserved praise.
In a new chat with the Los Angeles Times for its The Envelope podcast, Quan’s co-star Michelle Yeoh commented on his acting comeback. She points out that Quan has always had the talent, so this isn’t so much about getting rediscovered as it is just finally giving the actor a role he could excel in. Yeoh theorizes that Quan could have been enjoying this adulation years ago if only he’d been given similar opportunities in the past, noting that this has been a common problem with Asian actors.
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“It’s fantastic, you know. And the only reason that he has — it’s not about being rediscovered. He was always there, but he didn’t have the role to play, right? If there had been more roles like this, he could have come back sooner ’cause his talent didn’t go away. The crux of the matter is, where are these roles? Like maybe four years ago, before Crazy Rich Asians came out, there weren’t even stories like this that were told. So I am very proud of Ke. He saw the opportunity and he ran for it. But what I’m saying is: Give us more opportunities. Stephanie [Hsu] deserved this kind of opportunity. Harry Shum [Jr.] deserved this kind of opportunity. Ronny Chieng — they all deserve these kinds of opportunities.”
Related: Harrison Ford Is Happy About Ke Huy Quan’s Academy Award Nomination
The Glass Ceiling Has Been Shattered
A24
Everything Everywhere All at Once has garnered great praise and many awards for its cast and crew. Both Yeoh and Quan have been among the Oscar nominees ecipients for their respective roles in the film, and they’re also up for Oscars, as are co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu. Yeoh says that this success has broken the “glass ceiling” that had kept them pushed down in the past.
“We need storytellers. It’s just that I think what has happened is that glass ceiling has been shattered. It goes to prove that the audience, as long as you’re a good storyteller, I don’t care about whether it is Asian or Hispanic or what. You’re telling me a story that I can relate to. The kids that are coming up to me are not all Asians. But you know that they are young people. I think, yes, of course it reflects much more deeply to the Asian bases because they say, ‘I can see myself there on the screen, which means I am seen. I can do things. I will be given the opportunity to do things.’ So it’s been a good journey.”
The Academy Awards will go down on March 12, at which point we’ll see how many Oscars the film adds to its list of accolades.
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