A huge congratulations to Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan for winning their awards at the Oscars! Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress Award and Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor. As an added bonus, the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once dominated the Oscars by winning 7 awards. DAMN. More awards than I’ve gotten like ever. I’m not that jealous…..at all….
It’s becoming more apparent that there is a lack of Asian representation in the Hollywood scene. There’s a growing community of Asian actors and supporters who not only want more Asians to have presence in Hollywood films but to also the Asian community be represented more positively. Although I am not a part of that community (even as an Asian), I felt like some distant excitement for Michelle and Ke Huy when I saw the news Monday morning. Most of it was for them but there was a little part of me that was excited also. I wanted to briefly touch on both.
Best Actress Michelle Yeoh
I didn’t know this but apparently Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian to win Best Actress. Now that’s something to be said of this veteran actress. Plus this is her first Oscar award too!
When I learned of this, I felt so pumped. I just was thinking – FINALLY. THIS WOMAN HAS FINALLY BEEN RECOGNIZED BY HOLLYWOOD FOR HER WORK. I mean – I’ve been watching her ever since I was a kid. It started with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. And then the next movie I watched with her in it was James Bond…the list goes on with Crazy Rich Asians and Shang Chi. And I thought she was great in all of them. It’s crazy to think that it took her like 20+ years to achieve this award. And she’s 60 too! She’s killing it! Again – congratulations to you Michelle for this proud achievement!
Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan
I don’t quite know Ke Huy as well as I do Michelle but the fact that he’s only acted in 15 movies (vs 59 for Michelle) just shows how good of an actor he is to achieve this distinguished award. I briefly looked into his acting career and wanted to share some details for those (like me) who don’t know who he is.
He’s a Vietnamese born American actor and stunt choreographer. He studied film at the USC (University of Southern California). Aside from his recent role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, he has played roles in very famous films such as The Goonies and Indiana Jones. He took a 20 year hiatus from acting because of the lack of acting opportunities for Asian actors. After watching Crazy Rich Asians, Quan decided to return to acting and then booked his role in his latest movie.
I’m glad he decided to return to acting. If this is just the beginning for him, I can’t wait to see where he takes his rediscovered passion for acting. Cheers to you Ke Huy!
What their success has taught me
When I saw their success, the first thing I felt was hope. It was the hope that you could still achieve your goals and dreams no matter how old you are. My current dream is to be able to tell stories through any medium, but I feel like I’m almost losing time to achieve that dream because I’m turning 30. After I turn 30, I feel like things will just get exponentially harder and I won’t find enough time to work on my dreams. But what Michelle and Ke Huy Quan showed me was that there’s no age requirement for when that needs to happen as long as you put in the necessary work and patience.
For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof – dream big and dreams do come true”
Michelle Yeoh
The second thing that they showed me was that patience and hard work toward your goals will pay off in the long run. Michelle and Ke Huy Quan have been acting for over 40 years and this is the first time they received Oscars for their performances. This showed that they didn’t give up on their dreams or working hard on their craft. 40 years is a hell of a long time to wait for any recognition so that level of patience required is high.
Don’t give up on your dreams. Dreams are vital to who you are as a person. Like What Ke Huy said:
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.
Ke Huy Quan
Cheers,
Be Confident. Stay Curious.
