Watch SAG Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan’s Amazing Speech

Vietnamese-American actor Ke Huy Quan gave a tearful acceptance speech at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Nominated for his role in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, Quan took home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting role. This win marks the first time ever for an Asian male to win a SAG award for a film performance.

Indiana Jones, The Goonies, and More

Quan made his first jump into acting at the age of twelve in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Short Round, Jones’ sidekick. He attended an open casting call for the film at his elementary school, which began what he would call “the greatest adventure of [his] life.” He followed up the starring role by co-starring in another iconic film, The Goonies, as Richard “Data” Wang. As a young actor, Quan was featured in several other movies and TV series, including the 1991 film Breathing Fire, the 1996 Taiwanese drama The Great Eunuch And The Little Carpenter, and several more. During this time, he also studied Taekwondo under stuntman, Philip Tan and later martial artist, Tao-Iiang Tan.

Quan struggled to find acting work as an adult due to what he called “very few opportunities…in the States.” He quit acting after a small role in the 1992 film Encino Man, deciding to enroll in the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Following his 1999 graduation from the institute, Quan went on to work on the sets of numerous film productions.

Quan was inspired by the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians to get back into acting. “It was such a seminal movie for me,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I felt, oh my God, that’s what I want to do after stepping away for so long.” Just two weeks after getting a talent agent, Quan was contacted by Kwan and Scheinert (the Daniels) regarding Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a dramedy that deals with generational trauma over the backdrop of a sci-fi multiverse adventure. We follow Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a middle-aged laundromat owner who has struggled to find her purpose in life. Her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), is passive and silly and has trouble keeping up with his wife’s desire to achieve all that she wishes she could. While on her way to a meeting with the IRS, Evelyn is contacted by a version of her husband from another universe, Alpha-Waymond. Alpha-Waymond sucks Evelyn into a battle for the multiverse, teaching her along the way how to gain power from alternate versions of herself. The story is action-packed, touching, and hilarious all at once, perfectly suiting Quan’s talents.

Ke Huy Quan embodied the roles of Waymond Wang, the goofy husband to the film’s lead, and the character’s universe-jumping counterparts. The ten-time Oscar-nominated film Everything Everywhere All At Once showcased its stellar cast in several roles for each actor. For his performance in the film, Quan became the first Asian male to win a SAG award for a film performance.

WATCH: #MichelleYeoh and #KeHuyQuan made history as the first Asians to win the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for best female actor and best male supporting actor for their respective performances in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. https://t.co/NXJIo9Ujv9 pic.twitter.com/Wj0uKp1Jjc

— TODAY (@TODAYonline) February 28, 2023

The SAG Awards

Quan gave a tearful acceptance speech upon receiving the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. He thanked the Guild profusely for the award before stating, “Recently, I was told that if I were to win tonight, I would become the very first Asian actor to win in this category.” He noted the importance of such an achievement, elaborating, “The moment no longer belongs to just me. It also belongs to everyone that has asked for change.”

Describing his early career, Quan remarked, “When I stepped away from acting, it was because there were so few opportunities. And now tonight, here we are, celebrating James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Hong Chau, [and] Harry Shum Jr.” He ended his speech with a heartfelt message to the viewers: “To all those at home who are watching, who are struggling and waiting to be seen, please keep on going because the spotlight will one day find you.”

Watch the trailer for Everything Everywhere All At Once below.