Ke Huy Quan’s Groundbreaking Golden Globe Win Is Everything (Everywhere All At Once)

By Anna Menta
Published Jan. 10, 2023, 8:45 p.m. ET

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Golden Globes 2023

Ke Huy Quan took home the first award of the night at the 2023 Golden Globes, and he immediately had the entire audience in tears.

“Wow! Thank you so much!” Quan said as he accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Quan is only the second Asian actor to win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, the first being Haing S Ngor, who won in 1984 for The Killing Fields. And Quan is the only Vietnam-born actor to ever take home the award, making it a historic win.

The first thing Quan did in his acceptance speech was turn to director Steven Spielberg in the audience, who cast Quan in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Quan was 12 years old. (Quan then starred in The Goonies as Data, another Spielberg script.) “I was raised to never forget where I came from, and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity,” Quan said. “I’m so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you!”

Spielberg responded by blowing Quan a kiss.

 

Then Quan really tried to make us cry, by reflecting on his years as a child actor. “When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen. As I grew older I started to wonder if that was it—if that was just luck. For so many years I was afraid I had nothing more to offer—that no matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.”

At this point, Quan grew visibly emotional as he turned to Everything Everywhere directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. “Thankfully, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me,” Quan said, his voice trembling. “They remembered that kid, and they gave me an opportunity to try again.” Quan paused to wipe his eyes as the audience cheered, and concluded, “Everything that has happened since has been unbelievable!”

Way to make us cry, Data!

You can find the full list of 2023 Golden Globe nominations here, and follow along with Decider’s 2023 Golden Globe coverage.