Oscars 2023: The joy of film and the joy of representation, backstage at the Oscars

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Everything Everywhere All at Once was the big winner at Sunday night’s 95th Annual Academy Awards, snagging almost everything: The film from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert nabbed seven Oscars out of its leading 11 nominations, including Best Picture.

Backstage, its star Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress trophy, explained, “This is actually a historical moment, so I really have to thank the Academy for acknowledging [and] embracing diversity and true representation.”

She added, “I think this is something that we have been working so hard towards for a very long time. And tonight we frigging broke that glass ceiling!”

Everything‘s Best Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis explained it was a “surreal and proud” moment, but she added she would have loved to see more female representation in other categories. “I think we’re getting there. We’re not anywhere near there,” she cautioned. “I think the most important thing is inclusivity and more women. I mean, basically just f***ing more women anywhere, anytime, all at once!”

Ke Huy Quan was as emotional backstage as he was on the podium accepting Best Supporting Actor for the film. The former child star of Steven Spielberg‘s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom expressed, “During one of the commercial breaks, I ran up to Steven…and he gave me a big hug…and he says, ‘Ke, you are now an Oscar winning actor.’ And hearing him say that meant the world to me. And I still cannot believe it.”

Brendan Fraser‘s career comeback was complete with an Best Actor win for The Whale. He explained filming during COVID influenced all the nominated films. “We all lived under an existential threat, we didn’t know if there would be a tomorrow,” he said, adding the cast performed, “as if it’s the first and last time you ever will.”

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