After stealing hearts as Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, Ke Hey Quan has captured them again with his appearance at the Golden Globes.
The film, also starring Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, was one of my favourites of the year, earning 5 stars on Letterboxd. (Letterboxd, for those of you who don’t know, is a fab app where you can track and review films.) It’s a stunning movie that depicts the struggles of family life and the torn relationship between a mother and daughter through a crazy interdimensional narrative. But don’t just take my word for it. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” gets a deserved 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and is Letterboxd’s highest rated film of 2022.
To add to this love, Ke Huy Quan, who plays main character Evelyn’s kind and doting husband, has just received the award for best supporting actor in a motion picture. Quan is the first actor of Asian descent to win in this category for nearly 40 years, beating Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan, for their roles in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Brad Pitt for “Babylon” and Eddie Redmayne for “The Good Nurse.”
Quan recently returned to the screen after almost 20 years, starting his career as a child star in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, which was filmed in 1983 when he was just 12 years old. This return saw him winning his first award which, it seemed, was all a bit too much to handle for the actor. His Golden Globes speech was packed with emotion and praise for those who got him the role.
The speech itself was wonderful, and the full press-room speech can be found here for those interested:
However, it was his interview with Entertainment Tonight post-ceremony that brought a tear to my eye (matching his already very tearful face). He choked up as he answered their questions about how he felt:
“I can’t believe I’m here. Holding this [award]. Talking to you.”
He then goes on to talk about the impression Steven Spielberg had on his life, and you begin to understand just how much this moment means to him. It feels as though he is doing this for his younger self, and the boy from Indiana Jones is amazed with how far he has come. But he is so humble; he appreciates everyone who got him where he is today.
“When I was up there, I saw Steven Spielberg looking at me and that gave me the greatest joy because that man gave me my first opportunity.”
He then adds, excitedly: “I got a standing ovation from Steven Spielberg!”
Swipe across to a throwback photo of the duo!
After having watched the film a couple of times now, the representation of the strength we can find in kindness is the most powerful message of all. Waymond Wang is initially seen as a weak, silly husband who is simply getting in the way of Evelyn. Rather than following the classic trope of finding masculine power to save the day, Waymond remains his kind self. Yet he is still the hero of the story. He projects his kindness on to Evelyn who uses this to defeat the evil interdimensional version of her daughter. (This will make more sense if you have seen the film!)
Both Ke Huy Quan and his character Waymond Wang are kind, honest individuals. I am so happy to see such a representation of masculinity on the screen and to see such a deserving winner on the stage.