‘Everything at once everywhere’ Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan on Oscar History: Now Asian actors know they are sitting around the table

Then came 11 Oscar nominations Everything, everywhere, all at once On Tuesday morning, putting her at the head of the pack, the film’s protagonist, Michelle Yeoh, watched Zoom with directors The Daniels and her co-star Ke Huy Quan.

Yeoh made history at the time as the first self-identifying Asian leading lady in Academy history (Merle Oberon was nominated in 1939, but her parentage was kept secret).

Speaking to Deadline after the news, Yeoh said: “I think what I’m thinking, ‘What this means to me is that all these Asians out there are saying, ‘See, it’s possible. If she can do it, so can I. .’ That’s the most important thing. I’m very ordinary. I just work very hard. There are so many brilliant actresses, actors who know they’re at the table. All they have to do is find an opportunity and get out there.”

Yeoh was grateful for the Zoom call of support, she said, feeling the full importance of the moment. “I was so scared that I sat here thinking what if I don’t get nominated? What about all the people who have such hopes and have pinned their hopes and aspirations on you to tell us to be there? … Sometimes you don’t do things for yourself. They tell stories because it is important that that story be told. And you need it to be there. And I understand the need for us Asians to turn around and say, “We need this,” because it just confirms that we deserve to be at the table and we deserve to be a part of it.

Meanwhile, Yeoh’s co-star Stephanie Hsu landed on a plane from Sydney, where she is filming The Autumn Man with Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling. At 5:25 am Pacific Time, just as the nominations were announced, the plane’s Wi-Fi connection went down. Feeling uncomfortable, Hsu asked the flight attendant to reset the plane’s system.

“She probably thought I was some tech-obsessed millennial who couldn’t be near her phone,” Hsu laughed.

As Hsu reflected on the news, she focused on Yeoh’s historic nomination: “Every card that was ever stacked against me was stacked tenfold against her. And being able to experience that together feels like breaking some cycles, you know? Some patterns are breaking and I’m really honored to be standing next to her and all the lead actors in our film and with so much of our team. There must be different ways we measure success and artistry, but for people who have passed unseen, it is important that Michelle is first in 95 years. It’s a big problem.”

During the pandemic, in the time between filming and waiting for the release of the film, Ke Huy Quan lost his health insurance because he could not find a job. “I auditioned left and right and couldn’t get any work,” he said. “Before that I was just so scared [getting hired for Everything Everywhere] was a one time thing and that’s it. Nobody wants to hire me again. Then the movie came out and it changed my life. What has happened since then is incredible.”

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When he made the film, an Oscar nomination wasn’t even a distant dream for him. “I remember thinking that we would only be happy if we got our budget back. We didn’t even have awards season in mind. It’s like being nominated. Is that even possible? Only this little movie can do that. I’m so excited.”