Dear Gossips,
Ke Huy Quan covers the new issue of Variety, fresh off his Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor in Everything Everywhere All At Once. His award show run – during which he won at the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice, the SAGs, and finally the Oscars – has been one of the highlights of the season, and it sounds like he may need some time to process what’s happened over the last year.
The film premiered pretty much exactly a year ago at SXSW before opening in theatres on March 25, 2022…and it really hasn’t stopped since. During that time, on top of riding the high from how the film was received, he worked on two projects: American Born Chinese, which will stream on Disney+ in May and season two of Loki, expected to drop some time this summer. He got that job right after EEAAO came out – one of the first calls that came in was from Kevin Feige who offered him the part. He also voices a role in the Russo Brothers’ The Electric State due out on Netflix next year.
Ke’s work on all three of those projects, however, is complete and right now, he’s not attached to any further opportunities. At least not yet. The way it usually goes, however, is that when you win an Oscar, the opportunities come pouring in. Will that happen for Ke Huy Quan? Even he admits that he’s unsure as he tells Variety that, “I had a conversation with my agent. I’m so worried that this is only a one-time thing.”
Even with the most coveted Hollywood trophy in his hand, just hours after his standing ovation, he’s still anxious about what’s to come. You might say that that’s just the reality of the business, but it’s even more of a reality in the business for actors from minority groups, because I just checked Ke’s predecessor Troy Kotsur’s IMDb page and I don’t see a lot of entries for him after his win. A reminder, then, that progress shouldn’t stop on that stage.
Which doesn’t mean that we can’t still celebrate what Ke has achieved, what he and his wife, Echo, have achieved together. They met when they were both working with Wong Kar Wai who set them up. When she and Ke moved to America from Hong Kong, she couldn’t find work. Echo was the on-set translator on EEAAO, her first job in the industry.
You can imagine what Sunday night meant to both Ke and Echo as they reflect on the last two decades of their lives and what might be next for them.
On a lighter note, Ke also shared with Variety some of the selfies he took on Oscar night which has been his thing all season.
For more on Ke Huy Quan’s Oscar experience, check out the full article at Variety.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
