The 2023 awards season is officially in full swing, and it kicked off last night with the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards.
Hosted by Jerrod Carmichael, this year's ceremony marked the return of the awards after NBC declined to air the 2022 awards following an investigation into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
A lot of incredible people walked away with much-deserved awards, like the cast of Abbott Elementary, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Coolidge, Michelle Yeoh, and more. However, no speech was quite as memorable as Ke Huy Quan's, who got the first award of the evening.
Ke Huy Quan took home the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work as Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The role has earned him critical acclaim and marks his triumphant return to acting.
If you don't know, Ke was a child actor, who is probably best known for playing Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984 and Data in The Goonies in 1985.
After starring in a few other films, Ke was essentially forced to retire from acting given the limited number of roles for Asian actors.
While promoting Everything Everywhere All at Once, he has talked about his return, telling GQ, "I saw my fellow Asian actors up on the screen [in Crazy Rich Asians], and I had serious FOMO because I wanted to be up there with them. I thought about it for a long time, because I hadn’t done it in 20 years, and you don’t know if people will still embrace you. But when I stepped in front of the camera again, I realized that's what was missing all those years."
So, as you can imagine, his acceptance speech at the 2023 Golden Globes was an emotional one. He even started it by thanking Steven Spielberg, who cast him in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom nearly 40 years ago.
Look at this adorable then vs. now of them too:
Like, I started bawling the minute Ke began his speech.
We are all Jessica Chastain in this moment.
I can't even do his acceptance speech justice by just using photos, so you can watch Ke Huy Quan's full speech below:
View this video on YouTube
Shortly after his big win, fans — like me — took to Twitter to show their support of Ke and just get emotional over this entire moment. Here are some of the best reactions:
ke huy quan awards season has begun and i am so proud of him. i'm gonna weep every time he speaks 🥺❤️ #goldenglobes
If you love what you read, give your favorite tweets a like and the users a follow so you can make your timeline a more fun place to be.
This is everything. I’m in tears watching this. A reminder that you ALWAYS have something to give and share with the world. Congrats Ke Huy Quan! ❤️
GOLDEN GLOBE WINNING ACTOR KE HUY QUAN HAS A NICE RING TO IT
I haven’t cared about movie awards season for a long time but I felt deeply invested in Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan getting those Golden Globes.
Ke Huy Quan. He deserves it all. #GoldenGlobes
Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh are now both #GoldenGlobes award winners for the first time for their phenomenal work in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’ “I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.” –Waymond Wang
"You did it, baby!" Congrats on your win for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Ke Huy Quan! #GoldenGlobes
The best moment between commercial breaks so far: Overheard Steven Spielberg say to Ke Huy Quan, in front of the stage, “I’m so proud of you.” They hug. They take a picture together. Big smiles surrounding them. #GoldenGlobes2023
Ke Huy Quan’s speech was perfect. He’s absolutely on his way to the Oscar no denying it
between ke huy quan, michelle yeoh, angela bassett, and jennifer coolidge i loved that the theme of this year's #goldenglobes was actors finding joy in their careers again and finally getting the love they've deserved for literal years
the Michelle yeoh and ke huy quan speeches are making me cry like you can just hear it in their voice how hard they have worked to get to this point and as a minority in western media and that’s why wins like this and that of RRR should be celebrated
Hard to explain how moving it is to see Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan win Golden Globes. Heroes. Icons. What a fight they've had to get here. Short Round was the first character I ever saw in a movie who looked like me. I can still quote his lines. Representation matters.
Congrats again, Ke! Fingers crossed for another amazing acceptance speech moment from him at the 2023 Oscars.
