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Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis win at 'no nonsense' Oscars

From 'Goonies' and 'Halloween' franchise to Oscars: Veteran thespians win for supporting roles in 'Everything Everywhere'
Ke Huy Quan kisses Oscar statuette as he accepts award for best supporting actor for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' at Oscars, March 12, 2023
Posted at 10:29 PM, Mar 12, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-12 22:37:07-04

LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Kimmel promised "no nonsense" at the 95th Oscars on Sunday as Hollywood reconvened for a ceremony that will try to move past one of the most infamous moments in Oscar history.

In one of the night's first awards, former child star Ke Huy Quan capped his extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor. Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and Data in "The Goonies," had all but given up acting before being cast in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

His win, among the most expected of the night, was nevertheless one of the ceremony's most moving moments. The audience — including his "Temple of Doom" director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation as he fought back tears.

"Mom, I just won an Oscar!" said Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child.

"They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can't believe it's happening," said Quan. "This is the American dream."

Minutes later, Quan's castmate Jamie Lee Curtis won for best supporting actress. Her win, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denied a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett ("Black Panther: Wakanda Forever") would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie.

Jamie Lee Curtis accepts best supporting actress award for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' at Oscars, March 12, 2023
Jamie Lee Curtis accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as "a Nepo baby" during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She's the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for "The Defiant Ones" in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for "Psycho." Curtis thanked "hundreds" of people who put her in that position.

The early back-to-back wins for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was perhaps a sign of things to come. The film, up for a leading 11 awards, is the clear best-picture favorite.

The telecast, airing live on ABC, opened traditionally: with a montage of the year's films (with Kimmel edited into a cockpit in "Top Gun: Maverick") and a lengthy monologue. Kimmel, hosting for the third time, didn't dive right into revisiting Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at last year's ceremony.

But after a number of jokes — including one that noted two stars of "Encino Man," Quan and Brendan Fraser are nominated — Kimmel noted that there are numerous Irish actors up for Oscars, "which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up."

Jimmy Kimmel hosts Oscars, March 12, 2023
Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The late-night comedian struggled to find lessons from last year's incident, which was followed by Smith winning best actor. If anyone tried any violence this year, he said, "You will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech."

But Kimmel, hosting for the third time, said anyone who wanted to "get jiggy with it" this year will have to come through a fearsome battalion of bodyguards, including Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg and his show's "security guard" Guillermo Rodriguez.