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This Oscar season, Asian representation is ‘Everywhere’ as upstart indie is Academy front-runner

March 1, 2023

“Everything Everywhere All At Once,” the universe-hopping film that celebrates diversity, family and humanity, has taken over Hollywood’s awards season.

The A24 film with a majority-Asian cast took home the top honors at the 29th annual Screen Actors Guild awards, including best motion picture ensemble performance. This year’s SAG Awards — which often predict winners at the Academy Awards, happening this year on March 12 — were held Sunday in Los Angeles and live-streamed online for the first time.

The latest award-season triumph completed a “guild trifecta” after the film snagged Directors Guild and Producers Guild honors, solidifying the film’s status as the front-runner for Oscar gold.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: (L-R) Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture awards for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and James Hong, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” pose in the press room during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: (L-R) Harry Shum Jr., Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, and Jamie Lee Curtis, recipients of the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” pose in the press room during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: (L-R) Aubrey Plaza, Bruno Gouery, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Adam DiMarco, Haley Lu Richardson, Simona Tabasco, Paolo Camilli, Jennifer Coolidge, Jon Gries, Federico Ferrante, Eleonora Romandini, Francesco Zecca, Theo James, Leo Woodall, Meghann Fahy and Sabrina Impacciatore, recipients of the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series award for “The White Lotus,” pose in the press room during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: (L-R) Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Stephanie Hsu, Tallie Medel, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Andy Le, Ke Huy Quan, and Harry Shum Jr. accept the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” onstage during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: Michelle Yeoh accepts the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” onstage during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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And these are just the latest plot turns for the three-hour multiverse, martial arts fantasy/family drama which, since it debuted a year ago at SXSW, has defied Hollywood logic. This anarchic indie allegory on the immigrant experience — saddled with a spare $14.3 budget and an out-there plot that defies high-concept marketing strategies — has snagged more than $100 million in global ticket sales and topped the traffic on streaming services.

“Every one of you knows the journey, the roller-coaster ride, the ups and downs,” said Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, whose career has run the gamut from martial-arts thrillers aacadmend dramas, to rom-coms. “This is not just for me, this is for every single girl that looks like me.”

At the SAG gala, Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, the film’s leads, became the first Asians to win in their respective categories. Yeoh won for best film lead actress for her role as Evelyn Wang, and Quan won for best supporting male actor.

The EEAAO Awards! https://t.co/tExoUrVrUw

— Dave Lu 呂曉龍 (@davelu) February 27, 2023

Holding back tears, Yeoh thanked her supporters and the thousands of media-industry members in the SAG-AFTRA union who vote on winners.

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“We are here because we love what we do. Thank you for giving me a seat at the table, because so many of us need this. We want to be seen, we want to be heard.”

Quan was the only male actor of color nominee in his category. “This moment no longer belongs to just me. It also belongs to everyone who has asked for change,” he shared in his acceptance speech “The landscape looks so different now than before.”

This year’s SAG film and television nominees featured many female actors of color, including “The Woman King” Viola Davis, Hong Chau from “The Whale,” Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Netflix’s “Blonde,” Danielle Deadwyler in “Till,” Angela Bassett in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Everything Everywhere’s” Stephanie Hsu, and Niecy Nash-Betts, who was in Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”

Actress-producer Quinta Brunson and her castmates won best performance in a comedy series for the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary.”

I’m still teary about this moment… finally, a video I’m seeing in the community that doesn’t depict violence towards an Asian elder… but a standing ovation. https://t.co/qamf2CSzY1

— trishofthetrade everywhere (@trishofthetrade) February 27, 2023

But it was the final speech of the night from James Hong, considered a trailblazer in Hollywood, that blew audiences away. The “Everything Everywhere” actor called out ongoing racism in the industry, including harmful white-washing and the use of “yellowface,” and championed more authentic Asian representation on and off-screen.

Hong, 94, said that he began his decades-long career in a 1937 film with Clark Gable.

“The leading role was played by these guys with their eyes taped up… the producer said the Asians were not good enough, and they are not box office-[worthy],” Hong said in the final acceptance speech of the night. “But look at us now!”

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SAG-AFTRA union member Quincy Surasmith runs the “Asian Americana” podcast, and voted in this year’s awards. Surasmith, an actor, that he was proud that the A24 film “got to sweep.” He recognized his “acting heroes” Quan and Hong who, with these diverse films, get to portray themselves in their full Asian identity.

But he challenged awards shows — which for decades have recognized more white men in Hollywood — and the organizing bodies that decide on them.

“It’s not these individual wins that make people suddenly care about us (artists of color). It’s more about when and how do we get a chance to tell our perspectives and stories, and who gets to create and share those stories, or even have a chance to be nominated for these things,” Surasmith said. “I don’t think we celebrate diversity from the exception; we get to celebrate it when it becomes the norm. We ‘make it’ in Hollywood when we all make it.”

Orange County Register

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This Oscar season, Asian representation is ‘Everywhere’ as upstart indie is Academy front-runner

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