Why we’re in our feels about Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh winning a SAG Award

Everything Everywhere All at Once swept the SAG Awards, but it was Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh’s wins that made us the most emotional.

The Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, which was held on Monday in California, was a star-studded event filled with many memorable moments—thankfully, none of those moments was a slap. 

The legendary Sally Field was given a lifetime achievement award presented to her by none other than Peter 3 himself, Andrew Garfield. The internet swooned (again) at Austin Butler’s chivalrousness as he helped Field and Jennifer Coolidge up on stage. Speaking of Jennifer Coolidge, she also won, as did Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress. And who could forget Brendan Fraser?

The film of the night was Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won a record number of four awards, the most that a film has ever won in the history of the SAG Awards. But it was Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh’s wins that have us sobbing until today.

[Hero image: A24 Films]

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan nab historic SAG Award wins

Everything Everywhere All at Once has been getting so much acclaim both from critics and audiences alike. Aside from Michelle Yeoh’s badass performance, it also brought back Ke Huy Quan to the big screen after years of trying and trying. His comeback story is one that has touched and inspired many people. On top of that, there’s the fact that Michelle Yeoh, an Asian actress who is 60 years old, leads this widely-praised film, which also features a number of other Asian actors like the legendary James Hong. 

The film has already been praised for its Asian representation, and its SAG Award wins just reiterates that. Aside from winning “Ensemble in a Motion Picture”, Quan and Yeoh also won “Best Supporting Actor Film” and “Best Actress Film”, respectively. But it’s the fact that they are the first Asians to win in these categories that make us a glass case of emotion.

And both of them were pretty much in the same state as they received their awards. “This moment no longer belongs to just me,” an emotional Quan said. “It also belongs to everyone who has asked for change… To all those at home who are watching, who are struggling and waiting to be seen, please keep on going. Because the spotlight will one day find you.”

Yeoh, meanwhile, took a moment to compose herself. “I think if I speak my heart will explode,” she finally said. “This is inot just for me. This is for every little girl that looks like me… 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. And tonight, you have shown us that it is possible.”

Upon accepting the “Ensemble in a Motion Picture” award, the cast also gave way for 94-year-old James Hong to say something. “He’s been acting since there were only 49 states,” Yeoh said as she introduced him. “My first movie was with Clark Gable,” Hong said, later describing how actors would tape their eyes to look stereotypically Asian “because the producers said the Asians were not good enough.” 

“But look at us now!” he exclaimed to applause.

It’s obvious already, but we’ll say it anyway: we’re so, so damn proud to be Asian. 

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