Everything Everywhere All at Once stole our hearts and made us fall in love with laundry and taxes—and now it has made Oscars history.
With a whopping 11 Oscar nominations and seven sweeping wins, the sci-fi family film achieved plenty on March 12, the final touch of its stunning 2023 award season run, which saw the movie win multiple trophies and simultaneously pull on audience's heart strings. After all, the movie—and its much-deserved statuettes—marked a significant milestone for Asian representation in the film industry, something actor Ke Huy Quan reflected on at the 2023 SAG Awards.
"This is a really emotional moment for me," Ke said while accepting the trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. "Recently, I was told that if I was to win tonight, I would become the very first Asian actor to win in this category. When I heard this, I quickly realized that this moment no longer belongs to me, it also belongs to everyone who has asked for change."
Everything Everywhere's leading star Michelle Yeoh has also acknowledged what the movie's momentum, and her Oscars win, signified for the Asian community. The 60-year-old became the first Asian-identifying star to win Best Actress and only the second woman of color to take the statue in the Academy Awards' 95-year history.
"I'm very aware that it's beyond me being recognized as an actress," she told BBC News in an interview published March 9. "It's a whole community of Asians coming forward and saying: You have to do this for us."
In Everything Everywhere, Michelle plays Evelyn Wang, an Asian immigrant who runs a laundromat alongside her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) and has a difficult relationship with her daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu. The role was Stephanie's first studio feature, and she put her "whole heart" into it, she told E! News in February.
The journey has felt like a "rollercoaster" for Stephanie, who was nominated alongside winner Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress, but it's been a ride she wouldn't take back.
"That's every artist's kind of dream, right?" she said. "You put yourself out there and you hope people see it and understand."
Here's how Everything Everywhere shattered records and etched its name in the Oscars history books.
What Everything Everywhere Achieved Prior To The Oscars
Everything Everywhere reportedly surpassed Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the most-awarded movie of all time, according to IGN. The outlet calculated that it currently has 158 "major" wins compared to Return of the King's 101 awards. But overall, according to IMDb, the movie has scored 336 wins and 355 nominations. The movie's Oscars run further cemented its status in the hall of fame.
Everything Everywhere's nominations also marked the most Asian representation at the Oscars, according to the New York Daily News.
How Everything Everywhere Broke Records at the 2023 Oscars
This universe witnessed history being made.
Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian-identifying woman to receive the award and just the second woman of color after Halle Berry's groundbreaking 2002 win.
The Malaysian star officially became the first Asian-identifying actress to be nominated for the prize in January. Some consider Merle Oberon, who was reportedly of partial Sri Lankan descent, to be the first Asian Best Actress nominee, but she did not publicly identify as Asian, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and she didn't take home the trophy back in 1936.
Ke Huy Quan's win for Best Supporting Actor made him the second Asian man to achieve the award, 38 years after Haing S. Ngor won for The Killing Fields.
Not to mention, co-director Daniel Kwan became the fourth Asian director to win in Best Directing.
Everything Everywhere became the third movie in Oscar history to win three acting awards, the first of its kind in the 21st century, following in the footsteps of 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire and 1976's Network.
To see how Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and more stars celebrated their nominations in January, click here.
This story was originally published on March 12, 2023 at 4 a.m. PT. It was updated at 8:43 p.m. PT after the Oscars to reflect the winners.