Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty
Ariana DeBosecouldn’t hold back tears when she namedKe Huy Quanthe Best Supporting Actor at theOscars 2023.
TheWest Side Storyactress, 32, andTroy Kotsur, 54, served as presenters for the prestigious award on Sunday night.
After the nominees were highlighted, DeBose announced through tears thatQuan was the winner.
TheEverything Everywhere All at Onceactor beat outBrendan Gleeson(The Banshees of Inisherin),Brian Tyree Henry(Causeway),Judd Hirsch(The Fabelmans), andBarry Keoghan(The Banshees of Inisherin).
Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty
“Mom, I just won an Oscar!” he said, holding up his trophy, before reflecting on his journey, from “spending a year in a refugee camp"to becoming a child actorand, now, an Academy Award winner “on Hollywood’s biggest stage.”
“They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me,” Quan continued. “This —this— is the American dream!”
Ke Huy Quan.Kevin Winter/Getty
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At last year’s ceremony, DeBose made history when she won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress playing Anita inWest Side Story— the same role that won costarRita Morenoan Oscar exactly 60 years ago in the original film. DeBose is the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar in an acting category.
In her own acceptance speech, DeBose stated that “dreams come true.” She called Moreno her “divine inspiration” in her speech and said she’s “grateful” her Anita has “paved the way for tons of Anitas like me.”
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DeBose added in her speech, “Lastly, imagine this little girl in the backseat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes, you see a queer — openly queer — woman of color, Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through art, and that’s what I believe we are here to celebrate.”
“So to anybody who has ever questioned their identity ever or find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: There is indeed a place for us,” she said, referencing an iconicStephen Sondheimlyric fromWest Side Story. “Thank you to the Academy.”
The Oscarsare airing live on ABC on Sunday, March 12, at 8 p.m. ET.
source: people.com