Biden hosts largest gathering of AANHPI at the White House to screen "American Born Chinese"

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Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan introduced President Joe Biden May 8.

President Biden hosted the largest AANHPI event ever held at the White House with Hollywood celebrities in attendance alongside community leaders and Washington politicians to attend a screening of "American Born Chinese," a new television series based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang.

The May 8 screening doubled as a celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. "Across America we see the community give life to our cities, our small towns, our rural communities in every part of America," said Biden.

"You know, together you embody the truth that our diversity is our strength as a nation. And that’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact."

“American Born Chinese” chronicles the trials and tribulations of a regular American teenager whose life is forever changed when he befriends the son of a mythological god. This is the coming-of-age tale of a young Chinese American's battle for his own identity, told through family, comedy and action-packed kung fu.

Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, who is part of the American Born Chinese cast, introduced the President. "It is with profound humility and gratitude that I stand before you tonight. I do not take this moment lightly, because I know this building is a monument to a country that opened its arms to me once upon a time," Quan said.

Also in attendance were stars of the Disney series, including: Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Daniel Wu, Jimmy Liu and Sydney Taylor, as well as the series’ creative team, including executive producer and author of the graphic novel Gene Luen Yang, executive producer and director Destin Daniel Cretton, series creator and showrunner Kelvin Yu, and executive producers Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan and Erin O’Malley. Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Alex Aiono, stars of the Disney+ Original series “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.”  were also in attendance.

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The cast and producers of "American Born Chinese" were at the White House screening.

Biden reminded the audience acts his administration has taken to combat anti-Asian hate and gun control, two subjects atop AANHPI concerns, according to recent polls.

Speaking about representation and a Hollywood producing more series and movies about AANHPI, Biden continued: "We see groundbreaking works that capture courage, character, and the imagination and spirit of this remarkable community — diverse, remarkable community.

"When I think about this story, (of 'American Born Chinese') I think about the courage it took for so many of you and your ancestors to start the journey in America and continue the traditions of Native Hawaiians who have been engaged in that process for centuries; to adopt the old traditions anew and tell the ongoing story of America, stories of possibilities."

FYI: "American Born Chinese," will premiere with all episodes on May 24 on Disney+.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.

'Everything Everywhere All At Once' pile up awards from actors, directors and producers guilds

The cast of 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' accept SAG's Best Ensemble award.

UPDATED Jan. 27, 2 p.m.

Momentum for Everything Everywhere All At Once continues to build enroute to a big night at the Academy Awards next month after winning major awards from the Screen Actors Guild Awards show last night.

With actors making up a large portion of the Academy membership, the SAG Awards is a good indicator for the Oscars. The films chances for Academy Awards were strengthened when the Directors Guild and Producers Guild gave the film its top awards, also.

Four of the five acting awards for films were won by members of the Everything Everywhere cast: Best Actress, Michele Yeo; Best Supporting Actor, Ke Huy Quan; Best Supporting Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis; and Best Ensemble.

Only the Best Actor award, which went to Brendan Fraser for The Whate, kept EEAAO from a sweep.

“This is not just for me,” said Yeoh, the first Asian actress to win the SAG Award for female lead. “It’s for every little girl that looks like me.”

Her co-star Quan, the first Asian to win best male supporting actor at the SAG Awards, almost gave up acting for lack of work, said:

“When I stepped away from acting, it was because there were so few opportunities,” said Quan. “Now, tonight we are celebrating James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Hong Chau, Harry Shum Jr. The landscape looks so different now.”

But it was 94-year old James Hong, a veteran of hundreds of roles, who stole the show speaking about  the historic nature of the awards when he joined other cast members to receive the Best Ensemble award. He brought up the history of using yellowface in the movie The Good Earth made in 1937.

“The leading role was played with these guys with their eyes taped up like this and they talked like this because the producers said the Asians were not good enough and they were not box office,” said Hong. “But look at us now!”

James Hong's acceptance speech in behalf of the cast stole the show.

The SAG awards come a week after the Directors Guild gave their top award to EEAAO's directors and writers, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, and on Saturday, Producer Jonathan Wang accepted the best film award from the Producer's Guild of America. 

Although it looks like EEAAO will do well at the Oscars, the Hollywood Reporter points out that when results sometimes differ between the two major awards, it is because SAG-AFTRA, a more diverse group than the Academy as a whole, voted for a person of color. Members from other less diverse crafts could choose someone else.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is expected to garner more accolades and praise during the Academy Awards, the most prestigious award show in in the movie industry. The 2023 Oscars will be held Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. EST and be broadcast live on ABC. Can you stream the Oscars? The broadcast can be streamed with a subscription to Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and Fubo TV.

 EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

11 Oscar nominations for 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' tops all movies

 

The Asian American universe-switching science fiction film Everything Everywhere All At Once is poised to make history after receiving  11 Oscar nomination Tuesday morning.

After each nomination, the cast and crew, united by Zoom, let out cheers and applause. The movie was picked for Best Picture. The directors and writers, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert were nominated Best Director and for Best Original Screenplay.

As expected, still basking from their Golden Globe wins, Michelle Yeoh was nominated for Best Actress and Ke Huy Quan landed a Best Supporting Actor. Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis were both nominated for Best Actress.

Should she win, Yeoh would become the first woman of Asian descent to win a Best Actress Oscar.

"Of course, I’m over the moon, but I feel a little sad because I know we know there have been amazing actresses from Asia that come before me, and I stand on their shoulders,” reports the New York Times interviewing Yeoh, who was in France. “I hope this will shatter that frigging glass ceiling to no end, that this will continue, and we will see more of our faces up there.”

“I was jumping up and down, screaming at the top of my voice, exactly the same way that I did when I got the phone call from my agent that the Daniels wanted me to play Waymond,” Quan told the NYTimes. He described his Oscar nomination, “It’s so surreal. I am ecstatic.”

The film's nominations also included behind-the-camera Asian Americans for Best Original Score by Son Lux, Best Costume Design by Shirley Kurata, Best Original Song "This Is A Life" which was co-written by Japanese American singer-songwriter Mitski. The movie also won Oscar nods for Best Editing.

The 11 Academy Award nominations is the most by an Asian or Asian American production.

AANHPI REPRESENTATION

With EEAAO earning the most Academy Award nominations, the AANHPI presence will be stronger than usual this year.

Joining EEAAO's Hsu and Curtis in the Best Supporting Actress category is Thai-born actress Hong Chau from The Whale.  

Other Asian and AAPI nominated for the Academy Award include: 

• Chinese Canadian Turning Red filmmaker Domee Shi in Best Animated Film;  
• Judy Chin for Make-up/hairstyling for The Whale, 
• Japanese born-UK scribe Kazuo Ishiguro for Living in Adapted Screenplay, 
• Indian producer Aman Mann and filmmaker Shaunak Sen for All That Breathes  in Best Documentary Feature, 
• Indian film producer Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves in Best Documentary Short for The Elephant Whisperers,
• “Naatu Naatu,” from RRR, for Best Song with music by M.M. Keeravaani and lyric by Chandrabose.
• Judy Chin, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, The Whale.

ACTORS & MONTEREY PARK

The day before the announcement of Oscar nominations, the cast of EEAAO gathered for dinner at a restaurant in Monterey Park a city still reeling from the mass shooting that killed 11 Lunar New Year celebrants.

The event for the EEAAO cast and crew was planned weeks earlier but it was decided to go ahead with the dinner.

“It was so sad when we saw the streets were empty. We walked into the restaurant, and it was empty,” said Quan, who lived in Monterey Park for many years. “I’m so glad we went. We didn’t shy away from it. We didn’t cancel. We went there, we showed them our love, we supported the business, and I think that’s what people should do. That’s what I hope.”

"This is not the time to stay away from Monterey Park," quan told the LA Times. "Instead we should go there and support them and show them our love. The local businesses need us.”

Yeoh expressed hope to the LA Times that the EEAAO's message of intergenerational healing will offer a “beacon of light.”

“We must hold hands, hold each other and have hope in our hearts that we can step forth and make things better,” she said. “Hopefully this will be a little beacon of light, that we can collectively embrace each other and say, ‘Let us lift each other out of this grief and sadness.’ We have to usher in hope, love and forgiveness."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Critics Choice Awards: Everything, Everywhere All At Once wins best picture

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The cast and some behind-the-scenes crew of Everything Everywhere All At Once accepted the Critics Choice award for Best Picture.

The awards season is heating up and it looks like Everything Everywhere All At Once is in a good position to contend for an Oscar on March 12.

The top prize for the LA Critics Choice award, Best Picture, went to Everything Everywhere All At Once, the adventures of a Chinese American immigrant through the multiverses. The film won the most awards and nominated for 14 categories  including Best Supporting Actor, which went to Ke Huy Quan, still beaming from his Golden Globe win. 

EEAAO's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert also won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.

So far the science fiction movie about a Chinese American immigrant woman's adventures in the multiverse. has won 215 awards and received 317 nominations as of January 17, according to IMDB.com.

The film's star, Michelle Yeoh, who played Evelyn Wang, a hard working laundromat owner was nominated for for Best Actress but lost out to Cate Blanchett for her role in Tor. These two actresses appear to be the frontrunners for an Oscar.

“This award is dedicated to my dad, a Taiwanese immigrant who worked himself into an early grave,” producer Jonathan Wang said as part of the cast’s Best Picture acceptance speech. “And this is really dedicated to the Evelyns, the Waymonds, the immigrant parents who would kill themselves for us immigrant children to give us a better life.”

In accepting the award for Best Picture, co-director Kwan thanked his mother for inspiring Yeoh's character of laundromat owner Evelyn Wang.

“This is dedicated to my mother, who not only inspired the movie, but was the first person to plant the seed in my head that I could be a director. She told me, maybe the first Asian American immigrant mother to tell her son to go to film school,” he said.

Kwan went on to thank all immigrant parents who worked hard so that his generation could pursue their dreams.

The adventure movie from India, RRR, won Best Foreign Language film. The song from the movie, "Natu Natu," won Best Song, the same award it won at the Golden Globes.

Pachinko, Apple-plus' dramatic multi-generational epic filmed mainly in Korean and Japanese, won Best Foreign Language Series.

Nominations for the Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 24. For a complete list Critics Choice winners, click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan make history as they win Golden Globes

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Michelle Yeoh wins a Golden Globe in the best actress in a comedy category.

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan basked in their historic moments as they won best actress and best supporting actor awards, respectively, for their roles in the Everything Everywhere All At Once motion picture.

Quan is the first Asian artist to win a Golden Globe in his supporting role category. Yeoh is only the second Asian artist to win a Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy. The first winner in the same category was Awkwafina for The Farewell.

As she accepted her award, Malaysian-born Yeoh said "I'm just going to stand here and take this all in." Looking over the audience and clucthing her trophy  tightly in both hands. "Forty years, not letting go of this," referring to her 40-year career which began in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

"I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here," she continued. "I came here and was told, 'You're a minority.' And I'm like, 'No, that's not possible.' And then someone said to me, 'You speak English.' And then I said, 'Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long, so I learned on the way.'"

When she was given a musical cue to end her speech, Yeoh, known for her martial arts movies, told the pianist, "Shut up. I can beat you up." She continued to thank her castmates and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who jointly wrote the script and directed the movie.

"I turned 60 last year, and I think all of you women understand this: As the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well," she said, noting that she had even told herself she'd "had a really, really good run" and so "it's all good" -- until Everything Everywhere All at Once, which she called "the best gift," came along. In the film, Yeoh plays an immigrant mother involved in an epic adventure through a multitude of universes.

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Ke Huy Quan kissed his Golden Globe trophy as he was named Best Supporting Actor
in a musical or comedy.

Quan, who played Yeoh's beleaguered husband in the movie, gave an acceptance speech that was perhaps the most sincerest speech of the night.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he accepted his award. “I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you,” Quan said, acknowledging the role that gave him his start as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, directed by Spielberg.

“As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck,” he added. “For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.” Clearly, that didn’t turn out to be true, and Quan went onto thank Kwan and Daniel, the directors of the science fiction hit, for casting him as Waymond. 

“More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid and they gave me an opportunity to try again,” he said, choking with emotion. “Everything that has happened since has been unbelievable.”

Finally, Quan thanked “the most important person in (his) life,” his wife, "who never lost faith in me."

RRR, the 3-hour film from India, won a Globe for Best Song but failed to win Best Foreign Film, which was given to 1985 Argentina.

Dolly de Leon, the actress from the Philippines, did not win in Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, was considered a dark horse for her role in Triangle of Sadness and drew the attention of Hollywood studios as her role as a cleaning lady on a luxury yacht. 

Maybe one day we can write about a Hollywood awards show and not use the word "historic." Maybe, one day. But not today.

CORRECTION: 10 a.m., Jan. 11. Earlier versions incorrectly identified Michelle Yeoh as the first Asian actress to win best actress in a musical or comedy.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

'Everything Everywhere All at Once" earns six Golden Globe nominations

Golden Globe Acting nominations went to Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis Ke Huy Quan
for their roles in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Hollywood may finally be realizing that there's a wealth of untapped talent in the AANHPI community.

The film Everything Everywhere All at Once earned six Golden Globe nominations, which were announced this morning (Dec. 12).

Topping the nominations is Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her portrayal of the lead character, Evelyn quan Wang, a struggling Asian immigrant shifting through a variety of roles in different universes.

Nominated in the Supporting Actor category is Yeoh's co-star Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang, Evelyn's gentle and patient husband who is transformed into a super-cool, brooding, kung-fu expert.

The movie with a largely Asian cast also earned a nomination for veteran actress Jamie Lee Curtis as an IRS agent.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Sheinert, above, were nominated for Golden Globes in two categories:
directing a comedy/musical and original screenpplay.

The directors and writers, Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who were nominated for Best Director of a Comedy/Musical and for original screenplay.

After all that, it was no surprise that the film also was nominated for Best Comedy/Musical Motion Picture.

The six awards for EEAOw as the second most for a movie. The Banshees of Inisherin, garnered eight nominations.

The Golden Globes Awards Ceremony will take place on Jan. 10, 2023. It will be returning to NBC after the network dropped the show last year for the lack of diversity among the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) which gives out the awards. 

FYI: Click here for the complete list of nominees.

The Golden Globes in the past had been seen as launching pads for actors and movies being pushed for the Academy Awards. Yeoh and Quan have been mentioned frequently as possible Oscar nominees.

ASIANS AMONG NOMINEES

Other Asian and Asian American Golden Globe nominees include:

• Filipino actress Dolly De Leon has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Triangle of Sadness, where she plays a toilet cleaner on a luxury yacht. When the passengers are stranded, de Leon's character's social status rises to the top because of her survival skills.

• Pixar's Turning Red, the Disney film about an Asian American girl's reaching puberty received a nomination in Best Animated Film category.

• Also receiving Golden Globe nominations in the foreign language category are Decision to Leave (South Korea) and RRR (India).

Filipino actress Dolly De Leon nominated for supporting role in Triangle of Sadness.

DIVERSITY CONTROVERSY 

HFPA President Helen Hoehne stresses the journalists' organization has made changes to increase the diversity of its membership. It boosted the racial and ethnic diversity of their membership to over 51% by adding 21 US-based journalists, including four journalists of Asian descent, who work for overseas outlets and more than 100 new international voters.

“The depth, diversity and size of the voting body now is historic and includes voters from 62 countries,” she said. “It is also a majority of women and those who self-identify as minorities and LGBTQIA+.”

The HFPA also discontinued the practice of accepting gifts by voting members.

Despite the reforms, it is still too early to see how Hollywood has accepted the changes. The motion picture industry appears divided. A number of actors have already stated they will not attend and a whole host responded as "maybe's."

After last year's debacle which was not televised because of the controversy, and the gathering restrictions because of COVID-19, Hollywood appears ready to party.  Others appear willing to forgive the HFPA for its questionable practices. One unnamed publicist told Deadline: “I think they deserve a chance to come back. I really do. They’re more inclusive. They’re not gonna be exclusionary."

Where and how to watch the 80th Golden Globes: 8 p.m. EST/ 5 PST Tuesday on NBC and Peacock. The pre-show streams at 6:30 p.m. EST at goldenglobes.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.