By Jana Monji, AsAmNews Arts & Culture Reporter
Q: What advice do you have specifically for the Asian diaspora who have unfulfilled dreams from different versions of themselves from different timelines and universes?
A: Hey, good evening. I hope you all are having a good time. It must be tough out here. I hope you have drinks under your chair. That’s a great question. Look at me. I mean I’ve been in the business for 40 years and finally I get to be number one on the call sheet. I think it simply goes to say it’s like if you believe in yourself, you believe and you have passion in what you do you don’t give up, right? I do believe that times are changing. There is much more inclusivity. There’s more diversity and it’s not lip service any more. Whatever that glass ceiling was, we just ninja kicked it out. You know we shattered it and we have to keep it that way. But we have enough and many extraordinary filmmakers not just in movies but also TV that are forward thinking, to understand the importance of inclusivity, the importance of diversity, the importance of telling stories about different cultures, different looks and embracing them all in the right way, simply because our audience demands it. So we are on this cusp of big change. I think the change has already started occurring. I’m just to happy that I’m still here when this change has happened, you know. I’m not in my rocking chair and go like, well, I didn’t get that chance then. So I am overwhelmed at this moment, but at least, I am here.
So I’m going t work hard that this is not just going to be the only time I’m here and for all that looks like us, we are going to move forward and find bigger and better opportunities. Thank you.
Everything Everywhere All at Once received six nominations, and scored two wins. Ke Huy Quan won a Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second Asian and first Vietnamese-born actor to win in that category. The first actor of Asian descent to win in this category was Dr. Haing S. Ngor for the 1984 The Killing Fields. There was one other win for people of Asian descent: M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose won for Best Original Song, Naatu Naatu for the film RRR.
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