- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
Ke Huy Quan: from 'Temple of Doom' to Oscar winner
It is a comeback story so improbable, it could only happen in Hollywood.
At age 12, Ke Huy Quan went to a casting call with his brother, who was auditioning for the role of Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Quan himself was chosen to star in the 1984 blockbuster sequel alongside Harrison Ford.
The following year, he again struck big screen gold in the action adventure classic "The Goonies." And then the casting calls dried up and -- unable to capitalize on his childhood fame -- he built a career behind the cameras as a stunt coordinator.
Cut to Sunday, when the 51-year-old Quan came full circle, winning an Oscar for playing Waymond Wang, the downtrodden husband of a Chinese American laundromat owner swept into an infinity of multiverses in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
"Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine," Quan told the audience through tears of joy.
"To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive."
Quan was the odds-on favorite for best supporting actor over his fellow nominees -- Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), Brian Tyree Henry ("Causeway") and Judd Hirsch ("The Fabelmans") -- after an awards season sweep.
He won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Critics Choice award and a Screen Actors Guild statuette, among other industry prizes.
His triumph is a watershed moment for Asian actors who feel they are finally seeing progress in on-screen representation.
"When I stepped away from acting, it was because there were so few opportunities," he said two weeks ago in an emotional acceptance speech at the SAG Awards.
"The landscape looks so different now than before."
Indeed, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" primarily features a cast of Asian descent -- fellow Oscar nominees Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu star in the film, alongside Harry Shum Jr. and veteran character actor James Hong. English, Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken.
The film tells the story of Evelyn (Yeoh) and Waymond (Quan), who are undergoing a tax audit and moving towards divorce when they are swept into an epic multiverse battle to save humanity from a powerful villain -- who is also their daughter (Hsu).
The genre-defying film, which features Yeoh and Quan in fight scenes, allows the characters a way to reassess their lives -- and decide what is important.
"I was so famished for a role like this," Quan told The New York Times late last year.
The cast of the film, which has grossed more than $100 million worldwide, won the best ensemble award at the SAGs, the night's top honor.
- Back in front of the camera -
Born in Vietnam to parents of ethnic Chinese descent, Quan came to the United States in the late 1970s after they fled their home country.
Fame came quickly in those early films, which both allowed Quan to work with industry legend Steven Spielberg.
"He is the reason why I fell in love with acting," Quan wrote on Instagram after the pair reconnected at the Golden Globes.
But his acting career nevertheless stalled, with just a few television roles in his teenage years.
"Hollywood didn't write roles for Asian actors," he told the Times.
He graduated from the film school at the University of Southern California, and eventually worked as a stunt coordinator, notably choreographing fight scenes for the original "X-Men" film.
He also worked in Hong Kong for venerable director Wong Kar-Wai, including as assistant director of "2046," a loose sequel to "In The Mood for Love."
"For many years, I lied to myself by saying that I didn't like acting anymore to make it feel less painful," Quan told GQ.
That love of acting was rekindled after seeing "Crazy Rich Asians". He told CBS News that he cried watching it three separate times in a theater because he "wanted to be up there with them."
He auditioned for "Everything Everywhere" -- and didn't hear he'd won the part for two months, as he tells the tale.
"That phone call was one of the happiest phone calls I have ever gotten," he told CBS.
The rest is Hollywood history.
And he has remained tight with friends from his childhood -- "Goonies" co-star Jeff Cohen ("Chunk") is now an entertainment lawyer and negotiated Quan's contract for "Everything Everywhere."
"Every rejection, every disappointment has led you here to this moment. Don't let anything distract you from it," Quan's character Waymond tells Evelyn in the film -- a perfect example of art imitating life.
X.Matos--PC