'EEAAO' star Ke Huy Quan owes Oscar win to his mom: 'she sacrificed so much'

Everything Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan expressed gratitude towards his mother after wining the Oscar for best supporting actor.

The 50-year-old actor said that he honoured his mother by reclaiming his birth name as an adult actor.

Speaking to the press at Oscars backstage, following his win, he recalled a story of changing his birth name with an American one and then reclaiming it later in his career.

"You know, when I started as a kid, it was my birth name Ke Huy Quan," he said. "And then I remember, when it got really tough, my manager told me, ‘Maybe it would be easier if you were to have an American-sounding name.’ And I was so desperate for a job that I would do anything."

He went further, "And it’s insane that I, at one point, would try a different name, not the name that was given to me, but it can only show you how desperate I was to try to make things different."

However, when Quan decided resume his acting career after three years of pause, in which he could not find any work, he proudly used his real name.

By doing so he felt he had honored his mother who had done a lot for him and his other siblings and sacrificed so much for him.

“The very first thing that I wanted to do was to go back to my birth-given name,” he said. “Tonight to see Ariana [DeBose] open that envelope and say, ‘Ke Huy Quan,’ that was a really, really special moment for me."

He futher continued, "and then immediately I was so emotional, but the first image that I had in my mind was my mom — who is the reason why I am in America, who is the reason why I have a better life, I have all these opportunities."

"Like I said in my acceptance speech, she sacrificed so much. She had a great life where we came from, and she gave all that up so that all her children — there are nine of us — and every single one of them are so grateful to my parents" he added.