Ke Huy Quan's acceptance speech at the Oscars had everyone in tears: 'This is the American dream'

• Ke Huy Quan won best supporting actor at the 2023 Oscars for "Everything Everywhere All At Once."
• In his acceptance speech, Quan described his Oscar win as "the American dream."
• The actor has spoken about struggling to land roles after early success as a child actor.

Ke Huy Quan gave an emotional acceptance speech after winning best supporting actor for his role in "Everything Everywhere All At Once" at the 2023 Academy Awards.

"My mom is 84 years old and she's at home watching," he began. "Mom, I just won an Oscar!!"

Quan went on to describe how he went from living in a refugee camp after his family fled Vietnam in 1978 to ending up on "Hollywood's biggest stage."

"They say stories like this only happen in the movies," he said. "I cannot believe it's happening to me. This — this is the American dream! 

Quan thanked his little brother, David, and the cast and crew of "Everything Everywhere All At Once" before mentioning his wife, Echo, "who month after month, year after year, for twenty years, told me that one day my time will come."

"Dreams are something you have to believe in," Quan said. "I almost gave up on mine—to all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive. Thank you, thank you so much for welcoming me back! I love you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Quan has previously spoken about how he struggled to find acting work after filming "The Goonies" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" as a child. The success of "Everything Everywhere All At Once" pushed Quan back into the spotlight 38 years after his film debut, though Quan said in a February appearance on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" that he also had difficulty landing roles after appearing in the Oscar-nominated movie.

Quan's Oscar win marks another milestone in his incredible comeback story. He is also set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Loki" season two this summer.