Everything Everywhere All at Once co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis were early winners at the 95th Academy Awards presentation at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. Sunday.
"Thank you! My mom is 84 years old and she is watching at home. Mom, I just won an Oscar!" the actor tearfully said as he collected his prize.
"My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in refugee camp and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood's biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe this is happening to me. This is the American dream," he continued.
Curtis took the stage and admonished the crowd for cheering because it was eating into her 45 seconds to deliver a speech.
"I know it looks like I am standing up here by myself, but I am hundreds of people," she said, honoring the film's cast, crew and directors for their hard work and craftsmanship. "We just won an Oscar."She then said the same thing to those who represent her, those her watched her films over the years and her husband Christopher Guest and two daughters.
Tearing up, she mentioned that her late parents Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh were both nominated for Oscars during their own careers.
Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio was named Best Animated Feature, Navalny earned the Best Documentary honor, An Irish Goodbye won for Best Live-Action Short and All Quiet on the Western Front scored the trophy for Best Cinematography.
The Oscar for Best Hair & Makeup went to the team behind The Whale and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won for Best Costume Design.
Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the gala for the third time -- he also presided over the festivities in 2017 and 2018.
He opened the show by dropping from the ceiling in a parachute, a nod to Best Picture nominee Top Gun: Maverick.
The film's star Tom Cruise was not, however, in attendance.
He assured the crowd they should do what they did last year, which was nothing, while the perpetrator would then be awarded with a Best Actor statuette and allowed to give a 19-minute speech.
Kimmel also quipped that, with five Irish nominees from The Banshees of Inisherin, the odds had gone up for some onstage fighting during the show.
He closed the segment by saying anyone who wanted to attack him personally would first have to get through Michael B. Jordan, Michelle Yeoh, Pedro Pascal, Andrew Garfield, Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro.
Presenters still expected to appear are Riz Ahmed, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Jennifer Connelly, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Janelle Monae, Deepika Padukone, Salma Hayek Pinault, Florence Pugh, Questlove, Zoe Saldai±a, Sigourney Weaver and Donnie Yen.
Glenn Close had been confirmed as a presenter, but had to bow out of her duties at the last minute after testing positive for COVID-19.
Grammy-winning singer Lenny Kravitz will perform during the In Memoriam segment, paying tribute to luminaries who have died in the past year.
