Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and other cast members of the smash sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” met on a Zoom call, along with directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, to watch the announcement of the 2023 Oscars nominations on Jan. 24. One by one, they burst into screams and cheers as their names were mentioned.

After all the announcements were made, it was official. The movie that had touched millions led with 11 Oscars nominations, including best picture. Yeoh had been nominated for best actress, Quan for best supporting actor, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis for best supporting actress and Kwan and Scheinert for best director. Other nominations included costume design and best original score.

Yeoh, born in Malaysia, would mark a historic win if she were to win this Academy Award for best actress. Yeoh won her first Golden Globe earlier this year in January. While the news of  these accolades was wonderful, Yeoh still thought it was bittersweet.

“Ninety-five years of Oscars. Of course I’m over the moon but I feel a little sad because I know we know there have been amazing actresses from Asia that come before me, and I stand on their shoulders,” Yeoh recently told The New York Times.

“I hope this will shatter that frigging glass ceiling to no end, that this will continue, and we will see more of our faces up there.”

The movie became a surprise box-office success amid the pandemic. Yeoh attributes the film’s triumph to its relevancy, noting it came “at a time where we all needed to be healed.”

At the heart of the movie is a mother-daughter relationship with two characters attempting to navigate different realities and changing times, which was a dynamic that resonated with countless viewers, especially among immigrants and people of color.

Yeoh explained that older women had approached her and said that the film helped them begin to build better relationships with their daughters. In one instance, a viewer told Yeoh a story of her daughter contacting her after years of silence. It was the movie that brought the two of them together again.

Quan’s nomination for best supporting actor is another accomplishment in what has been a major career comeback. Quan rose to fame as a child actor in films such as “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” but was forced to quit acting for decades when he found there were few roles for Asian actors. After watching “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018, Quan decided to return to acting, with “Everything Everywhere All at Once” being his first audition in years.

There have never been so many actors of Asian descent nominated in the same year. Other honorable mentions include Hong Chau for best supporting actress in “The Whale” and the soundtrack “Naatu Naatu” from the film “RRR” for best original song. For Hsu and Chau, it is the first time that two Asian women have been nominated for best supporting actress in the same year.