With one of the best speeches of price season so far, Hollywood veteran James Hong has to take the stage in a room full of his colleagues and finally talk.
Everything everywhere at once had a starry night at the SAG Prices 2023of Michelle JoehoeKe Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis each took home a statue for their respective roles in the sci-fi comedy, before earning SAG’s top prize for Cast in a Motion Picture.
Before handing the microphone to Hong, Yeoh introduced him. “There’s been one who’s been accompanying ensembles longer than we’ve ever lived,” she said. “He’s been acting since there were only 49 states, and he just turned 94. And it’s taken 69 years to get him on this stage.”
Hong began his speech in Cantonese, as “we may be deployed in Hong Kong,” before switching to English. With his comrade dominateTAs Asian cast members stood next to him on stage, Hong thought back to when Hollywood thought Asian actors couldn’t play Asian characters And, bow on everyone in the audience that his first screen credit was in a Clark Gable film. Oh, and he received his first SAG card a whopping 70 years ago, at a time when being Asian in Hollywood looked very different.
“At that time, I have to tell you this, the main roles were played by these guys with their eyes taped shut,” Hong says during his speech. “And the producer said Asians weren’t good enough, and they’re not a box office. But look at us now, huh?
Since its debut in 1955 Soldier of FortuneHong has amassed more acting credits than almost anyone else in Hollywood history, with over 600 titles to his name. He became known for his work on Seinfeld, Chinatown, Blade Runner, Mulna, Kung Fu Pandaand much more, with recent roles in To blush And Wendell & Wild. However, his role as Gong Gong in EERAO is the first to take him to a major awards show in the United States. He certainly seized his long-awaited moment and delivered an emotionally deft speech fit with biting humor and a lot of public work.
He took a moment to read Daniels’ wild script for EERAOand that Daniel Scheinert is, in fact, white, before ending his speech by pulling a line from Yeoh’s own award season script:Quiet. I can beat you up.”
At 94 years old, Hong has been on more film and television sets than almost anyone else, and it’s a shame we’ll probably only get to hear a small snippet of his illustrious experience. However, as Hong says in his speech, we hopefully will see him again on the SAG at 100, and EERAO will lead to even more opportunities to share his life story.