"They say stories like this only happen in the movies," a tearful Quan told the Oscars as he accepted his award for best supporting actor in the anarchic sci-fi drama Everything Everywhere All At Once.
"I cannot believe it's happening to me. This is the American dream."
His is a story that would be hard to believe if it was the plot of a film.
As a child, Quan moved from Vietnam to Hong Kong as a refugee, then settled in the US.