Stephanie Hsu lands Oscar nomination for Everything Everywhere All at Once lesbian supervillain
Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu played queer character Joy Wang Everything Everywhere All at Once. (A24)
Everything Everywhere All at Once actor Stephanie Hsu is nominated for an Oscar for her lesbian, Chinese-American supervillain.
Hsu snatched her first Academy Award nomination in the category for Best Supporting Actress, where she’s up against castmate Jamie Lee Curtis.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is up for 11 Oscars in total, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh and Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan.
It comes after Hsu was snubbed from 2023’s Golden Globes nominations. A breakout star from the film, fans and critics alike praised her portrayal of Evelyn’s (Yeoh) daughter, whose multiversal alter-ego turns out to be an omnicidal, colourful, supervillain.
Central to the plot of the movie is a queer fight of acceptance, wrapped in the already strained relationship between a Chinese-American mother and daughter, with Joy desperately wanting her mother to accept her non-Chinese girlfriend, Becky.
Hsu’s nomination has left queer fans overjoyed.
The plot had a huge impact on queer viewers, many of whom noted that relationships like those depicted in the film are rarely seen on the big screen.
Stephanie Hsu has previously spoken about what Everything Everywhere All at Once means to LGBTQ+ and Chinese people prior to the Oscars, telling Out: “This movie is so first of its kind that it somehow transcends identity politics, and yet it is so significant that it’s a Chinese family and it’s so significant that Joy is gay. When I read the script, a queer love story felt so obvious, an Asian family is so obvious, because that’s also my life.
“I feel so relieved that it’s a part of the texture of the film, but yet not like, ‘Look at my hat.’ You know? The movie isn’t leading with that energy. It’s just like, look, these are people who happen to be Chinese, who happen to be gay, and they’re just trying to figure this freaking crazy chaotic life out.
“And I just feel so touched that it is reaching people, and despite its non-linear nature, despite its chaotic wild ride, everyone is surprised at how much they get it, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s it, that’s it.’“
Everything Everywhere All at Once leads the Oscar nominations with 11 nods.
Brendan Fraser is nominaed for Best Actor, for his controversial portrayal of an obese gay man in The Whale, and Cate Blanchett is up for Best Actress for Tar, the acclaimed biopic of lesbian composer Lydia Tár.
