Oscars Rewind: A look back at Jamie Lee Curtis’ shocking Best Supporting Actress win for ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’
On March 11, 2022, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” premiered at the South By Southwest Film Festival. The film starred Michelle Yeoh as a laundromat business owner who travels through the multiverse, encountering adventures from alternate lives she could have led. The film co-starred Ke Huy Quan as her husband and Stephanie Hsu as her estranged lesbian daughter. It was well-received at the premiere and went on to receive near universal acclaim, raking in over $140 million at the box office. The film’s critical and commercial success began to generate Oscar buzz. It seemed like a surefire bet to get into multiple above-the-line categories, including acting nominations for Yeoh and Quan. Hsu looked like a dark horse contender.
One key performance in the film that had less chatter that summer was Jamie Lee Curtis as an IRS inspector targeting Yeoh’s laundromat business. Being the daughter of famous actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, she has forged her own Hollywood success story. But up to this point, Curtis had surprisingly never received an Oscar nomination despite noteworthy bids in films such as “A Fish Called Wanda” and “True Lies,” the latter for which she won a Golden Globe and received a SAG Award nomination.
SEE Oscars Rewind: A look back at Frances McDormand’s gasp-worthy 3rd Best Actress win for ‘Nomadland’
When Gold Derby’s Oscar nominations prediction center opened, Curtis’ odds had her in 15th place. But despite just 17 minutes of screen time, she had a lot in her favor to land a nomination. It was definitely an out-of-the-box role for the veteran actress, unlike anything she had previously done. She chewed up the scenery, and if “Everything Everywhere All At Once” proved to be the top-tier contender many award prognosticators were touting it to be, she could very well be along for the ride — at least for a nomination. Once 2022’s early presumed Best Supporting Actress frontrunner Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) decided to campaign for Lead Actress instead, and more contenders’ films were seen, Curtis slowly began to rise in the odds.
The nominations for the 80th Golden Globe Awards were announced on December 12th, with the ceremony set to air January 10th. Curtis’ name was announced as a nominee alongside Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Dolly De Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Carey Mulligan (“She Said”). Given that Curtis was a previous two-time winner with the Hollywood Foreign Press, and the film’s overall performance (only Hsu was snubbed), many pundits felt that she could win here and cement an early frontrunner status.
Curtis led Gold Derby’s odds going into the Globes, and the film was favored to win four of its six nominations. However, when presenter Jennifer Hudson opened the envelope to reveal the Best Supporting Actress winner, a surprise name was read, “Angela Bassett, baby! Come on!” When Bassett got up on stage, she mentioned how 29 years before, she had won the Golden Globe for playing Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” Towards the end of her speech paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and dedicated the award to the Marvel fan community, given how historic this win was. That night, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” would win two awards — Best Supporting Actor for Quan and Best Comedy/Musical Actress for Yeoh, It lost Best Comedy/Musical Film to “The Banshees of Inisherin.” The momentum had stalled.
Suddenly Bassett was the Supporting Actress frontrunner. That status was cemented less than a week later when she picked up the Critics Choice Award. Like Curtis, she was a respected Hollywood veteran, and she had the theatrical scene-stealing performance that actors love. After consistently delivering great performances since her first Oscar nomination for “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” it seemed plausible the academy might feel she was overdue to win the Oscar. And given that Quan was seen as a slam dunk for Supporting Actor and Yeoh had an advantage over Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) in Lead Actress, it seemed unlikely at the time Oscar voters would give “Everything Everywhere All At Once” three acting trophies. It was a feat that had only happened twice in its history, for “Streetcar Named Desire” and “Network.” However, Curtis started to look like a lock for at least an Oscar nomination after landing bids at both the SAG Awards and BAFTAs.
SEE Oscars Rewind: A look back at Olivia Colman’s jaw-dropping Best Actress win for ‘The Favourite’
When the nominations for the 95th Academy Awards were announced on January 24th by Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams, Best Supporting Actress was the first category revealed. After a successful career spanning over four decades, Curtis landed her first ever Oscar nomination. She was joined by Bassett and Condon, as well as Hong Chau (“The Whale”) and her “Everything Everywhere All At Once” co-star, Stephanie Hsu.
In the days that followed, most pundits declared this race Bassett’s to lose. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” also received four other tech nominations, and considering the whole body of the academy votes for the winner, that was a sign she had the necessary support to win. As for the other nominees, Chau seemed like a coattail nomination to Brendan Fraser, who was seen as a top contender to win Best Actor. Condon didn’t have the name recognition of some of the A-list veterans in the category, and Curtis was hurt by the fact that Hsu was nominated alongside her. A vote split would certainly keep either from winning, right?
The race became complicated when Bassett’s winning streak ended at the BAFTAs, with Condon being named Best Supporting Actress for playing Colin Ferrell’s sister Siobhan in “The Banshees of Inisherin.” However, this win wasn’t shocking, given the film was Irish and had more appeal to that voting bloc than “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “
Still, this loss was evidence Bassett didn’t have this race locked up. But with “Everything Everywhere All At Once” surprisingly underperforming too, winning only Best Film Editing. It seemed like Bassett’s frontrunner status wasn’t in jeopardy as long as she still won the SAG Award. However, Oscar Expert Tariq Khan would write an article shortly before the ceremony giving readers a heads up that he was hearing a lot of SAG votes for Curtis when surveying hundreds of voters. While Bassett still heavily led the odds, he and Gold Derby founder Tom O’Neil were predicting Curtis to pull off a shocking upset.
When the SAG Awards took place the following week, the show opened with their traditional “I’m An Actor” segment where a few actors from the audience share their up-and-coming stories as an actor, ending with “My name is. . . . and I’m an actor.” When the camera panned to Curtis, she would receive an enormous applause before she could even speak, signaling widespread support from the actors in that room. She mentioned that she was fired from the ABC sitcom “Operation Petticoat,” which led to her audition for “Halloween,” the film that launched her career.
About halfway through the ceremony, Jason Bateman and Emily Blunt came out to present the award for Best Supporting Actress. After all the nominees’ clips were played, Blunt opened the envelope, reading, “And the actor goes to. . . Jamie Lee Curtis ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’!” Curtis could be seen yelling, “Shut up!” making it clear she really wasn’t expecting to win, while the other nominees in her category looked pleasantly surprised for her. She would bring down the house with her acceptance speech by poking fun at being labeled a “nepo-baby” over the years and getting the audience excited about her co-star, Michelle Yeoh, shouting, “When I say Michelle, you say Yeoh!” Without a doubt, the most electric speech of the entire night! “Everything Everywhere All At Once” swept the night, also winning Best Ensemble, Best Actress (Yeoh) and Best Supporting Actor (Quan).
The SAG Awards were an absolute game-changer. If Bassett couldn’t win for a dramatic role in a hit mainstream film, voted on by a mainstream film-friendly group like SAG, it seemed very hard to imagine a snobbish academy going for her. With Curtis winning a major industry award voted on by her peers, she was now a major contender to win the Oscar too! Suddenly, many prognosticators began to think this race may actually come down to Curtis vs. Condon. Condon had the advantage of being the only non-American nominee in the lineup, with a performance that would surely appeal to the increasingly international voting bloc of the academy. Curtis, on the other hand, was in the Best Picture frontrunner and was an A-list veteran seen as overdue for the academy’s recognition. But by Oscar night, and perhaps due to all the precursor confusion, Bassett still led the odds with Gold Derby’s experts.
When the 95th Academy Awards took place on March 12th at the Dolby Theatre, Curtis could be seen in the audience wearing a glittering long-sleeve Dolce and Gabbana gown, which she joked matched the “champagne-colored carpet.” After the first category was presented, the previous year’s supporting acting champs, Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“CODA”) came out to present the two supporting acting categories. Supporting Actor went to Ke Huy Quan, as expected, who delivered a very emotional speech. Up next was the very suspenseful Best Supporting Actress category. All of the nominees’ clips were played to a respectable applause from the audience.
SEE Oscars rewind: A look back at Jennifer Lawrence’s road to Best Actress for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Following months of suspense and debate, the time had come to reveal the winner of this hotly contested race. Curtis, Condon, and Bassett could all be seen looking nervous, anticipating which of their names would be read from that envelope. Kotsur signaled for his interpreter to say, “And the Oscar goes to. . .” DeBose then opened the envelope and very excitedly read the winner, “JAMIE LEE CURTIS!!!!!” Curtis once again yelled, “Shut up!” but this time in a more shell-shocked way. Hsu could be seen looking so excited for her, while Chau graciously smiled and clapped. Condon looked flabbergasted for a split second, but quickly smiled and clapped. Bassett on the other hand, made it clear she was very disappointed with the outcome.
Curtis made her way to the stage with a standing ovation from the audience. She used her acceptance speech to thank the cast and crew of “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” her team, her family, and her fan base of the genre franchises she’s taken part in over the years. The whole speech was generating the same enthusiasm from the audience as her SAG Awards acceptance speech. She then concluded by paying tribute to her legendary parents, “And my mother and my father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories. . . I just won an Oscar!” She began to tear up while saying that last part, and emotionally exited the stage. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” would win a total of seven Oscars that evening, becoming the first film since “The Silence of the Lambs” to win every above-the-line category it was nominated for, and the first film since “Network” to win 3 acting Oscars.
In a hotly contested race, how was Curtis able to go from being 15th in the odds, to landing a nomination, to winning the Oscar race? If there’s one thing that’s been apparent in recent years, it’s that momentum is key when a race is competitive, and Curtis winning that SAG Award with a universally praised speech made all the difference. Also, being a major star for over 40 years, it’s hard to believe that she had never even been nominated before. Most academy members likely felt she was overdue to win that coveted Oscar afterall. While Bassett, too, had a similar history and reputation for over three decades of work, looking back, it’s very clear what hurt her the most was that her performance was in a Marvel film. And while she broke that glass ceiling as the first actor nominated from the franchise, it was still an uphill battle to win with the current academy voters. Thankfully, Bassett will receive an Honorary Oscar this November. And as for Condon, while she was a breakout performance in an acclaimed film, many academy members probably felt they would have another chance to reward her soon enough. In the end, Curtis’ narrative and her wildly fun performance in a Best Picture winner all led to the perfect Hollywood ending.
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?