See 2023 Oscar Nominees in Their Earliest Roles: Then and Now

It’s been quite a journey to the 2023 Oscars—just ask these nominees.

Whirlwind awards season aside, stars like Austin Butler, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh spent years—decades, even—working and honing their crafts before landing their nods. From the time of their acting debuts to now, these Academy Award hopefuls experienced a rollercoaster of emotions both on and off the screen.

Take Ke Huy Quan, for example, who broke out into Hollywood at just 12 years old in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The actor went on to nab a part in the beloved coming-of-age flick The Goonies, but said he struggled to secure work as he got older due to a lack of Asian American roles in the industry. Eventually, he graduated from film school and pursued a career behind the camera—only to find success again in the critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once.

“When I stepped away from that dream, all the dreams that I had of imagining one day walking down the red carpet at the Oscars, those dreams dissipated,” Quan, who is up for a Best Supporting Actor award, recalled in a recent interview with Good Morning America. “They were so distant that I didn’t think they would ever come back.”