Several artists of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have recently been announced as presenters at this year’s upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, also known as the Oscars.
Legendary Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen, Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, professional wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson and award-winning British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed are set to present at the 95th Academy Awards.
Other announced presenters include Michael B. Jordan, Zoe Saldaña, Melissa McCarthy, Emily Blunt, Jennifer Connelly, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonathan Majors, Ariana DeBose, Janelle Monáe, Troy Kotsur, Questlove and Glenn Close.
This year sees a record-breaking four Asian nominees for acting awards: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Hong Chau for “The Whale.”
Yeoh is notably the “first person who identifies as Asian” to be nominated for a Best Actress Award at the Oscars.
Leading this year’s Oscar nominations is the Daniels‘ “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with 11 nominations in total. The A24 hit is competing for Best Picture against several films, including “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Women Talking” and “Tár.”
Earlier this week, it was announced that Hsu would perform “This is a Life,” which is nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. Fellow song nominee “Naatu Naatu” from the hit film “RRR” will also be performed.
The awards ceremony will take place on March 12 at Los Angeles‘ Dolby Theatre, with Jimmy Kimmel returning to host the event.
