Pauly Shore Celebrates Ke Huy Quan and Brendan Fraser’s Oscar Wins, 31 Years After ‘Encino Man’: ‘Never Give Up on Your Dreams’

Pauly Shore is over the moon about his “Encino Man” co-stars Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan becoming Oscar winners at the 95th Academy Awards. Fraser took home the Oscar for best actor thanks to his acclaimed performance in “The Whale,” while Ke Huy Quan won best supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which also took home the best picture trophy along with six other Oscars.

“Encino Man” made it into host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue when he observed that 16 actors were nominated for their first Oscars at the 2023 ceremony. Fraser and Quan were both first-time nominees.

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“Two actors from ‘Encino Man’ are nominated for Oscars,” Kimmel said. “What an incredible night it must be for the two of you, and what a very difficult night for Pauly Shore. Maybe it’s time to reboot ‘Bio-Dome.'”

Shore took to Twitter to react to Kimmel’s shoutout and to celebrate his former co-stars’ Academy Award victories.

“I don’t know if you guys saw the the Academy Awards last night, but Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at me in the monologue,” Shore wrote. “I loved it. But what I REALLY loved is that my old buddies from back in the day, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, took home the Oscars!”

“Never quit on your dreams,” Shore added.

Quan was the first acting winner awarded at the 2023 Oscars, and his acceptance speech proved to be one of the most emotional moments of the ceremony. “Mom, I just won an Oscar!” he shouted when he first took the stage.

“My journey started on a boat,” Quan added as he fought through tears. “I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This is the American dream!”

Both Fraser and Quan had emotional comeback narratives all Oscar season long, with Fraser even saying during his acceptance speech, “I started in this business 30 years ago, things didn’t come easy to me… there was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time, until it stopped. I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement.”

Fraser, Quan and Shore starred together in the 1992 cult classic comedy “Encino Man.” Fraser plays a caveman frozen in ice who finds himself coming back to life in 1992 Los Angeles. Two geeky high school students, played by Shore and Sean Astin, befriend the caveman and teach him about high school life in the early 1990s. Quan had a supporting role in the film as a high school student named Kim.

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