Jamie Lee Curtis speaks Hungarian and other backstage Oscar gems

Backstage at the Oscars feels a bit like being at a celebrity auction mixed with a crowded bingo hall.

The Academy Award winners step up to the mic and journalists frantically wave numbered placards in the vain hope that they will win the chance to interview Hollywood's newly crowned royalty.

As it turns out, the winners' circle had plenty to say.

Whether it was best director Daniel Kwan's touching tribute to his mother, or M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose - the duo behind Natuu Natuu - dedicating their award to aspiring filmmakers in India, the backstage Q&A underscored a return to a more wholesome Oscars ceremony after the controversy that surrounded last year's event.

Here are a few of the best quotes from backstage.

1. 'We freaking broke that glass ceiling'

If Michelle Yeoh ever decides to retire from acting, she could have a second career as a motivational speaker.

Yeoh made history on Sunday night when she became the first Asian woman to win best actress and only the second woman of colour to take home the award in the last 21 years.

"We freaking broke that glass ceiling - I kung-fu'd it out and shattered it!" she said to cheers from the crowded room.

"There's so many who felt unseen and unheard... it's not just the Asian community. For anybody who has been identified as a minority we deserve to be heard, we deserve to be seen, we deserve to have the equal opportunity."

2. 'Perform as if it's the first and last time you ever will'

As a star in many millennials' favourite films, such as The Mummy, School Ties and Encino Man, Brendan Fraser was a heartthrob with a star on the rise in the 1990s.

But after spending many years out of the spotlight, tonight's win has solidified his comeback.

Fraser received a standing ovation when he stepped up to the mic backstage, and he seemed so bowled over by his Academy Award he basically whispered his answers into the microphone.

Some members of the media watching on wiped away tears, as Fraser spoke about how he hopes to live up to the best actor title.

"Making a film with this gravity reinforced how important it is to perform as if it's the first and last time you ever will," Fraser said. "I think it's the film that's going to change some hearts and minds and that feels good, that feels really good."

3. 'More women anywhere, anytime all at once'

Throughout the night, the women of Hollywood seemed united behind a single message: It's about damn time!

From A-listers to newcomers, each woman who proudly held an Oscar took a moment to reflect on what it meant to work in an industry that can at times be sexist, ageist and even racist.

Sarah Polley hailed the host of female winners on Sunday night

This year, the women were talking, so let us have them speak for themselves:

• "This is India's first ever film to win - and it's two women… You don't need a seat at the table, make your own table and sit on it." - Guneet Monga, best documentary short film winner for The Elephant Whisperers

• "First of all, I just want to thank the Academy for not being mortally offended by the words 'Women' and 'Talking' put so close together like that." - Sarah Polley, winner of best adapted screenplay for Women Talking

• "Basically just more [expletive] women anywhere, anytime all at once." - Jamie Lee Curtis, best supporting actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once

4. 'Can you believe I'm holding one of these?'

Ke Huy Quan practically skipped onto the stage as he received a standing ovation from the assembled press corps.

In person, his energy feels like standing next to an excitable kid who cannot believe they are about to meet Santa Claus - and it is contagious.

"First of all can you believe I'm holding one of these?" the best supporting actor shouted.

Ke Huy Quan's comeback was the feel-good story of this awards season. But backstage he also grew serious when he shared that he lost his health insurance during the pandemic because he could not find work as an actor.

At times, he said, he was afraid to "bother" his agents to ask if they had any jobs for him. But all that is about to change, now that he is taking home an Oscar.

"Hopefully when I call my agent tomorrow, we will get a different answer!"

5. 'I know they would be incredibly proud'

Jamie Lee Curtis kept the whole room of journalists laughing throughout her post-Oscar interview.

But she did get serious for a moment, when she talked about accepting the Academy Award in honour of her parents, the late actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

"Let me just be honest, I don't believe in a world where there are a bunch of people looking down on us," Curtis said.

"I think we are them in our actions and in our deeds and in our ideas. I am a proud product of them and I know they would be incredibly proud of me."

Then, in true Jamie Lee-style, she burst into what she said was a Hungarian song - her grandparents were Hungarian immigrants to the US - before moving onto the next question.

The tune was not half bad.