2023 Oscar Winners Who Practice Meditation

May 10, 2023

Many of us know about famous actors and actresses who practice meditation: Oprah Winfrey, Hugh Jackman, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere, Eva Mendes, Sheryl Crow, Shirley MacLaine, Sting, Halle Berry, Leonard Cohen, Russell Brand, and David Lynch (source: 14 Famous People Who Meditate). After the 2023 Oscars (March 12th, 2023), I was curious to find out if any of that year’s winners practice meditation — so I did a little searching.

Here is my methodology:

I performed all searches on Google.
I searched for “name + meditate” — an exact match search that also captures iterations like “meditation” and “meditating.”
I filtered through results to find the most relevant sources.
I was not able to interview these people directly.
I assumed that active meditators will have results indicating this — and that a lack of results doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t meditate.

Actor in a Leading Role: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

I could only find one obscure link about a meditation forum at Brigham Young University that did not match the official BYU schedule — likely a different “Brendan Fraser.” Beliefnet does not indicate any particular religious affiliation. I did find a Drew Barrymore Show interview about his role in The Whale, but nothing related to meditation.

Conclusion: Brendan Fraser does not appear to be actively involved in meditation.

Actress in a Leading Role: Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

A number of sources confirm she is a practicing Buddhist, including Wikipedia, Mindworks, and Lion’s Roar.

Conclusion: Michelle Yeoh likely practices meditation on a regular basis.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Ke Huy Quan is a Vietnamese-born American of Chinese ancestry who came to America in 1978 at age 7. While Buddhism is the predominant religion in Vietnam, I could not find any information confirming he practices meditation. Upon receiving his Oscar, Quan was quoted saying, “God, Buddha has already answered my prayer” (AP News). In Variety, he refers to his mother as a practicing Buddhist, but his own personal beliefs are not publicly known.

Conclusion: Ke Huy Quan does not appear to practice meditation on a regular basis.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

Jamie Lee Curtis is very much engaged in meditation. She contributed the foreword to The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo — a book deeply rooted in meditation and mindfulness. In an interview with David Nichtern on the Be Here Now Network, Curtis states that she has a daily meditation practice.

Jamie has also authored several children’s books focused on self-esteem:

Conclusion: Jamie Lee Curtis practices meditation on a daily basis.

I hope this information is interesting and enlightening!