NEW YORK (AP) â Ke Huy Quan is trying hard not to cry.
He's been crying a lot lately. Quan tends to get emotional any time he contemplates his sudden reversal of fate. Every since opened in theaters earlier this year, 51-year-old Quan â who a lifetime ago was the iconic child star of âIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,â as Short Round, and Data in âGoonies" â has been, he says, âoverwhelmed by emotions every day.â
âI didnât think this day would come. It was a day I wanted for so long, for decades. And itâs finally here," says Quan. "When you have a dream and you kind of bury it because you think it wonât come true, to see it finally come true is incredible.â
âI cry a lot,â he says.
Quan was once one of the most indelible faces â and voices â of the 1980s. He was 12 when he was cast as Harrison Ford's Yankee-hat-wearing sidekick in "Temple of Doom." His younger brother, David, auditioned, but Ke caught Spielberg's eye. Quan starred in 1985's âGoonies,â too, but found few roles after that. By the time Quan was in his 20s, he had all but disappeared from the screen. Struggling to find a foothold at a time when roles were scarce for Asian American actors, the Vietnamese-born Quan passed into âWhere are they now?â territory.
Quan gave up acting. He went back to school to study film at the University of Southern California and transitioned into working behind the camera. Twenty years passed before he acted again. But when Quan was 49, he decided to give it one last go. Two weeks later, he landed his role in âEverything Everywhere All at Once."
Now, Quan is not just a working actor again, with a string of upcoming roles, he's being celebrated for one of the best performances of the year. He plays Waymond, the meek husband who transforms in the film's spiraling multiverses into a fanny-pack-slinging hero and a debonair âIn the Mood for Loveâ-style bachelor. Decades may have passed, but Quan's sweetly sincere screen presence still shines.
The 51-year-old actor has already picked up awards from the , the and has been . After spending much of his adult life as an actor just looking for a second chance, Quan may be the favorite to win an Academy Award, for best supporting actor.
âFor the longest time, all I wanted was just a job," Quan says. "Just an opportunity to act, to show people what I can do. This movie, âEverything Everywhere All at Once,â has given me so much beyond anything I could have ever asked for.â
While speaking by Zoom during his day off shooting Anthony and Joe Russo's âElectric Stateâ in Atlanta," Quan's wife was nearby off-camera urging him: âDon't cry! Don't cry!â Quan tried. But as he reflected on his full-circle journey, he often found it difficult.
âThere are so many people out there who doubt themselves, who have dreams theyâve given up or didnât think would ever come true,â Quan said, his voice cracking. "To those people, I hope my story inspires them.â
Remarks have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
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AP: Since the release of âEverything Everywhere All at Once,â what's this year been like for you?
QUAN: Iâm cloud not nine but 18. Before it came out, I was really nervous. When I got back into acting, I didnât tell my family. I kept it a secret from everybody. I didnât know whether anyone would want me. I didnât even know if I could get a job. And even after we finished the movie, I didnât know if I was any good. Thatâs why I kept it away from my family because Iâm thinking: âIf I get fired during production, they wonât know about it.â Or, âIf I suck or the movie sucks, they wonât know about it.â I told them right before our trailer came out. The day before I called my family and said, âIâve got a little surprise for you.â I said, âIâm an actor again.â When the movie came out, they saw it and they called me. They had zero information about my role. They said, âKe, youâre in this movie a lot!â
AP: Given your personal history, do you connect especially with the movie's exploration of alternate realities and lives not lived?
QUAN: For the longest time, the characters I went up for didnât have a character name, they only lasted a page or two. I thought this role was written for me. I remember reading it until 5 a.m., sitting on the sofa, imagining all the things I wanted to put into this character and the three versions of this character. I was looking out the window and I saw the sun rise. I felt like I have enough life experience now that I can do this. Right before I went to bed, reality set in. The imagination was done. Iâm thinking: âThereâs no way I get this role, especially having not acted in more than 20 years.â Itâs impossible! How can anybody think that your first movie back, that I would have this movie as my comeback movie? At that time, I think winning the lottery would have been much easier.
When I got that wonderful phone call and heard the three words that every actor is so eager to hear, which is âWe want you,â I was so happy I canât even describe my feelings at that time. Honestly, I donât think I could have played this character had it been offered to me 10 years ago. Everything had to happen the way it did. Itâs fate.
AP: You were spectacular as a child actor. Did you ever feel it was unjust that you didn't get more chances after that?
QUAN: In my late teens and my early twenties, when it was extremely difficult for me to get a job, I never blamed anybody. I thought I was not good enough. I thought I was not tall enough. I thought I was not good looking enough. I thought perhaps my acting wasnât good enough, and thatâs why I wasnât landing these roles. And I was really young. I blamed myself. For the longest time, I wished I was better. Hollywood writers were just not writing roles for Asian actors. I didnât think like that. I would always fantasize: âWhat would it be like for me to be in that role?â But of course, it never happened. Hollywood didnât write roles like that for Asian actors. I didnât know it then, so I just blamed myself.
AP: When you quit acting, had you made your peace with it? Or did you hold out some hope of returning some day?
QUAN: I struggle with that decision for at least two years. You know, the last audition that I did was for a role with no name, two lines. I walk in the room and there were 30 other Asian actors fighting for this tiny bread crumb. When I didnât even get that, I didnât see a future for myself anymore as an actor. I felt like time was just slipping away. I spent so much time waiting by the phone, hoping it would ring, hoping my agent would call me, hoping that one day I would get another role like Data or Short Round.
That was when I decided to enroll in USC film school. When I stepped away, I thought I stepped away for good. For the longest time, I believed that I didnât like acting anymore, until I started seeing my fellow Asian actors succeeding. I go: âWow, time has changed. We are getting not just very stereotypical roles but meaningful roles, meaty roles.â It wasnât until then that that acting bug, which I buried very, very deep, started crawling back to the surface, to the point that I could not deny that urge to get back anymore. You understand, Iâm not in my 20s. Iâm not in my 30s anymore. I was 49 when I made that decision. It scared me. But the idea of having regret of not giving voice to that dream scared me even more.
AP: All through those years, you've said Spielberg has sent you an annual holiday gift. What does he send you?
QUAN: Itâs always a wonderful present with a card. Every single year for the last 38 years. Every year will be different. I always look forward to that one special gift that I get from Steven. It always warms my heart that he still remembers me, that he still thinks about me when the holiday comes around. Iâm always grateful to that man. Not only did he teach me so much, but he changed my life in the most wonderful way. I guess the reason why I love acting so much has a lot do with him. My first experience as an actor was on his set. I have such fond memories of that experience. Thatâs the reason I fell in love with acting.
AP: Have you seen him since âEverything Everywhere All at Onceâ came out?
QUAN: I saw Steven over Zoom during the pandemic. We did a couple of âGooniesâ reunions, so that was really sweet. But ever since our movie came out, I have not seen or spoken to him. So I want to see him in person and ask him what he thinks about our movie and my performance. I hope I make him proud.
AP: You have, though, reunited with Harrison Ford. The probably warmed the hearts of millions.
QUAN: I also reunited with Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy at the same event I saw Harrison. We all kind of had a mini-reunion. I even joked with Kathy and Frank, knowing that Iâm not in âIndy 5â -- theyâve already made it -- I said: âOh my gosh, it would have been so much better if Short Round was in it.â Kathy was so sweet. Kathy said, âKe, this is so much better. What you have now is so much better.â
AP: How did you experience the response to the photo with Ford?
QUAN: I remember that day very well. Itâs been 38 years. After I went out and we chatted for a little bit, we took three pictures. The first one, it was just me putting my arms around him and him putting his arm over my shoulder. In that moment, I felt so comfortable. I could not help myself but to wrap my arms around him â this man that I love dearly. Ever since it came out, the response to fans from all over the world, how they see that picture and it brings tears to their eyes â it brought tears to my eyes. I was emotional when I hugged him. And to see him smile the way he did! It was just one of those very special moments in life you donât get very often. I will remember it as long as I live.
AP: What would an Oscar nomination mean to you?
QUAN: When I was auditioning for this movie, I prayed to get this role. I made a wish and it came true. I had my birthday in August and every year for the longest time, for as long as I live, every single year Iâve made a wish. This year I didnât. I didnât want to be greedy. Iâve already had everything I ever wanted as an actor with this amazing movie. Whatever happens, my dream has already come true. God, Buddha has already answered my prayer. Everything else is icing on the cake.
AP: Are you still recognized often on the street? Has this film changed how people approach you?
QUAN: Over the years, it was once every while. People recognize me, especially my voice. The question that I always get asked is: âAre you the kid from âIndiana Jones?'â Or, âAre you the kid from âGoonies?'â Iâm so lucky to have been a part of those two wonderful movies. But for the longest time, I always wished that I would do something as an adult where people would recognize me. Iâve done Comic-Cons where Iâve signed autographs and pictures, but I was just a kid. Now I have that. When I go out, people say, âWow, youâre Waymond from 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.ââ
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
