‘Indiana Jones’ child actor returns as romantic heartthrob after 40 years

The New York Times

In the mid-1980s, Ke Huy Quan starred in two of the top-grossing films of that decade, playing Short Round, Indiana Jones’ orphaned sidekick in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984), and Data, a boy obsessed with technology that invents various gadgets to beat up bullies, in “The Goonies” (1985).

In March, Quan, 51, returned to the big screen, in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, from directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, or “the Daniels”. In the film, which opened in the United States in March, Quan plays Waymond Wang, the loving husband of a struggling laundry owner, played by Michelle Yeoh.

But because it’s a multiverse movie, Quan also personifies two other very different Waymonds: the first a martial arts master and warrior who roams the universe, and the other a desperate romantic heartthrob who, in another time and place, let go. Yeoh’s character was gone.

In many ways, Quan’s journey from “Indiana Jones” to his new film is almost as implausible and fantastical as Waymond Wang’s leaps through parallel universes. At Quang’s house, in Woodland Hills, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, while we were eating a steak prepared by him, the actor mentioned some of the highlights of his career (among which he shared a swimming pool with Ford), talked about fighting kung-fu armed with a fanny pack, and ranted about lousy jobs he was lucky enough to be able to turn down. Below are edited excerpts from our conversation.

You were born in Saigon and your family ended up in a refugee camp in Hong Kong when you were seven. How did you get from there to “Indiana Jones?”

We arrived in Los Angeles in 1979, and by fate, in 1983 Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were looking for a Chinese boy to star in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” They went to Hong Kong, Singapore, London, San Francisco, New York, and were on the verge of giving up when the casting director told them they should try Chinatown.

So Spielberg and Lucas did an all-day casting call at our elementary school. My brother’s teacher thought he should try, so I went with him and, during the test, I kept suggesting to him what to do and how to behave; the casting director saw me and asked if I wanted to try. I thought I had done very badly.

Did you know who Harrison Ford was?

Not. I hadn’t watched “Star Wars” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” before we finished filming. But he was a wonderful guy. Very simple, very humble, and a very generous actor. And he taught me to swim. We were in the pool at our hotel in Sri Lanka and he asked me, “Ke, do you know how to swim?” I said no, and he said, “Get in the water and I’ll teach.”

A year later, you made “The Goonies”, another huge hit.

Yes, it was another wonderful adventure. But I didn’t grow up wanting to be an actor. And when I got older and I realized that was what I wanted to do, I didn’t have many proposals. When there was one, the role was always very stereotyped, and every Asian actor in Hollywood was in the running for it.

By the time I hit 20-somethings, no one was looking for me for jobs anymore. One day my agent called me and said he had found a role. It was just three lines of dialogue, and I would be a Vietcong. But I couldn’t even do that.

When you think about these works, do you feel like you were lucky to have avoided a robbery like that?

Now, in retrospect, it sure is. But at the time, as an actor, all you want to do is work. Would I have played those roles I disputed if I had been offered? Who knows? But I decided to give up acting. I didn’t want to leave the business altogether, so I applied to film school at the University of Southern California, and luckily I was accepted.

You told them you worked on “The Goonies”, didn’t you?

I certainly included that detail in my application.

And what did you do after graduating?

I finished college in 1999, and I got a call from Corey Yuen [um reverenciado ator e coreógrafo de cenas de ação de Hong Kong], who invited me to come to Toronto and work with him on a movie stunt team. And when I got to the set, it was “X-Men”!

How did Corey Yuen have his phone?

It’s a funny story. Many years before, he wanted me to make a film for him in Hong Kong, as an actor. But at the time I was under contract to a TV show, so I declined. But we kept in touch over the years.

How did “Everything Everywhere All at Once” come to be?

In 2018, I was working behind the camera when a movie called “Crazy Rich Asians” came out, which was a bit of a hit. I was so inspired by that movie that the idea of ​​going back to my roots started to boil in my head.

So I called a friend who is an agent and said he was thinking about going back to acting, and asked if he would like to represent me. And literally two weeks later he called me to say there was a movie, written and directed by the Daniels, and starring Michelle Yeoh. And in the movie, a role that I would be great for, her husband. And I thought, “Oh my God”.

I took my test the next day, and I thought I did really well. But I had no response from them for two months. When I had lost all hope, they called me and said they wanted to talk to me again. And I thought, again, I did incredibly well on the second audition, but when I left the room I saw another Asian actor waiting to audition for the same role. He was taller, prettier, he looked like he’d just come out of GQ magazine. I returned home and called my agent to say that I had tried my best, but that I didn’t think I would get that role.

Was he a famous actor? Someone I know?

I do not remember. He was a really handsome guy. And that’s why I thought I wouldn’t get the part. But soon after my agent announced that the role was mine. I jumped high. I was very happy.

It’s a good paper for your comeback.

Thanks. I loved every minute of the job. I remember the first day of filming. Jamie Lee Curtis sitting across from me. Michelle Yeoh behind me. James Hong on my left. For a brief moment, I had a panic attack, and I was thinking that these people were all legends, and what the hell was I doing there?

You have an epic fight scene using a fanny pack as a weapon.

wushu fighting style [kung-fu] with the fanny pack is known as wushu rope dart. I did a lot of martial art, but mostly with kicks and punches. I trained a lot for that scene. I took the fanny pack home with me and twirled it constantly, breaking things. And my wife would say, “Honey, can you rehearse outside?”

Michele Yeoh has done some martial arts movies. Did you feel pressured?

Michelle Yeoh is the absolute queen of martial arts movies. And so I pressed myself. I didn’t want to disappoint her. And she helped me all the time, you know, always making me feel comfortable, because we did a lot of scenes together.

James Hong, who plays his father-in-law, has been in Hollywood forever. Did he treat you like a boy?

He is 91 years old, and walked around the set like he was in his mid-20s. His voice is very deep, high and strong, and he loves to work. He made more than 600 movies and series. On the last day of filming, he brought in many photos of his work in other films, and asked “who wants an autographed picture?” Everyone raised their hand.

The role, or the three roles, looks very cool. Is there still a role of your dreams that you would like to play somewhere?

I want to play many, many different roles that I didn’t get to do when I was younger. So, I’m open to any invitation. When I started, I was often the only Asian face on set. So to be able to get to a set now and see a lot of Asian faces is really inspiring, and it gives me a lot of hope.