Ke Huy Quan was a child star in two of the most successful films of the 1980s, but he gave up performing when Hollywood abandoned him. Now he has made a stunning return by winning an Oscar.
“People think things like this only happen in the movies,” a sobbing Quan told the Oscars as he won his trophy for best-supporting actor in the anarchic sci-fi film Everybody Everywhere All At Once.
“I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This is the American dream.”
His story would be difficult to accept if it were a movie storyline.
As a child, Quan fled Vietnam for Hong Kong before settling in the United States.
Accidentally receiving an audition for the role of the Chinese thief Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), he later starred as the gadget-obsessed Data in The Goonies (1985).
But as he grew up, the parts dried up, and he settled for working behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator and assistant director.
Motivated by watching Crazy Rich Asians, he decided to make another go at pursuing his goal of acting as he approached the age of 50.
A buddy who is a literary agent agreed to represent him, and two weeks later Quan received a phone call regarding Everything Everywhere All At Once. That picture would offer him his second major break and his first Oscar Award.
“My mum is 84 years old and she is at home watching. Mother, I just won an Oscar!” He said, overtaken with emotion while kissing and raising his golden statuette.
“My voyage began aboard a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp and ended up on the largest stage in Hollywood.”
In the late 1970s, Quan was seven years old when he left Vietnam on a crowded boat with his father, landing in Hong Kong while his mother and three siblings traveled to Malaysia.
In 1979, the family immigrated to the United States, a journey that he described as “difficult.”
“We were refugees,” Quan told the Guardian last year. Nobody desired us… They would call us ‘fresh off the boat’. They would make fun of us when we were in school. You can imagine what that does to a child’s mental health.”
When he went to support his younger brother at an Indiana Jones audition at the age of 12, his life was destined to alter. Quan had no intention of auditioning, but the casting director encouraged him to do so.
Three weeks later, Quan was on his way to Sri Lanka to start shooting the film. “It was one of the happiest times of my life,” he remarked.
Some of the movie’s representations and themes have since been attacked, but Quan believes director Steven Spielberg deserves praise.
“Spielberg was the first to cast an Asian actor in a Hollywood blockbuster,” he stated. “Short Round is humorous, gutsy, and saves Indy’s posterior.”
Subsequently, Quan was cast with Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, and Martha Plimpton in The Goonies, which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
He went on to appear in the TV sitcoms United We Stand and Top of the Class. But as the 90s drew on, the offers began to shrink. All roles assigned to him were limited and stereotypical.
“The transition from kid actor to adult actor is always challenging,” he told the Telegraph. “But, if you are Asian, it is one hundred times more difficult.
“There was a significant possibility that none of the one hundred scripts would contain relevant Asian characters. Frequently, we were the punchline of the joke.
“Your early twenties are meant to be your golden years, but all I did was wait for the phone to call.”
He unwillingly quit waiting, and it wasn’t until the 2018 success of Crazy Rich Asians that he attempted to return to the screen.
anxiety over missing out
“I remember viewing that movie in a theatre three times. I sobbed every time,” he said.
“I sobbed because it was such a wonderful movie, but I also cried for a different reason – I experienced major FOMO [fear of missing out]. I wanted to be up there together with my other Asian performers.
“It was really then that the concept of coming back to my origins started taking place.”
When he heard the script for Everything Everywhere All at Once, he undoubtedly did not anticipate that it would lead him to the Academy Awards.
On paper, the film is difficult to market. It is a creative hybrid of an independent drama about an immigrant family, a madcap science fiction adventure, and a superhero action flick.
Quan plays Waymond Wang, the spouse of Michelle Yeoh’s launderette manager – as well as various versions of Waymond from different universes.
He has admitted he was uncertain how people would react to seeing a former child star as a middle-aged guy.
“I was 50 years old when I decided to get back into acting,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
“It took guts to give voice to this dream I’d had, a dream I had to walk away from, and I didn’t think it would find its way back.”
In a neat twist of fate, it was one of his old co-stars who helped him win his comeback role.
Jeff Cohen, who portrayed Chunk in The Goonies, had remade himself as an industry lawyer and helped Quan negotiate his contract. The film’s producer remarked, “he never expected that he’d have to chat to Chunk and Data for his movie”.
Keep your ambitions alive
Quan and his picture have now received Hollywood’s approval. Everything Everywhere won a total of seven Oscars on Sunday, including best film and best actress for Michelle Yeoh.
This year, Quan has been one of the most popular faces on the awards circuit, thanks to his irrepressible exuberance and stream of smiling selfies with A-list celebrities who were equally pleased to meet him.
At the Oscars, Harrison Ford reunited with his former Indiana Jones co-star, who presented the trophy for best film.
Quan continued his remarks by thanking his mother “for the efforts she made to get me here.”
Also, he acknowledged his brother and wife – “the love of my life, who for twenty years warned me that my time will come”
He said,
“You must have faith in your dreams.” I almost gave up on mine.
“To everyone out there, I implore you to keep your dreams alive.
“Thank you so much for your gracious hospitality.”
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