Ke Huy Quan stop acting: in “Everywhere All at Once.” As a kid, Quan had roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies; however, his career took an abrupt turn when he couldn’t secure good roles.
At the age of 12, Ke Huy stop acting Quan made his screen debut in Steven Spielberg’s 1984 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Soon after, he followed this up with another hit movie – 1985 adventure film The Goonies.
At age 20, Quan encountered difficulty landing any acting jobs. Disheartened, he decided to transition from being on-screen to working behind the camera.
“For a long time, I lied to myself that acting wasn’t fun anymore,” he says of his decision to retire.
Quan began noticing an expansion of roles for Asian actors, becoming “meatier”. So he decided to try his luck again with a script: Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a sci-fi martial arts film, absurdist comedy and family drama that follows the journey of a Chinese immigrant family as they navigate parallel universes. Quan stars as Waymond Wang, an unassuming husband to Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh).
“When I read the script for the first time,” Quan recalls, “I was overcome with emotion because this had been a role I’d been waiting to read for so long – it felt like it had been written just for me!” She adds that it was an opportunity that had been waiting patiently for her and Quan was thrilled beyond measure.
Quan recalls how taking his first public photo in 20 years made him feel alive: “I felt whatever had been missing all those years… All of a sudden I felt like I was back where I needed to be.”
Quan has already earned two nominations for his performance as Waymond, including an Academy Award nomination and Screen Actors Guild Award. Accepting the Golden Globe was especially meaningful to him because it allowed him to reunite with Spielberg who won that same night the Oscar for best director for The Fabelmans.
Quan recalls “Being able to look [Spielberg] in his eyes and thank him for all he’s done for me, that was truly special,” she says. “I gave him a big hug and said, ‘Steven, I hope I make you proud tonight.’ And he replied with, ‘Ke, you made me proud when you were just 12 years old.’ It was just so good giving him that hug.”
I was really taken with this script by Jackie Chan. Having watched all his movies, I knew he had an impressive knack for using everyday objects as weapons – like chairs or tables – but never did he consider using a fanny pack! So it was really cool when I read the script for this movie.
But I was also very nervous, since that style of fighting is called Wushu rope dart and I had never encountered it before…. It proved incredibly difficult for me to master, even after weeks of intensive training. Nevertheless, my partner and I persevered anyways – eventually succeeding in mastering this art form! On the day of shooting, I knew we didn’t have time for many takes until we got it just right.
There was one particular sequence which had to be shot all in one take – and unfortunately my first try didn’t quite turn out as planned. On take two, I heard the camera roll and heard “action,” so I started swinging my fanny pack around my shoulder and neck. Finally, at the very end, I kicked it and saw it fly out almost in slow motion – I was so overcome with joy as everyone applauded and clapped! It was an incredible feeling to be able to do all this in two takes and for it all to turn out so well.
He struggles to keep all the different versions of his Everything Everywhere character straight.
While preparing for this role, I stumbled across an interview Margot Robbie had done in which she talked about hiring a body movement coach for each movie she does. So naturally, I reached out and we began having sessions – it was fascinating to watch him read the script and then select an animal specific role for me to portray.
For example, “tax” Waymond would choose a squirrel, “CEO” Waymond would choose a fox and finally “alpha” Waymond would select an eagle. My homework for this assignment was to spend lots of time on YouTube looking at various videos of these three different animals – particularly squirrels! And to help me get in character I even printed out pictures of different-looking squirrels as well as eagles and foxes to tape on the wall for all to see! That was my initial step in understanding these characters better.
His first acting role was in Steven Spielberg’s 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which earned him critical acclaim.
Spielberg and Lucas searched everywhere for a Chinese kid to play Short Round; from New York and London to Singapore, Hong Kong and even San Francisco… Nearly gave up when casting director Mike Fenton suggested an open call in Chinatown, Los Angeles – in 1983! At that time there was only a small Asian community living there at that time. My brother’s teacher thought he was perfect for the role, so we went to audition together – with me behind the camera coaching him on how to perform.
At first I had no idea why I was telling him what to do; after all, I didn’t even understand what was going on. But eventually the casting director saw me and asked if I wanted to give it a shot, which of course I did! Soon after we received an unexpected call from Steven Spielberg’s office!
My mom thought it was an especially fancy meeting when she heard “Hollywood big director,” “big movie star.” So she made me wear an uncomfortable three-piece suit she bought in Chinatown that I would usually wear during Chinese New Year.
However, Steven took one look at me, gave me a hug, and asked if I’d come back the following day wearing something comfortable – which is exactly what I did; Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg joined me for an afternoon together before I boarded a flight to Sri Lanka where three weeks later I stepped foot on set for the first time ever and that forever changed my life.
His family’s decision to immigrate to the U.S. from Vietnam was based on their spiritual journey and beliefs.
My parents are heroes to me for making that difficult decision to leave home and bring our entire family to a foreign land where they don’t speak the language…. They gave up everything they had in order for us to come here together. My parents made an incredibly selfless decision by not working for themselves; rather than making money out of themselves, they chose to invest in others instead.
My dad was a successful businessman in Vietnam and my mother ran her own clothing store; although they made good money there, they gave it all away and by the time we arrived in America they were heavily in debt. They would do any job that was given them in order to put food on our tables and secure a better future for us all.
Truly, it’s incredible what these people did – such noble work. That is why, when fated to bring me my first job working with Spielberg and Lucas on Indiana Jones, I felt such immense pride – rather than taking something from them, I could give something back, make them proud.
He expressed concern that Everything Could Change All at Once, leading to a one-time event.
In 2020, we shot 37 days out of 38 for the movie. Due to the pandemic outbreak, however, we had to cease production with one day left and regroup eight months later – when I returned home as everyone else in an attempt to stay safe…
My agents sent me audition opportunities where I recorded myself at home and sent in self-tapes – many times! Yet none of them led to a job offer or callback! And this brought back memories of those times in my late teens and early 20s when auditioning didn’t pay off; my health insurance had even gone.
So one day when talking with our producer about whether or not my acting abilities were any good in the movie he said: ‘Ke, trust me you’re really good in this one – just wait’
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