Ke Huy Quan won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All at Once. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage)
BY Kevin Polowy/Senior Correspondent, Yahoo Entertainment. Last year was Ke Huy Quan’s comeback tour. Now it’s time for the Ke Huy Quan Award Tour.
The ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ star, who began his career as Short Round in ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984) and as Data in ‘The Goonies’ (1985), won the Golden Globe for Best main cast and is considered a big favorite for a repeat at the Oscars in March.
Quan made his Globes moment instantly memorable when he adored the man in the crowd who got him his first breakout, Temple of Doom director Steven Spielberg, as a best director nominee for his semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans .
“I was raised never to forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first chance,” said an emotional Quan, 51, as he clutched his globe. I’m delighted to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Stephen, thanks!”
(Quan shared a less public but just as viral moment with Indiana Jones herself, Harrison Ford, at September’s D23 Expo.)
After appearing in the fourth and fifth seasons of Head of the Class (1990-1991) and the 1992 comedy Encino Man, Quan largely disappeared from public view. Having a hard time finding work as an actor, he transitioned to a life behind the camera as a stunt choreographer for such films as ‘X-Men’ (2000) and ‘The One’ (2001).
Nearly 20 years later, “Everything Everywhere” directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka “The Daniels”) recruited Quan to return to the big screen to meet Waymond Wang, the Chinese-American immigrant-laundry-owner and divorcee wants to play and change their multiverse ego.
“When I started my career as a child actor on ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,’ I felt very fortunate to have been cast,” Quan said during his speech. “As I got older, I began to wonder if that was it. Was that just luck? For so many years I was afraid that I had nothing left to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a child.”
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“Luckily, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. You remembered this child. And they gave me the chance to try again.”
“Everything Everywhere,” which became a hit among movie stars and a phenomenon among movie lovers, catapulted Quan back into acting. He has already been chosen to co-star in the second season of “Loki” on Disney+.
“Everything that has happened since then has been incredible,” Quan said. “Dan Kwan, Daniel Sheinert, thank you for helping me find my answer. You have given me more than I could have hoped for.”