For his role inEverything Everywhere All at Once, the 80s icon called on his past selves.
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Ke Huy Quanswung that damn fanny pack everywhere.
I broke so many things, he says, laughing.
My wife was not too happy about it.
Still, kids loved Short Round.
We wanted tobeShort Round, the only child lead in a series we worshipped.
And I loved it.
That character is so smart and so brave and so weird.
We didnt have many great role models.
But then Ke Huy Quan grew up.
It didnt take long to discover that Hollywood roles for Asian men were few and far between.
He did a few films in Asia.
He left acting behind and went to film school, then started working behind the scenes.
Not until Quan saw the success ofCrazy Rich Asiansin 2018 did he allow himself to think about performing again.
I was happy working behind the camera, but this entire time something felt missing, he says.
I didnt want to step away with the feeling that it was because there were no opportunities.
I was lying to myself.
I said, I think this role was written for me!
It wasnt but the Daniels became taken with the idea of reviving Quans acting career.
He had to be able to speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English.
He had to know martial arts.
But he also had to be an incredibly believable sappy pushover.
One day, on Twitter, I saw a picture of Ke Quan as Short Round, says Kwan.
My brain was like,What is that guy doing right now?
I meet Quan,now 50, on a chilly, windswept day in Los Angeless Chinatown.
They succeeded by splitting up: Kes mother and three of the kids went to Malaysia.
They landed in a Hong Kong refugee camp.
It wasnt very big.
There were guards to double-check we wouldnt get out.
I dont think Ive spoken about this stuff in 30 or 40 years.
I knew that it was tough.
I knew that was not my home.
I knew we left a home behind.
I knew I missed my brother.
I missed my mom.
They were stuck there for a year.
He remembers the elation of getting U.S. visas and flying to L.A., where the family was reunited.
It was the first and most important plane ride of Kes life.
I was like, Hey, David, do this, do that!
They were Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford.
Three weeks later, Ke and his mother were on a plane to Sri Lanka.
Yeah, this week I just have three auditions.
I got five next week!
And Im thinking,Man, the last audition I had was six months ago.
But he continued to fight literally.
He points to an empty storefront where one of his sisters used to have a travel agency.
One day in 1998, he visited her whileLethal Weapon 4was shooting in the mall.
Behind the camera was his oldGooniesdirector, Richard Donner.
He also ran intoLethal Weapon 4s action director, Corey Yuen, whom hed met before.
It was one of the best times in my life.
Quan brought the all-hands-on-deck attitude of Hong Kong shoots to his work onEverything Everywhereand some of the traditions too.
For all his enthusiasm, Quan still carried the bruises from his last experiences acting in Hollywood.
This was only Quans second acting gig in nearly 20 years.
(The other was a 2021 Netflix film,Finding Ohana.)
But we didnt have to resort to cutting or anything too overdramatic.
It was all in his performance.
The film also channels something deeper, a sense of stifled potential unlocked.
Hes surprised to be a working actor again; he is relieved that he stayed the course.
I dont think I could have played Waymond had this been ten or 15 years ago, Quan says.
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