Ke Huy Quan

Ke Huy Quan (Chinese: 關繼威; Vietnamese: Quan Kế Huy; born August 20, 1971), also known as Jonathan Ke Quan, is an American actor and stunt choreographer. Quan played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Data in The Goonies (1985). He went on to co-star as Jasper Kwong in the sitcom Head of the Class over two seasons from 1990 to 1991.

Ke Huy Quan
Quan in 2018
Born (1971-08-20) August 20, 1971
Saigon, South Vietnam
(now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Other namesJonathan Ke Huy Quan
EducationUniversity of Southern California
OccupationActor, stunt choreographer
Years active1984–2004, 2019–present
Ke Huy Quan
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese關繼威
Simplified Chinese关继威
Vietnamese name
VietnameseQuan Kế Huy

Quan stopped acting due to a lack of opportunity in the late 1990s, when he received his film degree from USC School of Cinematic Arts. He went on to work as a stunt coordinator and assistant director, until he returned to acting as Waymond Wang in the film Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

Early life and education

Quan was born on August 20, 1971,[1] in Saigon, South Vietnam (present-day Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)[2] to Vietnamese parents of Chinese descent.[3] He has eight siblings.[4]

His family fled Vietnam in 1978 where he, his father and Ke's five siblings arrived in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, separating from his mother and three other siblings who fled to Malaysia.[5][6] His whole family emigrated to the United States in 1979.[5]

Quan attended Mount Gleason Jr. High in Tujunga, California, and Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California.[7] Quan graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1999.[5] After graduation, he worked with Corey Yuen on several projects.[6]

Career

Quan became a child actor at age 12, starring as Harrison Ford's sidekick Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[8] The casting director auditioned children at Castelar Elementary School, which also included his brother.[4][6]

Sean Astin, Quan, and Corey Feldman at The Goonies panel, 2019 Fan Expo Toronto

In 1985, Quan co-starred in The Goonies as a member of the eponymous group of children, the inventor Richard "Data" Wang. He played a pickpocket orphan in the 1986 Taiwanese movie It Takes a Thief. In 1987, he appeared in the Japanese movie Passengers (Passenjā Sugisarishi Hibi) with the Japanese idol singer Honda Minako. He played Sam on the short-lived TV series Together We Stand (1986–1987) and played Jasper Kwong in the sitcom Head of the Class from 1990 to 1991.

He starred in the movie Breathing Fire (1991) and had a small role in Encino Man (1992). He played the starring role in the 1993 Mandarin language TV show The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter which ran for forty episodes. He also starred in the 1996 Hong Kong/Vietnam co-production Red Pirate.

Having studied Taekwondo under Philip Tan on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quan later trained under Tao-liang Tan.[9]

1998–2018: Transition into film production

As an adult, Quan found it difficult to find acting work in the United States. He would eventually quit acting and enrolled in the film program at University of Southern California.[5][2] After graduating from USC, Quan was asked by Corey Yuen to go to Toronto, Canada, to help with the fighting sequence in X-Men (2000).[2][6] For the next decade, he would go on to work on various productions in Asia and the United States.[6]

He worked as a stunt choreographer for X-Men[1] and The One as the assistant of Hong Kong fight choreographer Corey Yuen.[10] Quan also worked as assistant director on Wong Kar Wai's 2046.[6]

2018–present: return to acting

In 2018, Quan was inspired by the success of Crazy Rich Asians (2018) to return to acting. That same year, the Daniels began casting for their film Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). They struggled to cast the actor for Waymond Wang, who would appear as three separate characters in the film. Co-director Daniel Kwan later stumbled upon Quan on Twitter. Two weeks after getting a talent agent, Quan received a call to audition for the film.[5] After landing the role of Waymond Wang, Quan received a supporting role in Netflix film Finding ʻOhana (2021) in September 2019.[11] Quan approached director Jude Weng after overhearing her describing the film as The Goonies meets Indiana Jones, both of which Quan had appeared in. The film was Quan's first acting credit since the release of Second Time Around in 2002, although he considered Everything Everywhere All at Once his acting comeback as he shot the latter before Finding 'Ohana.[5]

In January 2020, Quan was officially announced as a cast member of Everything Everywhere All at Once.[12] The film was released on March 2022 to critical acclaim, with Quan's performance receiving praise and media attention.

In February 2022, it was announced that he had joined the cast of the TV adaptation of American Born Chinese for Disney+.[13]

Personal life

Quan is fluent in English, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Mandarin. He is Vietnamese American of Han Chinese (specifically from the Chinese Hoa minority from Vietnam) ancestry. Quan is married[5] and resides in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.[2] He remains close friends with his Goonies costar, Jeff Cohen, who is also Quan's entertainment lawyer.[6]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Short Round Won – Young Artist Award American movie
1985 The Goonies Richard "Data" Wang American movie
1986 It Takes a Thief (糊塗妙賊小神偸) Little Guan (小關) Taiwanese movie
1987 Passenger (パッセンジャー 過ぎ去りし日々) Rick Japanese movie
1991 Breathing Fire Charlie Moore American movie
1992 Encino Man Kim American movie
1996 Red Pirate (紅海盜/飛虎奇兵) Kwan Chia Chiang (關家強) Hong Kong movie
2002 Second Time Around (無限復活) Sing Wong Hong Kong movie
2021 Finding ʻOhana George Phan American movie
2022 Everything Everywhere All at Once Waymond Wang American movie
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1986Together We StandSam19 episodes
1991Head of the ClassJasper KwongMain cast (seasons 4-5)
1991Tales from the CryptJoshEpisode: "Undertaking Palor"
1993The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter (大太監與小木匠)Ba Dajia (巴大家)Starring; TV series from Taiwan, 40 episodes
TBAAmerican Born ChineseFreddy WongUpcoming series[14]

References
  1. "Jonathan Ke Quan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2015. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014.
  2. Ito, Robert (April 5, 2022). "Ke Huy Quan: From Short Round to Romantic Lead in Just Four Long Decades". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  3. Tamagawa, Emiko (April 8, 2022). "Actor Ke Huy Quan returns in front of the camera in 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once'". www.wbur.org. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  4. Ke Huy Quan (Goonies, Temple of Doom) Niagara Falls Comic Con 2019 Q&A Panel, Convention Junkies, June 17, 2019, archived from the original on December 12, 2021, retrieved April 19, 2020
  5. February 24, Clark Collis; EST, 2022 at 03:01 PM. "What Short Round did next: The strange journeys of Ke Huy Quan". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. Ebiri, Bilge (March 11, 2022). "In Another Life, Ke Huy Quan Was a Star". Vulture. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  7. "Jonathan Ke Quan". Empire. August 22, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  8. Canby, Vincent (May 23, 1984). "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  9. Nick Mamatas (December 14, 2012). "10 reasons we still love The Goonies 25 years later". Syfy Wire. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  10. "The kid from Indiana Jones: What does he look like now?". Now (1996–2019 magazine). August 8, 2015. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  11. Kroll, Justin (September 30, 2019). "'Young Sheldon' Director's Feature Debut 'Finding Ohana' Lands at Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  12. Jr, Mike Fleming (January 23, 2020). "A24 Reunites With 'Swiss Army Man' Directors; Finance & Distribute AGBO's 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'". Deadline. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  13. Otterson, Joe (February 7, 2022). "Michelle Yeoh Among Eight Cast in Disney Plus Series 'American Born Chinese'". Variety. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  14. Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 7, 2022). "'Shang-Chi's Michelle Yeoh & Destin Daniel Cretton Reunite For Disney+ Series 'American Born Chinese;' Chin Han, Yeo Yann Yann & Daniel Wu Also Star". Retrieved February 7, 2022.

Bibliography
  • Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 387.
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