Forced to quit Hollywood in his 20s through the lack of roles for Asian actors, he is back on screen in the hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. He talks about being a refugee, the wilderness years – and what tempted him to return
Ke Huy Quan is welling up. Behind black-rimmed glasses, the former child star’s eyes are reddening. His voice starts to wobble as he talks about finding fame for the second time round with the phenomenal success of Everything Everywhere All at Once, this year’s most wildly imaginative breakout film. “It’s incredible. I’m still pinching myself every day. I can’t believe this is real.”
It’s been decades since Quan appeared as Short Round, Harrison Ford’s plucky sidekick in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and gadget-loving Data in The Goonies. Even so, it’s not hard to find traces of that young boy in the 51-year-old’s smile and jovial demeanour. We meet in his hotel’s private cinema, all velvet and brass furnishings, in west London. Quan, dressed in a navy sweater and black jeans, perches eagerly on a huge armchair.
