Ke Huy Quan | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Quan at theWhite House in 2023 | |||||||||||
| Born | (1971-08-20)August 20, 1971 (age 54) Saigon, South Vietnam | ||||||||||
| Other names |
| ||||||||||
| Citizenship | United States | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Southern California | ||||||||||
| Occupations |
| ||||||||||
| Years active | 1984–2002; 2021–present | ||||||||||
| Spouse | Echo Quan | ||||||||||
| Awards | Full list | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 關繼威[1] | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 关继威[2] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Quan Kế Huy[3] | ||||||||||
Ke Huy Quan (/ˌkiː.hwiː.ˈkwɑːn/KEE-hwee-KWAHN;[4][5]Vietnamese:Quan Kế Huy;[3][a] born 1970[6] or 1971[7]), also known asJonathan Ke Quan, is an American actor.His accolades include anAcademy Award, aGolden Globe Award, and aSaturn Award, in addition to aBAFTA nomination.
Born in Vietnam, Quan immigrated to the United States as a child. As a child actor, he rose to fame playingShort Round inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Data inThe Goonies (1985). Following a few roles as a young adult in the 1990s, he took a 19-year acting hiatus, during which he worked as a stunt choreographer and assistant director.
Quan returned to acting with the family adventure filmFinding ʻOhana (2021), followed by the critically acclaimedEverything Everywhere All at Once (2022), a performance that won him various accolades, including theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is the first Vietnam-born actor to win an Academy Award.Time magazine named him one of the100 most influential people in the world in 2023.[8] He has since starred in the second season of theDisney+ seriesLoki in 2023 and in the upcoming Disney filmZootopia 2.
Quan Kế Huy was born in 1970[6] or 1971,[7] inSaigon, South Vietnam,[7] into a familyof Chinese descent, with eight siblings.[9] Three years after theend of the Vietnam war in 1975, Quan and his familyfled from Vietnam.[10] He, along with his father and five siblings, went toHong Kong, while Quan's mother and three other siblings went toMalaysia.[11] After staying at a refugee camp in Hong Kong, Quan's entire family was admitted to the United States as part of theRefugee Admissions Program in 1979.[12] In the U.S., Quan grew up inCalifornia, where he attended the Mount Gleason Junior High School inSunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles andAlhambra High School inAlhambra.[13]
Quan became a child actor at age 13, starring asHarrison Ford's 12-year-old sidekickShort Round in theSteven Spielberg filmIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984.[14] The casting director auditioned a number of children at Castelar Elementary School, including Quan's younger brother.[15] He described the role as "one of the happiest times of my life".[12] For his performance, he was nominated for theSaturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.[16] In 1985, Quan co-starred inThe Goonies as a member of the eponymous group of children, the inventor Richard "Data" Wang. He played a pickpocket orphan in the 1986 Taiwanese movieIt Takes a Thief. In 1987, he appeared in the Japanese moviePassengers (Passenjā Sugisarishi Hibi [ja]) with the Japanese idol singerHonda Minako. He played Sam on the short-lived TV seriesTogether We Stand (1986–1987) and played Jasper Kwong in the sitcomHead of the Class from 1990 to 1991. In 1991, he starred in the movieBreathing Fire, and had a small role inEncino Man the following year. He played the starring role in the 1993Mandarin-language Taiwan TV showEunuch & Carpenter, which ran for forty episodes.[17][1] He also starred in the 1996 Hong Kong-Vietnam co-productionRed Pirate.
He studiedTaekwondo under Philip Tan on the set ofIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and later trained underTao-liang Tan.[18]
As an adult, Quan found it difficult to find acting work in the United States. He eventually quit acting and enrolled in the film program atUniversity of Southern California.[19][20] During his time there, he edited acomedy horror short film titledVoodoo alongside his friend and fellow studentGregg Bishop, who directed the film.[20]Voodoo won the Audience Award at the 2000Slamdance Film Festival, and continues to be shown to USC students to this day.[21] After graduating from USC, Quan was asked byCorey Yuen to go toToronto, Ontario, to help choreograph fighting sequences inX-Men (2000).[19][15] For the next decade, he worked behind the scenes on various productions in Asia and the United States.[15] He again helped Yuen as a stunt choreographer forThe One (2001).[22] Quan worked as assistant director onWong Kar-wai's2046 (2004).[15]
.jpg)
Quan was inspired to return to acting following the success ofCrazy Rich Asians in 2018.[23] In 2019, he was cast in a supporting role in the Netflix filmFinding ʻOhana, released in 2021.[24] Quan approached directorJude Weng after overhearing her describing the film asThe Goonies meetsIndiana Jones, in both of which Quan had appeared.[20] That same year, the filmmaking duoDaniels began casting for their filmEverything Everywhere All at Once. They struggled to cast an actor in the role of Waymond Wang, a character who would appear in three different incarnations of the film. Co-director Daniel Kwan stumbled upon Quan onTwitter. Two weeks after getting atalent agent, Quan received a call to audition for the film.[20] In January 2020, Quan was announced as a cast member ofEverything Everywhere All at Once.[25] The film was released in March 2022 to overwhelming acclaim, becoming the most-awarded film of all time,[26] with Quan's performance receiving near unanimous praise and media attention, eventually leading to him winning a Golden Globe, aScreen Actors Guild Award and anAcademy Award for his role. The Screen Actors Guild Award win made him the first Asian man to win any individual category at theScreen Actors Guild Awards, with his win of theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. He was the first Vietnamese-American actor to be nominated in that category.[27][28][29][30] Quan is one of two actors of Asian descent to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the other beingHaing S. Ngor in1985,[31] and is the first Vietnamese-born actor to win an Academy Award.[32]
_02.jpg)
In February 2022, it was announced that he had joined the cast ofthe TV adaptation ofAmerican Born Chinese forDisney+, which was subsequently released in May 2023.[33][34] In September 2022, Quan was announced to have joined the cast for thesecond season of theMarvel Cinematic Universe seriesLoki for Disney+, which premiered on October 6, 2023. For his performance he received aCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nomination.[35][36] In June 2023, it was announced that he had been invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an actor.[37] He had a voice role inKung Fu Panda 4 (2024).[38] Quan has later then starred in a leading role inLove Hurts (2025), and starred inThe Electric State, along sideMillie Bobby Brown andChris Pratt. He will be a voice inZootopia 2 as a new character, Gary the Snake.
Quan is ofHan Chinese ancestry from theHoaethnic minority group of Vietnam. He speaks English,Cantonese, andMandarin.[39] Quan is married to Echo Quan,[40] who served as the on-set translator forEverything Everywhere All at Once,[41] and resides inWoodland Hills, Los Angeles.[20][19] Quan holds asecond-degreeblack belt intaekwondo; he started taking classes after learning from a taekwondo instructor for his role inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[20] He remains close friends with hisGoonies co-starJeff Cohen, who is also Quan'sentertainment lawyer and helped Quan negotiate his contract to star inEverything Everywhere All at Once.[15]
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Short Round | ||
| 1985 | The Goonies | Richard "Data" Wang | ||
| 1986 | It Takes a Thief | Little Guan | ||
| 1987 | Passenger | Rick | ||
| 1991 | Breathing Fire | Charlie Moore | ||
| 1992 | Encino Man | Kim | ||
| 1996 | Red Pirate | Kwan Chia Chiang | ||
| 2002 | Second Time Around | Sing Wong | ||
| 2021 | Finding ʻOhana | George Phan | ||
| 2022 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Waymond Wang | ||
| 2024 | Kung Fu Panda 4 | Han (voice) | [42] | |
| 2025 | Love Hurts | Marvin Gable | [43] | |
| The Electric State | Dr. Clark Amherst / P.C. (voice) | |||
| Zootopia 2† | Gary De'Snake (voice) | In-production | [44] |
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | X-Men | Assistant fight choreographer, translator | |
| 2001 | The One | Assistant action choreography director | |
| 2004 | 2046 | Assistant director |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–1987 | Together We Stand | Sam Randall | 19 episodes | |
| 1990–1991 | Head of the Class | Jasper Kwong | Main cast (seasons 4–5) | |
| 1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Josh | Episode: "Undertaking Palor" | |
| 1993 | Eunuch & Carpenter | Ba Dajia | Main role; 40 episodes | |
| 2023 | American Born Chinese | Jamie Yao / Freddy Wong | Main role | [45] |
| Loki | Ouroboros "OB" / A.D. Doug | Season 2; Main role | ||
| 2025 | The White Lotus | Kenneth "Kenny" Nguyen | Episode: "Special Treatments"; voice only, uncredited | [46] |
In 2023, Quan won aGolden Globe Award and anAcademy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, for his role inEverything Everywhere All at Once (2022).[47][48] He was the first Asian man to win any individual category at theScreen Actors Guild Awards for the same role, as well as the first Vietnamese-American actor to be nominated in the supporting category.
In 2023, Quan was an honoree of theCarnegie Corporation of New York'sGreat Immigrant Award.[49]
My name is Ke Huy Quan.
Hi! I am Ke Huy Quan, and this is WIRED's Auto Complete Interview.
Actually, I was born in 1970. It's wrong on IMDB.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
