Jonathan Ke Quan

Ke Huy Quan (born August 20, 1971), also known as Jonathan Ke Quan (), is a Vietnam-born American actor and stunt choreographer.

Quan played Short Round in ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) and Data in ''The Goonies'' (1985)''.'' In 1990 and 1991, he co-starred as Jasper Kwong in the sitcom '' Head of the Class'' over two seasons. 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. He returned to acting as Waymond Wang in the film ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022), a role for which he received critical acclaim, won the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, and received his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Early life and education

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

In 1978, his family fled Vietnam. He, his father, and five siblings arrived in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, while his mother and three other siblings fled to Malaysia. His whole family emigrated to the United States in 1979.

Quan attended Mount Gleason Junior High School in Tujunga, California, and Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California. Quan graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1999. After graduation, he worked with Hong Kong fight choreographer Corey Yuen on several projects.

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''. The casting director auditioned children at Castelar Elementary School, which also included his younger brother.

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.

1998–2018: Transition into film production

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 at University of Southern California. After graduating from USC, Quan was asked by Corey Yuen to go to Toronto, Canada, to help choreograph fighting sequences in ''X-Men'' (2000). For the next decade, he worked on various productions in Asia and the United States.

He again helped Yuen as a stunt choreographer for '' The One'' (2001). Quan worked as assistant director on Wong Kar-wai's ''2046'' (2004).

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 an actor in the role of Waymond Wang, a character who would appear in three different incarnations in the film. Co-director Daniel Kwan stumbled upon Quan on Twitter. Two weeks after getting a talent agent, Quan received a call to audition for the film. In January 2020, Quan was announced as a cast member of ''Everything Everywhere All at Once''.' The film was released in March 2022 to critical acclaim, with Quan's performance receiving praise and media attention. After landing the role of Waymond Wang, Quan received a supporting role in Netflix film ''Finding ʻOhana'' (2021) in September 2019. Quan approached director Jude Weng after overhearing her describing the film as ''The Goonies'' meets ''Indiana Jones'', both of which Quan had appeared in.

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

In September 2022, Quan was announced to have joined the cast for the second season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series ''Loki'' for Disney+.

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 and resides in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He remains close friends with his ''Goonies'' co-star Jeff Cohen, who is also Quan's entertainment lawyer.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

Bibliography

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

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Quan, Ke Huy
Living people
1971 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male actors of Chinese descent
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male taekwondo practitioners
American male television actors
Hoa people
Naturalized citizens of the United States
People from Alhambra, California
People from Ho Chi Minh City
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Vietnamese emigrants to the United States
Vietnamese people of Chinese descent
Vietnamese refugees
Refugees in Hong Kong