Ke Huy Quan

A charming, amusing performer who has doubled as a stunt choreographer, Ke Huy Quan (birthname: Ke Huy Quan) made a name for himself in the 1980s in such roles as Indiana Jones’ teen sidekick in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), following that turn with an appearance as the nerdy character of Data in another Steven Spielberg production, The Goonies (1985).

After a lengthy hiatus from acting, Quan returned to the movies in 2019 and appeared opposite Michelle Yeoh in three roles in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Four years after his family took asylum in Los Angeles after fleeing their war-torn country of Vietnam, Ke Huy Quan was selected for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom from a wide audition of school kids.

The role, Short Round, had the young Quan playing opposite Harrison Ford under Steven Spielberg’s direction. This led to a solid string of roles in Amblin Productions movies like The Goonies, as well as movies produced in Taiwan and Japan. After a brief run on the hit sitcom, Head of the Class (1990), Ke Huy Quan scored his only starring role in the martial arts action movie, Breathing Fire (1991).

A victim of Hollywood’s meager opportunities for Asian actors, Ke Huy Quan quit acting, studied film at USC, and met fight choreographer Corey Yuen. Quan worked as a stunt choreographer on such movies as James Wong’s The One (2001), in which he collaborated with Jet Li,  and Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000).

He worked with the great Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, serving as Wong’s assistant director in 2046 (2004). Quan returned to the U.S. and then to acting in 2019, under Jude Weng’s direction in Finding ‘Ohana (2021) and under the helming of Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Quan is set to reunite with his Everything co-star Yeoh for Destin Daniel Cretton’s Disney + series, American Born Chinese (2023).