Ke Huy Quan has had one of the most incredible second acts in Hollywood history. Following a pair of scene-stealing turns as a child in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, Quan moved away from acting after finding a dearth of roles available to him. He returned with a vengeance, and an Oscar, thanks to Everything Everywhere All At Once. Now he’s on the verge of becoming an action hero, and that’s at least in part thanks to some encouragement from Steven Spielberg.
After spending decades as a supporting actor and a stunt coordinator behind the scenes, Ke Huy Quan will take his first lead role in a movie amid the 2025 release calendar via the action comedy Love Hurts. It’s the actor’s biggest role since his Oscar-winning performance, and he recently told Empire that what he was going to do after his big return was a major concern for him, one that he voiced to his friend and former director Steven Spielberg. Quan explained…
I was at an event with Steven Spielberg and he was asking me, ‘Ke, how are you doing?’ I said, ‘Steven, I’m not doing so well.’ Because of all the love and support that I had gotten during that whole award season, I was so worried that whatever I was going to do next, I would disappoint.
It’s not surprising that Ke Huy Quan would feel this way. He was a Hollywood darling after EEAO and was welcomed with open arms back to the acting community. On top of that, a generation that had loved him as a young actor was excited to see him as an adult. But choosing the wrong project to follow it all could kill that momentum and serve as a detriment to his career. Quan has been open about being worried about his Hollywood future.
The 53-year-old has been on screen since his Oscar-winning performance, but mostly on TV and in supporting roles. He’s been on Disney+ with a key role in Loki Season 2 and in the criminally underseen American Born Chinese. (yYou’ll have to take my word for it, as the series is no longer available with a Disney+ subscription.) He voiced a character in last year’s King Fu Panda 4 and will do so again when the Zootopia 2 releases later this year. Ultimately, though his return to live action via Love Hurts is more so for adrenaline junkies than families.
Quan says he wasn’t sure that playing a former criminal who gets thrust back into his underworld life after spending years as a realtor was the right part for him. It was his belief that the part was more suitable for a more traditional action hero, but it was a conversation with Steven Spielberg that convinced him to take it. Quan continued…
Steven was very generous. He said, ‘Ke, let’s have lunch.’ And I told him about this project and kind of pitched it to him. He said, ‘Ke, it’s great. Do it.’
It’s not hard to see what Steven Spielberg saw in the project when looking at the Love Hurts trailer. The fact that Ke Huy Quan isn’t necessarily an obvious action star is part of what makes it all look entertaining. Here’s hoping Quan — along with co-stars Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu and Marshawn Lynch and director Jonathan Eusebio — stick the landing.
Love Hurts is set to hit theaters on February 7. And, to see more of Ke Huy Quan’s action prowess, stream Everything Everywhere All at Once now using a Max subscription.