Biography

Ke Huy Quan

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Ke Huy Quan, also known as Jonathan Ke Quan, is a Vietnamese-born Chinese-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, and which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
- IMDb mini biography by: Bonitao/

Ke Huy Quan's film debut was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). An open casting call was put out to all the elementary schools to find a young Asian actor to play Short Round. Quan arrived with his brother, not to audition, but merely to provide moral support. He caught the casting director's attention because he spent the entire time of his brother's audition telling him what to do and what not to do. Steven Spielberg liked his personality, so he and Harrison Ford improvised the scene where Short Round accuses Indy of cheating during a card game. Quan won the role over about 6,000 other auditions.
Holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo; he began taking classes after learning from a taekwondo instructor for his role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
Close friends with his The Goonies (1985) co-star Jeff Cohen, also his entertainment lawyer.
Was on the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, with an homage penned by English actor and feminist Tom Hiddleston.
Speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and English fluently.

[on entertainment lawyer Jeff Cohen, his co-star from The Goonies (1985) and legal representative] We'll be friends for life. He's my Goonies brother. In fact, my [Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)] producer told me a really funny story the other day. He said never in his life did he think that he would have to talk to Chunk to get Data to be in his movie. I thought that was hilarious.
[on his first Academy Award nomination] When I stepped away, that dream, all the dreams that I had of, you know, imagining one day of walking down the red carpet at the Oscars, those scenes dissipated and they were so distant that I didn't think they would ever come back. And so for me to be here today, to be nominated, it is so surreal. And it goes to show that, you know, if you stick with it, dreams do come true no matter how long it takes.

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