Ke Huy Quan won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar last night for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Back to a few anecdotes about the career of the one who remains the unforgettable Half-Moon of Indiana Jones and the indescribable Data of the Goonies.
“Mom, I just won an Oscar!” The emotion of Ke Huy Quan will remain one of the major moments of the 95th Academy Awards, marked by the triumph of the multiverse of Everything Everywhere All at Once, winner of seven statuettes.
Seven Oscars, therefore, including that of Best Supporting Actor for the comedian of Vietnamese origin, who arrived in the United States on a boat-people and is now acclaimed by Hollywood (and in particular Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, his two “movie dads” present at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles).
A return to the front of the stage seen as a perfect illustration of “American dream” for the one we met in 2016 during his visit to Paris, and who then shared with us some memories of his career…
Paramount Pictures
Memories of… Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
“One of the greatest adventures of my life”
Everything was so new to me. It’s a little weird, but even though it was my first film, it felt oddly familiar. It was an exciting experience to see how they organized the shots and everything. I was very happy. I was very lucky to be in this film. When we filmed, I had no idea what a phenomenon Raiders of the Lost Ark had been. Steven Spielberg made sure to keep me away from that so I could enjoy the adventure. But it wasn’t until the Temple of Doom came out and I traveled around the world promoting the film that I realized it was a highly anticipated sequel. It remains one of the greatest adventures of my life.
Cast
They organized an open casting call at my school, the idea being to allow students corresponding to the description and the age of the character to try their luck. My brother participated in the audition. I was with him, and there was a camera and the casting director. I stood next to the casting director helping my brother, asking him questions and telling him what to say and what to do. And then the casting director turned around and asked me if I wanted to try. I got in front of the camera and did my thing. And it was the next day that we received a call from Steven Spielberg’s office asking me to go see him. It was really funny, because we didn’t know what was going on. My mother made me put on a very fancy suit, I looked absolutely ridiculous. We are waiting for Steven Spielberg. He arrives, he greets us, he takes a look at me in this costume and he says to me: “It’s great, but I want you to come back tomorrow in jeans and a t-shirt”. So we went back the next day in jeans and a t-shirt. And when I entered the room, there was Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg! And luckily, at that time, I didn’t know who they were. If I had known, I would have been extremely nervous. I don’t think I would have been able to do what I did back then… We did some testing together, and soon after, I was getting the part and I was on a plane to Sri Lanka.
Half Moon… or Short Round?
It is not called Short Round in France? Half Moon ? Half Moon? I didn’t know that the character’s name had been translated for you! Everywhere I go people call me Short Round. I really didn’t know that, thanks for telling me. It’s interesting to know. But I prefer Short Round! (Laughs)
“It’s like walking on dry cakes…”
There was this really fantastic, realistic setting. And when I say “dry cakes” while walking through the tunnel, all the bugs on the floor were wrong. Fortunately, by the way, because I have a real phobia! On the other hand, when they shot the scene with Kate Capshaw, there were two people in charge of emptying buckets full of real insects on her. This is the shot you see on the screen, with these cockroaches and centipedes falling on it. I saw her go through this, and I was glad I wasn’t her!
The mining train
They had built this amazing set with rails that went around the set. It was like a roller coaster and it was fully functional. And we waited for Harrison Ford to be able to control it and we were just going around the set over and over again, filmed by Steven Spielberg and the cinematographer on another cart that was going on parallel tracks.
Monkey brain in sorbet
It was really good ! It looked gross on screen, but I seem to remember it was a banana dessert. Or something else, I can’t remember exactly, but it was really good! It was a kind of dessert prepared especially for us. It remains a good memory.
PG-13
Steven Spielberg saved me from the violence of the film on set. I only discovered the heart scene during the screening, for example. And at that point, I knew it was all wrong because we had spent five months making the film. I don’t know if you know this, but before Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, there was no PG 13 rating. So it’s because of the film, which the rating board found too graphic and too violent. , that PG 13 was created.
Warner Bros.
The Goonies
The Goonies never die!
We are like a family, even if we don’t see each other often. But when we meet again, it’s like we’ve never been apart. Jeff Cohen, aka Choco, has remained a very good friend. He is a very good audiovisual lawyer. And I also see Sean Astin (Mickey) from time to time. We had a really good time shooting this movie. And we kind of all grew up with that movie too, so it was a lot of fun. In the end, it’s a good movie. It has become a classic.
Best memories
My best memories are ultimately behind the scenes, in the dressing rooms. When we weren’t filming, we were in our dressing room doing our homework. It was a small space, we had two teachers with us and we were driving them crazy! We laughed, we cried, we did stupid things together. This is really the time when we made real connections. In our “school lodge”. And then, of course, there were those amazing sets. You couldn’t make the same movie now. It would be way too expensive. But at the time, we built these sets. Everything was real. Everything was there. Like the pirate ship, for example.
The pirate ship
It was built on the biggest set of Warner studios. To be able to walk around on this set was just incredible. Richard Donner, the director, and Steven Spielberg kept us from seeing him until it was time to shoot this scene. We had people to escort us on set, we walked backwards and with our eyes closed. We put our heads under water, the director yelled “Action!”, and that’s when we pop up, turn around and see the boat. Our expression is real as we experience the ship for the first time. It was great ! And for the record, some scenes of the film were shot by Spielberg: the first time you see Data with his accessory belt, he is the one filming.
michael jackson
It was amazing. One day we learned that Michael Jackson was coming to the set, and so all the kids, and even the crew, were very excited. We waited for him from the morning when we arrived on set: all day while we were shooting, we waited, looking over the shoulders of the technicians behind the camera to see if he was already there. And then when he finally arrived, he was truly the most wonderful and generous person. But very shy, too. And I remember after that, shortly after, I had the chance to go to his house and watch Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom with him in his home theater. And I remember, during the heart-ripping scene, he was hiding his eyes and he even ended up coming out. It was too intense, too violent for him, and he came back after five minutes.
Legacy
I never found the Goonies spirit in what I saw afterwards. I think that’s what’s so great and so special about the movie, and also why the sequel never came to fruition. Over the years, many people have tried making a Goonies with a group of kids going on an adventure. And so far, they haven’t been able to replicate that spirit. And I think it has to do with the seven of us, the chemistry that we had. Credit goes mostly to Richard Donner, the director. He allowed us to be who we are, to be children. It was one of those movies where all the actors talk over each other, go into a spin… That’s what kids are like. So yes, it is a very special film.
ABC
And after ?
Be a teacher and shut up
I really enjoyed this experience on Sois prof et tais-toi and the work with the other actors. And it’s so different from shooting a movie and a series. On a film, there is only one camera and you chain the takes until it is good and the director is satisfied. But on a series, we spent four days rehearsing, like a play, to shoot with four cameras on the fifth day. It was very different. But it was a lot of fun and a little stressful because you had to shoot a whole episode in a short amount of time, memorizing all your lines.
Waterfalls
I studied martial arts when I was a child, especially taekwondo. And when I graduated from film school, I got a call from Corey Yuen, a famous action director in Hong Kong. He offered to accompany me to Toronto, Canada, to help him on a film. And that was X-Men. Leaving film school to find myself on the set of X-Men I couldn’t refuse! I have always been a fan of Hong Kong cinema. I’m a big fan of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li, Bruce Lee and all the great action movies released during the 80s in Hong Kong. Learning to choreograph a sequence was really something for me. Both an eye-opening and fun experience. It’s like a dance sequence, too. It’s very complicated. We spend a lot of time choreographing these scenes: it only lasts a minute on screen, but there are weeks of work ahead.
Worship
It’s amazing because all my nieces and nephews saw The Goonies and Indiana Jones, and recognized me. My brother’s son, who was only five when he showed him The Goonies, immediately cried out “It’s Uncle Ke, it’s Uncle Ke!”. Five years old! That’s wonderful. It’s a nice feeling to be in a movie that you did a long time ago, but it’s still tied to the next generation, especially The Goonies. The people who saw it when it came out are now parents, they show it to their children, and these children will grow up in turn…I hope it will continue like this from generation to generation. I feel so lucky to be part of these iconic films.
collectors
They gave me the New York Yankees cap from Demi-Lune while I was promoting Indiana Jones. But I lost it, unfortunately. I don’t know where it is… But I still have the jacket that Data wore in The Goonies. It’s the only thing I kept from the two films. Want to buy it for me? (Laughs) No, I keep it! Or if it’s a very good offer, maybe I’ll think about it… No, I’m kidding, I’ll keep it!