Steven Spielberg gave Ke Huy Quan his first film role at the age of 13 in 1984’s Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom as Short Round, opposite Harrison Ford. Go back in time 38 years, and Spielberg is still giving Quan Quan Quan a Christmas present every holiday season. Kwon, who is currently conducting an awards season press conference in support of “everything at the same time,” revealed the heartwarming tidbit in an interview with The Guardian.
“He gave me my first job, and after so many years, he hasn’t forgotten me,” Quan said. “Every time I needed help, he was always there.”
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Spielberg kept Quan’s children’s acting career afloat by casting him in the follow-up to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1985’s “The Goonies,” in which Quan played James Bond-loving German data. The Spielberg executive produced the Richard Donner-directed adventure film.
“In Raiders of the Lost Ark, I was the only child, so I got all the love and attention,” Chun told the Guardian. “In ‘The Goonies,’ I was one of the Seven, so I was always fighting for attention. But it was very familiar to me—my parents had nine kids. It was fun, especially It’s those amazing scenes. Going to work is like going to the playground.”
Quan added in an earlier interview, “Spielberg was the first person to put an Asian face in a Hollywood blockbuster. Short Round was funny, he was brave, he saved Indy’s ass. Rarely. Many years after that, we’re back to square one.”
Kwon shot to fame earlier this year when he reunited with Harrison Ford for the first time since the days of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” The two actors posed for a photo at D23, where Ford was promoting the fifth “Raiders of the Lost Ark” movie and Kwon was promoting the second season of “Rocky.”
“We were at the D23 event, and I was told Harrison would be there,” Kwon told The New York Times last month about the reunion. “We were in this break room with so many actors and producers and directors, and the guy who was assigned to assist me said, ‘Harrison Ford is just outside the break room. Would you like to go say hello?
“When I got closer, he turned and pointed at me, and he had that typical, famous, grumpy Harrison Ford look,” Quan continued. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, he probably thinks I’m a fan and he’s going to tell me not to go near him.’ But he looked at me, pointed at me and said, ‘Are you short round? ’ And then I went back to 1984, when I was a kid, and I said, ‘Yeah, Indy. ’ He said, ‘Come here,’ and gave me a big hug.”
Kwon returned to the film industry this year in “Everything,” for which he is expected to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Spielberg is also in the Oscar race for his latest directorial effort, “The Fabelmans.”
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