It was a real casting coup when Marvel announced in September 2022 that Ke Huy Quan would join the illustrious cast of Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson in the second season of the critically acclaimed MCU series ‘Loki’. After all, at that point, Quan was already on the verge of perhaps the most moving Hollywood comeback in recent years – thanks largely to another multiverse adventure.
Many will now be familiar with the story of the actor born in Vietnam and who emigrated to the US at the age of eight, who can now be seen in ‘Loki’ as the idiosyncratic TVA expert Ouroboros, alias OB. We would like to offer everyone a helping hand at this time…
From child star to acting break
Early in his acting career, Quan, then only twelve years old, was given leading roles in two productions that would go down in film history. So he initially appeared as sidekick Short Round aka Shorty, probably the most famous archaeologist in the world, in his second film adventure “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984) before becoming a key member of the “Goonies(1985).
But even though he presented himself as a promising young star with this absolute cult film double act, the really big roles did not materialize. Although he still appeared in a few productions in the 1990s (for example in a smaller supporting role in the cult comedy ‘Steinzeit Junior’), At the beginning of the new millennium he completely turned his back on acting for a long time. He was frustrated that as an actor of Asian descent, there were almost no roles for him in Hollywood, or only the same clichéd roles.
Instead, the martial arts enthusiast subsequently worked mainly as an assistant director and stunt choreographer. After a nearly two-decade hiatus from acting, it was the surprise mega-success of the 2018 comedy “Crazy Rich,” which was cast exclusively with actors of Asian descent, that reignited his passion for acting.
Comeback with “Everything Everywhere All At Once” – and what a one!
After being set for the Netflix movie “Adventure ‘OhanaWhen he appeared in front of the camera for the first time in years, his actual comeback would follow a year later. In the grandiose multiverse spectacle “Everything everywhere at once“ Quan took the hearts of many viewers by storm as the good-natured Waywond – and was promptly rewarded with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
And since then, the now 52-year-old seems unstoppable. After the Disney+ comedy series ‘American Born Chinese’, in which Quan actually played a fictionalized version of himself, he now enriches the MCU in ‘Loki’ (episode 2 of the second season will be released on October 13, 2023 on Disney+). He will then join stars such as Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci and Brian Cox in the renowned ensemble cast of Netflix’s massive sci-fi project ‘The Electric State’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ creators Joe and Anthony Russo.