“The American Dream” by Ke Huy Quan, the stopper of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”

He said, Oscar in hand, that stories like his seem like they could only happen in the movies. But no, this time was different. “This is the American dream! Thank you for this new welcome!” he exclaimed euphorically. Ke Huy Quan, the actor who played Tapón in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and made every ’80s kid want to be like himso his rehabilitation crystallized in a big way: taking the award for best supporting actor for his role in All at once everywhere.

Soon after, when the film was declared the best of the year, he returns to the stage melted into an emotional embrace with Harrison Ford, the protagonist of the mythical film with which he became famous. The picture immediately went viral on social networks. In addition, it was in public Steven Spielberg, the director of that legendary film. He already addressed him at the Golden Globe Awards. “I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first chance. I’m very happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you!” he said at the time.

One of the most beautiful moments in #Oscars: Harrison Ford hands out the Best Picture award and hugs Ke Huy Quan. A reunion of Indiana Jones and the Stopper â™¥ï¸ pic.twitter.com/ImBGGYAf4i

– Pablo Conde (@PabloConde) March 13, 2023

Last night at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, he appealed to exactly that origin. “My journey began on a ship,” he recalled. I spent a year in a refugee camp and suddenly I’m here. Thanks to my mother for the sacrifice she made so that I am here today, thanks to my little brother who calls me every day»

Ke Huy Quan He was born 51 years ago in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a city in southern Vietnam. When the area fell after the war with the United States, half of his family (including himself) fled to Hong Kong. Second, to Malaysia to have more opportunities to pass. They managed to enter the United States after applying for political asylum.

There, at the age of 12, he joined the Hollywood industry. Steven Spielberg added him to the cast Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Later he participated in goonies (1985), also produced by Spielberg. But after this childhood star, he disappeared from leading roles.. After all kinds of distributions. Despite his attempts, in the early 1990s he assumed that his acting career in Hollywood was over. “There were no interesting roles for people like me, a young Asian,” he said in an interview with the magazine frames.

But when no one expected it, the opportunity presented itself to the Daniels. A lot of time has passed and everything has changed. The industry demanded profiles like yours. He was looking for an agent and it had an effect. “I soon got the script for All at once everywhere – he recalls in the mentioned interview-. Before reading, I was warned about who the Daniels were [Daniel Kwan y Daniel Scheinert] and I looked at his previous work, Swiss soldier (2016). I liked it, but nothing could have prepared me for what I felt when I read the script: it blew me away.

The rest is history. On the wave of the cinematic phenomenon of the moment, his face became ubiquitous. In a mixture of nostalgia and personal epic, his story moved. Last night’s speech moved thousands of people around the world to tears. The affection engendered by the papers of his past makes the applause of his present that much more intense. And he – with his modesty, referring to his family and origin – does everything to make it so.