Former Indiana Jones star Ke Huy Quan delivers an endearing, inspiring, and patriotic message at the Oscars
We are accustomed to sanctimonious, arrogant, and entitled Hollywood superstars using award ceremonies to wallow in self-pity and perceived victimhood, whine about social issues that matter to them but are of little consequence elsewhere, and attack their political opponents and supporters
The toxicity has amplified considerably after November 2016, when Donald Trump won the Presidency. Consequently, the viewership for these award ceremonies has dropped drastically
Enter
Ke Huy Quan who presented a refreshing change to that disgraceful tradition.
Audiences will recognize him as Harrison Ford’s young sidekick Short Round
in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985).
Few
know that it wasn’t Quan but his younger brother who attended an open casting
call for Short Round. Quan was merely accompanying his younger brother.
But
there was something about the 12 year old Quan that stood out. The makers thought he
would be the perfect foil for celluloids most famous adventurers archaeologist. Hence, Quan,
not his brother, landed the role.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKoglNtjq5Y&t=12s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPncWhSR_dI
The
following year in 1986, Quen starred as one among the group of misfits who discover
an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's
long-lost treasure in Richard Donner’s “The Goonies”
But showbiz
of not just about star quality or talent, it is luck.
The
first bit of luck is that a filmmaker or a producer spots
talent and casts the individual in their movie or a TV Series.
The
second bit of luck is that the film or TV series upon completion turns out exactly
the way the makers envisioned.
The
third bit of luck is that audiences appreciate and remember the actor's performance perhaps it leading to either box office success or awards or perhaps
both.
The
fourth bit of luck is that the role causes a sufficient impact that producers and
filmmakers seek the actor in their future projects.
The fifth
bit of luck is that the subsequent projects are successful which leads to stardom
Alas, in Quan's case luck wasn't on his side.
For almost
30 years, Quan failed at countless auditions causing him to doubt his
choice of career.
He attended USC film school
He even accepted odd jobs such as that
of a fight choreographer on the first X-Men picture in 2002.
He
assisted the great Hong Kong Auteur Wong Kar Wai at his production company, Jet
Tone Films for the film 2046. This is where Quan met his wife Echo who remained
constant support and motivator during his numerous moments of despair.
Quan had
almost given up on acting but was inspired to return inspired by the success of Crazy
Rich Asians in 2018.
"I saw it three times in the theater; I cried every single time," Quan said. "But one of the reasons why I cried was because I wanted to be up there with them."
That very
year, filmmaking duo the Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert began
casting for their sci-fi adventure fantasy Everything Everywhere All At
Once.
They
struggled to find an actor in the role of Waymond Wang, a doting husband who helps
save the multiverse while trying to keep his failing marriage and family
together. It required someone with skills in acting and martial
arts, preferably in his early fifties.
Then Daniel
Kwan learned about Quan on Twitter. Weeks later Quan successfully auditioned
for the part and by January 2020, he was announced as a cast member of the picture.
The
film was released in March 2022 to overwhelming acclaim, with Quan's performance
receiving unanimous praise and media attention.
Quan ended
up with trophies for the Golden Globe awards, the Independent Spirit Award,
the Critics' awards, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the most
important of them all Academy Awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIFvInRA2xQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB9LpFzrOPo
Most
contemporary 'stars' would have used the Oscar win to vent their frustration
and anger about their career slump. They would have made it about their race, would have talked about discrimination, and delivered another lecture about
diversity with all the buzzwords.
But
not here.
Quan who
was overcome by emotion struggled to speak through his and gave a shoutout to his 84-year-old mother.
''My
mom is 84 years old and she is at home watching. Ma, I just won an Oscar.
"My
journey started on a boat," Quan referring to his family fleeing from Vietnam in 1978 in the middle of the night to Hong Kong
"I
spent a year in a refugee camp and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood's
biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe
it's happening to me. This, this, is the American Dream."
Quan was
referring to the refugee camp in Hong Kong where his family lived for an entire
year until they were granted political asylum in the US. By 1979 he landed in
Los Angeles.
Six
years later he was starring in a film alongside Harrison Ford and directed by Steven
Spielberg, both of who happened to be present that Night.
"Dreams
are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you
out there, please keep your dreams alive. Thank you so much for welcoming me
back. I love you"
To
sum it up Quan was grateful to his country, happy about his win, and sent an
inspiring message to everyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFRIu7ehZl0
During
an interview with Variety magazine after his Oscar win Quan explained his motto
in life which explained his positivity at the Oscars.
He
never complained or engaged in self-pity.
“I
was taught never to blame anybody. If something doesn’t go the way you want,
it’s either because you didn’t work hard enough, you weren’t good enough or you
didn’t try hard enough.”
“So
when I couldn’t get a job, I blamed myself: I thought I wasn’t tall enough, I
wasn’t good-looking enough, or I wasn’t a good enough actor because I wasn’t
classically trained. I never blamed anybody — even to this day.”
“We
talk about Asian representation, but I don’t like to look at the past and say,
“Oh, my God, how bad it was!” I’d rather focus on the present and moving
forward. A lot has changed.”
When
asked if he was disappointed that Spielberg didn’t cast him in any movies after
Indiana Jones, Quan responded as follows
“I
was secretly hoping. But honestly, Steven has given me so much — not one movie,
but two movies. And they were the first ones to put an Asian face in a big
Hollywood movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJecBEOwPw
Quan was part of another very sweet moment at the Oscars.
When Harrison Ford announced that Everything Everywhere All At Once had won
the Oscar for best picture, Quan was the first to rush to the stage and hug his co-star
from almost 40 years ago.
https://twitter.com/FindingFord/status/1635239169797812230
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wEHXyyHC90
Hopefully, this mark another great inning for Ke Huy Quan.
Hopefully, his inspiring message will earn him myriad meaty roles that suit his talent.
Hopefully Hollywood will enable a nice guy for a chance.
Post Script:
There
was another funny moment at the Oscars that not everyone noticed
When
Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All
At Once, like Quan she told everyone about dreams coming true and then she urged
ladies to not let anyone tell them that they are ‘past their prime’ Clearly the
target of this remark was CNN’s rating deprived
Don Lemon who foolishly claimed that women past their 40s are past their
prime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9wrK_j6Cc
Comments
Post a Comment