SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
With his roles in "Indiana Jones" and "The Goonies," actor Ke Huy Quan was one of the most recognizable child stars of the '80s. And he had big dreams about what he wanted to do next.
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KE HUY QUAN: When I was younger, you know, I was a big fan of the action genre, especially the movies that came out of Hong Kong in the '80s with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. I was a big fan of those. And when I got my black belt, I was so eager to go out and show the world what I can do. But, of course, Hollywood was not hiring actors like me to be an action star at that time.
DETROW: Quan struggled for decades to land his next big role. It finally came almost 40 years later with his Oscar-winning performance in "Everything Everywhere All At Once" in 2022. Quan is now going full action hero with his lead role in the new movie "Love Hurts." He joined Rachel Martin on NPR's Wild Card, the game where famous guests answer big questions about their life pulled from a deck of cards. And he talked about his childhood in LA after his family arrived in the U.S. as refugees after the Vietnam War. Here's Rachel.
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RACHEL MARTIN: One, two or three.
QUAN: I'll pick the first one.
MARTIN: The first one - No. 1.
QUAN: Yes.
MARTIN: What activity gave you a sense of freedom as a child?
QUAN: Ooh, wow. Taking me back to my childhood, I love this.
MARTIN: Yeah.
QUAN: Hide-and-seek - I loved playing hide-and-seek when I was - you know, when I - when we came to the United States as immigrants, my parents, you know, pretty much gave up everything they had to get the entire family here. So when we were living in Los Angeles, we didn't have money to buy toys. So - and we didn't have much friends. You know, it took us a little while to acclimate to this new life.
MARTIN: Yeah.
QUAN: And my family was my friends. My neighbor were my friends. And we would just run around, and I would always, you know, find a spot that nobody can find me. And while I'm hiding in that spot, it felt like - yeah, it felt like I can do anything. I can be anywhere.
MARTIN: You had a lot of siblings, right?
QUAN: I have a lot, yeah - eight siblings, nine of us total. But the age gap between the oldest and the youngest is really big.
MARTIN: Yeah.
QUAN: So my friends were my - you know, my little sister and my little brother.
MARTIN: What about that experience, the hiding, felt free to you? Or just maybe it was the sense of play?
QUAN: You know, sometimes, I don't know. It's weird. Like, when I was a kid, a lot of times, I'm just pensive. You know, I spent a lot of time sitting at the sofa and just looking out the window and daydreaming and dreaming of, you know, really, you know, anything and everything. I don't know why. I was always like that when I was a kid. So me finding a spot and hiding and being alone, being by myself and a lot of times in the darkness, too - it's weird. This is a very interesting conversation because I feel like it's...
MARTIN: (Laughter).
QUAN: I'm learning a lot about myself, about my childhood.
MARTIN: We're only a couple minutes in.
QUAN: Yeah, I guess - yeah, I know. I know. This is going great, Rachel. Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know if I have an answer for that.
MARTIN: But the dark was somehow comforting, too, yeah, being alone. Yeah.
QUAN: Yes. Yes.
MARTIN: OK, three new cards - one, two or three.
QUAN: We'll go with the second one.
MARTIN: No. 2 - what's something your parents taught you to love?
QUAN: Love myself - they were great parents. My mom is still here. They - my mom always says, believe in yourself. You are your worst enemy if you don't believe in yourself. That's what was taught growing up. They really made us believe that the impossible was possible, especially given, you know, our background, you know, how we started, how we came here. And it's pretty remarkable. I mean, I look at my entire family - all my siblings are very successful in business, and they all started with nothing. We all came here with nothing. In fact, my parents were heavily in debt when we came here. So me getting this incredible opportunity to be an actor at 12 years old and what my first movie has done for me - when it came out, you know, I made some money.
MARTIN: This was the "Indiana Jones," right?
QUAN: Yeah, this was "Temple Of Doom." And, you know, the money that I made, I was able to help, you know, pay back some of the debts my parents owed, that they - you know, the money that they borrowed to get all of us out here. Because getting on that boat, it cost us, like, a lot of money. You know, we paid in gold sheets. That's how we got on the boat in Vietnam and then escaped to Hong Kong and spent a year in the refugee camp there. And then, luckily, you know, the American government at that time was very generous, and, you know, they accepted us. So to see how we got here, that entire journey, and also how much, you know, my entire family has accomplished, it's pretty remarkable.
MARTIN: OK. Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Three new cards.
QUAN: OK.
MARTIN: One, two or three.
QUAN: I'll go with the third one.
MARTIN: The third one - what is something you still feel you need to prove to the people you meet?
QUAN: Oh. What is something that I feel like I still need to prove? I always feel like I'm not good enough. You know, I spent so many years auditioning for stuff...
MARTIN: Yeah.
QUAN: ...Waiting in the audition room, trying to prove to filmmakers that I'm perfect for this role.
MARTIN: Yeah.
QUAN: And the majority of time, this is - you know, this is the story of many actors, not just me. You know, I wouldn't get them. And then, of course, when I go watch a movie when it comes out - the role that I auditioned for - I would say, oh, yeah, I understand why I didn't get that role 'cause that actor is great in it. He's so much better than me.
MARTIN: Oh, no.
QUAN: But so I think it stemmed from that. So even to this day, I still feel like I'm never good enough, but, you know, the internal narrative is slowly changing in...
MARTIN: Yeah, I would hope that little gold statue in your house somewhere...
QUAN: (Laughter).
MARTIN: ...Does some work in remedying that false narrative.
QUAN: You know, right after I won the Oscar, the next day, I woke up literally thinking, was that all a dream?
MARTIN: Really?
QUAN: And, you know, we woke up, and I was staring at my wife. And I asked her - I said, wait, was yesterday a dream? And she said, no, you won an Oscar.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: Ke Huy Quan's new movie is "Love Hurts." Ke, thank you, thank you, thank you. It has been so much fun.
QUAN: Rachel, thank you for having me. This was really - I really enjoyed this.
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DETROW: You can follow NPR's Wild Card podcast to hear a longer version of that conversation. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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