AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Every week, a guest draws a card from the Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. As a child actor, Ke Huy Quan had big roles in "Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom" and "The Goonies." But his dream was to star as an action hero, and he studied tae kwon do for years just to prepare.
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KE HUY QUAN: 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.
CHANG: Nearly 40 years later, he is finally getting his chance with a starring role in the action movie "Love Hurts." He reflected with Wild Card host Rachel Martin about his childhood as a Vietnamese refugee living in California.
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RACHEL MARTIN: 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, all 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," yeah?
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.
MARTIN: I mean, your parents were just incredible. It takes such fortitude and strength and courage on the part of your parents and then to be able to instill that in you. They had to have believed it, that you love yourself, you can achieve anything, because they - that was true for them.
QUAN: Yeah.
MARTIN: They saw this as their goal, and they made it happen.
QUAN: Yeah. And, you know - and we were very lucky. You know, had they not believe in that themselves, there was no way that all of us would be able to come here. You know, all of us are alive and well. I mean, you know, we know a lot of families that were not so lucky making that journey. A lot of people died. 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.
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CHANG: You can hear more of that conversation with Ke Huy Quan on the Wild Card podcast, or see him in his movie "Love Hurts." It's out now. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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