Quan Ke Huy lauded by US media for Golden Globe win

“Quan’s 40-year comeback story has been one of the most fascinating tales of the season,” Vanity Fair wrote. “As a child in the ’80s, Quan starred in ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, but later was unable to find work as an Asian actor in Hollywood, instead building up a career behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator and assistant director.”

Quan took home the award Tuesday for his portrayal of doting husband and laundromat owner Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

“Quan’s recognition at the Globes came in recognition of the role of Waymond Wang, the husband of Michelle Yeoh’s multiverse-traversing Evelyn in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, which came in as A24’s highest grossing film to date at the global box office upon its March 2022 release,” according to Deadline. “Actors he beat out at tonight’s ceremony included Brendan Gleeson, Barru Keoghan, Eddie Redmayne and Brad Pitt.”

Before taking home the Golden Globe Award, the actor has already won the Gotham Awards, National Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle.

“Quan’s role as Waymond Wang ignited a firestorm of positive reviews for his performance. Playing the sweet husband to Yeoh’s Evelyn, the two run a laundromat together in the Daniels’ wild multiverse,” Variety wrote.

This is Quan’s first acting nomination and win at the Golden Globe Awards, and he is the second actor of Asian descent to win the Globe for supporting actor, with the first being Cambodian-American Haing S. Ngor for his role in “The Killing Fields ” in 1995. Quan’s co-star in “Everything Everywhere All a Once,” Michelle Yeoh, also won Best Actress.

Quan was born in 1971 in Saigon. In 1979, Quan’s family moved to the U.S., where he began acting at the age of 12.

Before “Everything Everywhere,” Quan made a name for himself in Hollywood as a child actor, playing iconic roles like Indiana Jones’ kid sidekick Short Round in the 1984 blockbuster hit “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” A year later, Quan once again found mainstream popularity as Data, the young, inventive one among his neighborhood crew in the ’80s classic “The Goonies.” His early success was short-lived, however. Opportunities for Asian actors during that time were scarce, NBC News quoted Quan as saying.

After his success in “Everything Everywhere All a Once,” Quan will appear in the science fiction movie “The Electric State” and Marvel’s “Loki”.