Ke Huy Quan reflects on reconnecting with Harrison Ford 38 years after Indiana Jones

The Everything Everywhere All At Once star got his start playing Short Round back in 1984

By Katie Chow  |  October 20, 2022 | 4:05pm
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Ke Huy Quan reflects on reconnecting with Harrison Ford 38 years after Indiana Jones
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Ke Huy Quan has had quite a year. After breaking open the multiverse in A24's smash hit Everything Everywhere All At Once in his biggest role as an adult, the onetime child actor’s career renaissance is kicking off, and he’s filmed roles in the Disney+ series Loki and American Born Chinese.

Quan also had a surprise opportunity to revisit the role that first brought him to the big screen: Short Round in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. While at Disney’s D23 Expo to promote his new gigs, the actor ran into his former co-star Harrison Ford, and the delightful pictures of the reunion immediately went viral. In an interview with the New York Times’ Kyle Buchanan, Quan shares more about the meeting decades in the making:

We’re in this green room with so many actors, producers, and directors, and the person who was assigned to assist me said, “Harrison Ford is right outside the green room. Would you want to go say hi?” I’m thinking, “Of course! I haven’t seen him in 38 years.” So I walk out and I see him about 15 feet away talking to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, they’re there to promote Indy 5. And as I walk close, my heart is pounding. I’m thinking, “Is he gonna recognize me? The last time he saw me, I was a little kid.”

And as I get closer, he turns and points his finger at me, and he has that classic, famous, grumpy Harrison Ford look. I go, “Oh my gosh, he probably thinks I’m a fan and he’s gonna tell me to not come near him.” But he looks and points at me and says, “Are you Short Round?” Immediately, I was transported back to 1984, when I was a little kid, and I said, “Yes, Indy.” And he said, “Come here,” and gave me a big hug.

Quan was cast in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom at just 12 years old and followed it up with another nostalgic favorite in The Goonies. As an adult, he became discouraged by the lack of opportunities for Asian American actors and stepped behind the camera instead, until he was inspired by 2018's Crazy Rich Asians to give performing another shot. Now, alongside his Everything Everywhere All At Once co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu, he’s an early favorite for Oscar nominations.

 
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