Actor Ke Huy Quan visits WIRED to answer his most searched for questions on Google. Why did Ke Huy Quan return to acting? What did he do for the 20 years between his acting jobs? Who did he play in "The Goonies?" What did Ke Huy Quan win an Oscar for? Does he know martial arts? How did Ke Huy Quan land his role in "Everything Everywhere All At Once?" Answers to these questions and many more await as Ke Huy Quan does the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.
THE ELECTRIC STATE is available to stream on Netflix March 14, 2025. https://www.netflix.com/TheElectricState
Director: Jackie Phillips
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Alex Mechanik
Talent: Ke Huy Quan
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Meredith Judkins
Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich
Sound Mixer: Paul Cornett
Production Assistant: Lauren Boucher; Abigayle Devine
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Rachel Kim
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Additional Editor: Jason Malizia
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
THE ELECTRIC STATE is available to stream on Netflix March 14, 2025. https://www.netflix.com/TheElectricState
Director: Jackie Phillips
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Alex Mechanik
Talent: Ke Huy Quan
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Meredith Judkins
Camera Operator: Lucas Vilicich
Sound Mixer: Paul Cornett
Production Assistant: Lauren Boucher; Abigayle Devine
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Rachel Kim
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Additional Editor: Jason Malizia
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Category
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TechTranscript
00:00Hi, I am Kee Hui Kwan, and this is Wired Autocomplete Interview.
00:06All right, come on, let's do this!
00:08Now!
00:09Actually, I don't Google that much.
00:13I've heard other celebrities say they Google themselves.
00:16Maybe I should, I don't know.
00:21What did Kee Hui Kwan win an Oscar for?
00:26Of course, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.
00:29I play Wayman Wong.
00:30It was the first movie I did after I got back into acting.
00:34You know, I was so grateful, and I was so excited to step in front of the camera again
00:38after a 20-year hiatus.
00:41I was just happy to be there, to be working with Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, James
00:46Hong.
00:47Love the Daniels.
00:48Never think I would win anything.
00:50I thought winning the role was winning the lottery to me.
00:55So when the movie came out, and when we won all those accolades, that was not something
01:02that I expected.
01:03Pretty incredible.
01:04That movie brought me back, and I'm so, so, so happy.
01:07So grateful to the Daniels.
01:09All right, what languages does Kee Hui Kwan...
01:15Oh, shit, I just did the bottom one.
01:18But it's okay, it's okay.
01:19We'll get back to the top.
01:21Speak.
01:22I speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.
01:26And as you can tell, not great in all three languages.
01:30I can't read Chinese.
01:31I can only speak it to this day.
01:33I'm so happy my parents make me speak Cantonese at home, and that's how I still remember to
01:40speak it.
01:41And of course, Mandarin was not a language that we spoke at home, but when I went to
01:46China to work, I started to speak more and more, and that's how I learned Mandarin.
01:52What did Kee Hui Kwan do for 20 years?
01:57I think these 20 years was really difficult in my life, because there was a time where
02:02I decided to step away from acting, went to college, got back out and started working
02:06behind the camera as an assistant director, action choreographer.
02:11And I was content for a little while doing all of that, and I thought I'd be happy.
02:17And then later I found out I was lying to myself, and I'm so glad I found that out,
02:23otherwise I wouldn't be here talking to you!
02:25The knowledge that I gained going to film school and having this appreciation for the
02:32cast and the crew, and really finally understanding that moviemaking is a collaborative process.
02:39Because as an actor, you know, we get pampered.
02:41So having gone to film school and having done various different jobs in different departments
02:48made me appreciate that process a lot more.
02:52And then also after graduating from college, having done action, all that stuff, and also
02:56part of the development process really gave me the knowledge that I needed to be a better
03:02actor.
03:03And also life experience.
03:05Life experience makes you a better actor.
03:08What is Kee Hoi Kwan doing now?
03:12I'm doing this now.
03:13I'm working on, well, I have a movie that's coming out called Electric State for Netflix
03:18with Chris Pratt, Millie Bobby Brown, the Russo brothers are the directors.
03:22Incredible cast, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci, Woody Hellison, I mean the list just
03:27goes on and on.
03:28Danny Slade and that incredible actor, what's his name?
03:31Yes, Kee Hoi Kwan is in it too.
03:34And Zootopia 2 for Disney.
03:38I play Gary the snake.
03:41And this is the year of the snake, so it's really special.
03:43Okay, we're done with this board.
03:46You know what I'm going to do?
03:47I'm going to go gently right now.
03:49Here it is.
03:52Ta-da!
03:53Who was Kee Hoi Kwan in X-Men?
03:56I wasn't in X-Men.
03:59I worked behind the camera.
04:00I was one of the action choreographers, part of the action team.
04:04And I helped choreograph the Wolverine, Mystique fight at the end of the movie.
04:10And I'm very proud of that.
04:11That was my first job right out of college.
04:15Who did Kee Hoi Kwan play in Indiana Jones?
04:19My character's name was Short Round.
04:22I tried to pick Indiana Jones' pocket when I was little.
04:25I got caught, but I think he liked me, so I ended up going on this incredible adventure
04:31with him.
04:32I was 12 years old.
04:34It was my first movie ever, and that movie is also the reason why I fell in love with
04:40acting.
04:41Come on, how often do kids get to ride an elephant in Sri Lanka?
04:46That was the beginning of the movie.
04:47And then walked on these incredible sets.
04:50They were all practical back then, and I didn't know who I was working with at that time,
04:55so I wasn't nervous.
04:56Not until after the movie, I go, holy shit, these people are really famous.
05:03Who did Kee Hoi Kwan play in The Goonies?
05:08I love this character.
05:09I play Data.
05:10Richard Data Wong, and he's this incredible character that has these amazing gadgets,
05:18but his gadgets never work unless his life depends on it.
05:21You know, he's part of this incredible gang who found a treasure map and go on water slides
05:28and set booty tracks, and finally found the treasure they were looking for to save the
05:33home.
05:34Incredible movie, very proud of it, and to this day, so many people have come up to me
05:40and told me that Goonies is part of their childhood memory.
05:43And we might get to do Goonies 2, who knows?
05:47Who does Kee Hoi Kwan play in Kung Fu Panda?
05:52I play Han, the pangolin.
05:54Had a lot of fun.
05:55I love that franchise.
05:56It was also my first voiceover.
06:00Never done it before.
06:01It was foreign to me, so being in a booth recording these lines by myself, that was
06:07something interesting, and I loved it.
06:09I'm doing more now.
06:10I'm in Zootopia 2.
06:12I'm gonna do what everybody does, so here it is.
06:15Nobody gets hurt.
06:19Shit!
06:20So first one, is Kee Hoi Kwan a martial artist?
06:24I studied martial arts for a long time.
06:26I have a black belt in Taekwondo, but I don't consider myself a martial artist, and the
06:31reason is because, to me, a martial artist is someone who practices their craft every
06:37single day, who's really good at it, they live and breathe martial arts.
06:42That's a martial artist.
06:43To me, I know martial arts.
06:45I've done it many times.
06:46I know how to do fight scenes for movies, so I appreciate the art form, but there are
06:52incredible, incredible martial artists out there, and I have tremendous respect for them.
06:58I like to clarify stunts and action.
07:01Stunts to me, is people falling off 10-story buildings, or getting run over by cars.
07:07That is very dangerous.
07:09Actors don't do that.
07:11We don't do that.
07:12If we tell you we do that, we're lying.
07:14We do action, and that's the difference between stunts and action.
07:17Are Kee Hoi Kwan and Harrison Ford friends?
07:21See, every time I say his name, you see how happy I am, because I love this man, and yes,
07:27we are friends.
07:28Is Kee Hoi Kwan in Loki?
07:33Have you not seen the show on Disney Plus?
07:36What are you doing?
07:37Yes, of course, Loki Season 2.
07:40I am so proud of the show.
07:42Finally, I get to be part of this incredible and humongous MCU family.
07:48I play a character named Oroboros.
07:51He works in the basement.
07:53I love this character so much.
07:55I also think that he's the grown-up version of Data from the Goonies.
08:00That's how I played him.
08:01Is Kee Hoi Kwan Chinese or Vietnamese?
08:06I was born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, so I consider myself Chinese.
08:10Yeah, that's why I was born.
08:13Where did Kee Hoi Kwan grew up?
08:16I immigrated to the United States in 1978, so I grew up in a little place called Chinatown,
08:23Los Angeles.
08:24That's also where I got discovered as an actor.
08:26I loved it there.
08:28That's my childhood, and then eventually, my family moved to a little city called Monterey
08:33Park, so that's where I grew up.
08:36How to say Kee Hoi Kwan's name?
08:40I am so glad you asked this question.
08:42My name is pronounced Kee Hoi Kwan, Kee Hoi Kwan.
08:49As long as you're saying my name, I'm fine.
08:51How did Kee Hoi Kwan meet his wife?
08:55We were both working for a Hong Kong filmmaker named Wong Kar-wai, and my wife, my beautiful
09:01wife, Echo, was in Shanghai.
09:05I flew there from America, walked in the office, there were so many people there, but my eyes
09:10immediately darted to her.
09:13I remember she had long hair, beautiful eyes, a big smile, just radiating with incredible
09:20energy, and she was just so lively.
09:23I fell in love with her right then and there, and honestly, I feel like the day I walked
09:28into that office was the luckiest day of my life.
09:32How did Kee Hoi Kwan return to acting?
09:37The year was 2019, right after I've seen a movie called Crazy Rich Asians, and this
09:45was at a time where I have stepped away from acting for more than 20 years, and something
09:52was missing.
09:53I didn't know what it was until I saw that movie, and it was then that thought of getting
09:59back into acting started percolating, and I consulted with my wife for an entire year.
10:06I guess the big reason why I wanted to be an actor again was because I kind of saw what
10:13my life would be like when I was much, much older, and I can see myself regretting and
10:18having these horrible feelings of not giving this another try.
10:25So I finally got the courage and called a friend who was an agent and asked him if he
10:29wanted to represent me, and he did.
10:32Luckily, two weeks later, I got that call from Everything Everywhere All At Once producer.
10:37Do you have more?
10:39Okay.
10:40Only two.
10:41This for now.
10:42I'll save the best for last.
10:43Okay.
10:44Kee Hoi Kwan, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
10:49Yeah, this is when I think about this movie, I first think of the Daniels.
10:54They gave me this incredible second opportunity at acting again.
10:59I owe everything to this movie.
11:02My life, professional-wise, my life was changed two times.
11:07The first time was when I starred in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
11:11Never thought I wanted to be an actor.
11:12I was just a kid, being a kid, happy being that, and then Destiny Cole became an actor
11:18and for various reasons had to step away, and when I came back, this movie changed my
11:25life again.
11:26I owe everything to the Daniels.
11:29Kee Hoi Kwan and Jackie Chan.
11:33You're not going to believe this, but everywhere I go, people think I am Jackie Chan.
11:38I love Jackie Chan.
11:39I'm a big fan of his.
11:40When I was a kid, I loved watching his movies.
11:43They inspired me to learn martial arts.
11:46I love the action genre.
11:48It has a lot to do with him and his brothers, Sammo Hung, Yuan Biao, and so I don't mind
11:54it.
11:55It's a compliment, but it also means that I need to work a lot harder because one day
11:59I want people to say, that's Kee Hoi Kwan, not, that guy looks like Jackie Chan.
12:06Kee Hoi Kwan acceptance speech.
12:09You know, I've been very lucky to be able to give a lot of acceptance speeches when
12:13Everything Everywhere all at once came out during the whole awards season.
12:17They were very personal.
12:19Every speech that I gave, I was so scared to give because they were way too personal.
12:24Jeff Cohen is my brother from a different mother.
12:28We are best friends.
12:29We see each other all the time.
12:30What's incredible about him is, you know, he started his law firm at a very young age
12:35and I was actually one of his first clients that he signed and for more than 20 years,
12:41I never made him any money, never did, but every time I called him, he would pick up
12:47and he would give me any legal advice that I needed.
12:50So when on Oscar night, I invited him, I got him a ticket, I wanted him to be there
12:56just in case if I did win, I wanted him to see that I can thank him in person and yeah,
13:02I love him.
13:03I love him.
13:04He's my Goonies brother and like we said in the movie, Goonies never say die.
13:09Kee Hoi Kwan, Glambot.
13:12Glambot.
13:13I think I put way too much thought in Glambot.
13:17I've seen people do it.
13:19I love it.
13:20They're very cool.
13:21So I think I did one on Oscar night, which came in number two for the entire year.
13:28I was very proud of it.
13:29It's yeah, I love Cole.
13:31I love what he does.
13:33It's really cool and yeah, they're really fun to do.
13:36It just needs to be timed right and lots of movement.
13:40I think it's because of my martial arts background, so I'm able to like do kicks or punches or
13:44jumps and they turn out really well in super slow motion.
13:47You know, actually, I was so afraid that I would rip my pants.
13:52I kid you not.
13:53I kid you not.
13:54When I jumped up, I thought I was going to rip my pants.
13:56Luckily, it didn't.
13:57But yeah, that was a lot of fun.
13:59I'm not going to slow this.
14:00You know what I'm going to do?
14:01Yeah.
14:02Yeah.
14:03Let me try again.
14:04Hold on.
14:05Let me see.
14:06Ready?
14:07And.
14:08No, they don't break.
14:09Yeah.
14:10Yeah.
14:11Yeah.
14:12Yeah.
14:13No.
14:14No.
14:15No.
14:16OK.
14:17OK.
14:18That was a lot of fun.
14:19Thank you so much guys.
14:20That was a lot of fun.