After breaking into the entertainment industry in the 1980s with seminal films of the decade "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "The Goonies," Ke Huy Quan worked as an actor for a few years, then completely disappeared from our screens. Now, following a hiatus that lasted around 20 years, he has finally returned to theaters nationwide in "Everything Everywhere All At Once" with great adulation.
In the sophomore feature from the filmmaking duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert AKA Daniels, Quan plays the timid and well-meaning Waymond Wang. However, he also plays Waymond's multiversal counterparts, which include a suave Old Hollywood variant, a young version of himself before immigrating to America, and a resourceful Jackie Chan-esque warrior. But it's that last one that really turns the weirdness and wildness of the movie up to eleven before fully verse-jumping from parallel universe to parallel universe. And in a new video, the writing-directing duo dissects the unexpectedly badass scene where it all begins.
This Is How I Fight
In a New York Times YouTube video series called "Anatomy of a Scene," the Daniels break down the first big action sequence of their new film, which features Quan's Alpha Waymond taking down a number of security guards in an IRS office with his fanny pack. This scene takes place just after his wife, Evelyn (played by the legendary Michelle Yeoh), assaults their auditor, Diedre (played by another legend, Jamie Lee Curtis), because of Alpha Waymond's warnings and finds divorce papers from her Waymond. As the filmmakers say in the video, it's almost like each character thinks they're in a different genre until the movie decidedly heads in a more action-oriented direction.
Two things stand out immediately from the filmmakers' commentary. First, I love that they address the stereotype of Asian dads wearing fanny packs, then decide to flip that on its head for a memorable kickoff to a movie that features a number of adrenaline-filled, action-packed, and absolutely absurd fight scenes. I have distinct memories of my own dad's red and navy blue fanny pack that would eventually get passed on to me to hold my Tamagotchi, Pokemon cards, and Spice Girl lollipops. (I can neither confirm nor deny that those were actually the contents of my fanny pack, but based on when I wore it, that's probably a good educated guess.)
The second revelatory detail from this video is that the 50-year-old Quan did most of his own stunts during this scene. The editing throughout "Everything Everywhere All At Once" is pretty flawless, so I had a hard time knowing for sure when we were looking at a stuntman and when it was the actor. But after getting confirmation that Indy's former sidekick got to show off the fact that his moves have exceeded those of the fedora-favoring archeologist, that just made this moment all the more impressive.
But above all, I love that Ke Huy Quan is back in action and finally getting his flowers for paving the way for Asian and Asian American representation in Hollywood. He's truly a pioneer in the business and I can't wait to continue flying the flag of the Ke Huy Quan-naissance as he continues to land more roles in the coming years.
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