Backstage at the Oscars, speaking to the press after his win for Best Supporting Actor in Everything everywhere all at onceKe Huy Quan recalled what it felt like to change his name from an Americanized name that was suggested to him by a manager a long time ago.
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“You know, when I started as a kid, it was my birth name Ke Huy Quan,” he said. “And then I remember, when it got really tough, my manager was like, ‘Maybe it would be easier if you had an American-sounding name.’ And I was so desperate to get a job that I would do anything And it’s insane that at some point I try a different name, not the name that was given to me, but that doesn’t can only show you how desperate I was trying to make things different.
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But when Quan decided to return to acting three years ago after a long fallow period during which he couldn’t find work, he resolutely used his real name. In doing so, he felt he had honored his mother who had sacrificed so much for him.
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“The very first thing I wanted to do was go back to my birth name,” he said. “Tonight, seeing Ariana (DeBose) open that envelope and say ‘Ke Huy Quan,’ it was a really, really special moment for me. And then immediately I was so emotional, but the first image I got in my mind was my mother – who’s the reason I’m in America, who’s the reason I have a better life, I have all these opportunities Like I said in my acceptance speech , she sacrificed so much, she had a great life where we come from, and she gave it all up so that all of her children – we are nine – and each one of them would be so grateful to my parents.
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Quan also noted that his Goonies the co-stars were particularly supportive of her career resurgence. He starred as a wacky geek named Data in the much-loved 1983 film. When asked what his younger self would think of where he is now, he replied, “My younger self wouldn’t know all the struggles I went through to be here. He just had the time of his life to be a kid, to be on a set, to be on a pirate ship, to go on a waterslide. But just before the start of this evening, Corey Feldman, one of my Goonies brothers, called. I was talking to Kerri Green, and of course tonight Jeff Cohen, who is my entertainment lawyer (and played Chunk in the movie), is here with me. He was in the audience. I owe them all so much. Every one of them is so happy. Sean (Astin) reached out, Josh (Brolin), Martha (Plimpton) and we’re still bonding. We are a forever family. Goonies never say die.