Ke Huy Quan Still Gets Christmas Presents From Steven Spielberg Every Year After Indiana Jones Debut In 1984: "He Has Not Forgotten Me"

Thirty-eight years after making his movie debut in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom, Ke Huy Quan still receives a Christmas gift every year from the movie’s director, Steven Spielberg.

Quan, who was 13 when he made his acting debut as Short Round, sidekick to Harrison Ford’s titular whip-carrying archaeologist, shared this in a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian.

“He gave me my first job and, so many years later, he has not forgotten me,” Quan, 51, said. “Every time I needed help, he’s always there.”

Spielberg also gave Quan his second job: 1985’s The Goonies, executive produced by Spielberg and directed by Richard Donner, where he played the gadget-loving Data.

“On Indiana Jones, I was the only kid, so I got all of the love and attention,” Quan recalled. “On The Goonies, I was one of seven, so I was constantly fighting for attention. But it was something that was very familiar to me – my parents had nine kids. It was a lot of fun, especially those amazing sets. Going to work was like going to the playground.”

In September, Quan reunited with Ford for the first time since their Temple of Doom days at Disney’s fan event D23 Expo, where Ford was there to plug the fifth Indiana Jones instalment and Quan was promoting Season 2 of Loki.  The pictures of their reunion went viral.

“We were at the D23 event and I was told Harrison was gonna be there,” Quan told The New York Times last month about the reunion. “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?’

“As I get closer, he turns and points his finger at me, and he has that classic, famous, grumpy Harrison Ford look,” Quan continued. “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.”

Ford and Quan now have something else in common: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Quan is in the upcoming season of Loki — in a yet-disclosed role — Ford is slated to play Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, a character previously played by the late William Hurt, in Captain America: New World Order.

After quitting Hollywood for than more 20 years, Quan returned to the movies this year with Everything Everywhere All at Once, the trippy sci-fi dramedy that’s expected to do well during awards season.

Besides Loki, Quan’s other projects include the Disney+ action comedy series American Born Chinese, which he will team up with his Everything Everywhere All at Once co-star Michelle Yeoh, and The Electric State, the Russo Brothers’ Netflix sci-fi epic, starring Millie Bobby Brown as a young girl travelling across the US in the wake of a war between robots and humanity, searching for her missing brother.  

Everything Everywhere All at Once is now streaming on HBO Go. The untitled fifth Indiana Jones movie will open in cinemas in June 2023.

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos