From Oscar winner to action star: Ke Huy Quan kicks into high gear in Love Hurts

SINGAPORE – After winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), former child star Ke Huy Quan is stepping into uncharted territory as the lead in Love Hurts, an action comedy that marks a full-circle moment in his remarkable career journey.

Known for his roles in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984) and The Goonies (1985), his acting career faded after those early successes, leading him to work behind the scenes in stunts until his recent dramatic comeback with the award-winning comedy-drama film.

Now, at 53, he is thrilled to be where he is. On Feb 3, he was honoured at a hand-and-footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

“On a professional level, it has been incredible. So many doors have opened. A lot of wonderful film-makers and producers that I love have reached out and want to work with me. I mean, look at Love Hurts – my first leading role in a major studio picture,” Quan tells journalists at a virtual conference on Feb 2 about his latest project.

But the Vietnam-born American performer stung by Hollywood’s fickleness is not about to live the movie-star life yet.

“In my personal life, nothing has changed. I still live in the same house and drive the same car,” says Quan.

In Love Hurts, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Feb 6, Marvin Gable (Quan) is a gentle real-estate salesman with a solid reputation in Milwaukee.

One day, he receives a note from Rose (Ariana DeBose), a woman who knew him when he lived under another identity. In the past, he was a gangster working for his violent brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu).

Rose’s return leads to a showdown between Marvin and assassins sent by Knuckles. Over the Valentine’s Day period, Marvin must reckon with his criminal past and his former love Rose while trying to stop his middle-class facade from crumbling.

Filipino-American fight and stunt coordinator Jonathan “Jojo” Eusebio makes his feature film directing debut with Love Hurts.

Marvin is an average Joe who hides an extraordinary talent for fighting. The film’s producers from 87North Productions repeated a ploy attempted in their thriller Nobody (2021), which starred American comedian and actor Bob Odenkirk in his first action role: Take an average guy and make him a believable martial arts warrior.

Odenkirk, 62, trained for two years to prepare for Nobody. But, for Quan, the transition was easier as he was experienced in action choreography and trained in taekwondo. He also had fight scenes in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

He says: “I trained specifically with our action team to get myself physically in shape. Even though I have a martial arts background, I haven’t used it in a long time, until Everything Everywhere All At Once. So, that was kind of my way back into this world.”

At a separate conference held on Feb 4, American actor Wu says he was pleased to work with Quan again.

Both had been in the Disney+ action sitcom American Born Chinese (2024), in which Quan played a former actor named Jamie Yao, a fictionalised version of himself, while Wu portrayed Sun Wukong, the mythical Monkey King.

The series was cancelled after one season.

Wu, 50, says: “American Born Chinese ended very abruptly. We thought we were going to do another season and see everybody again, but it didn’t happen. That was, unfortunately, the world we work in.

“(Quan) called me and said, ‘I hear they’re considering you for the brother. Please consider it. I’d love to work with you again.’ I would do anything to work with Ke, especially on this project, because it’s his first time being a leading man, a leading action hero. I’ve gone through that process before, and it’s always important to have a strong supporting cast to help you do that,” he says.

Love Hurts is a homage to the golden age of Hong Kong action cinema both in its setting and action style. Its fight sequences, for example, feature long takes and the imaginative use of ordinary items as weapons, a style popularised by Hong Kong stars like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.

Wu has had a long career in Hong Kong action cinema and is proud to be part of a Hollywood production that pays tribute to it and the history it references.

“I’ve spent 27 years working in the Hong Kong industry, and I learnt a lot. I’ve filmed in Japan, Taiwan, the US and Europe, and I think the Hong Kong directors and crews are still the best.”