Ke Huy Quan’s introduction to the MCU was an emotional one for him. And he was able to tap into a former role in order to play his Loki character.
It’s no secret Ke Huy Quan has had an amazing comeback. Although he could already consider himself sealed in the book of pop culture for his turn as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and as Data in The Goonies, Quan would step into his first role back in an Academy Award-winning role in and Academy Award-winning movie with Everything Everywhere All at Once. He will also be headlining his first lead role in the action film With Love, that’s produced by The Fall Guy director David Leitch.
Upon his comeback, Quan got to join the MCU in Loki as a TVA employee called O.B. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Quan talks about how he sees O.B. as a variant of his famous character Data from The Goonies, complete with an easter egg where Data’s belt makes an appearance. The Marvel series was filmed at Pinewood Studios in London, where a building was named after James Bond actor Roger Moore. The association came to Quan when he remembered how Data engineered his own gadgets and was obsessed with 007. He explained,
It dawned on me that Ouroboros is a variant of Data. I just had to time-slip back to 1985 when I was a little kid and try to remember how I approached that character and his energy.”
After that anecdote, Quan was asked if he could time-slip into any point in his life, where would he go? The ever-grateful actor reflects on the ups and downs in his life and answered, “Oh, wow. There was one particular day in my 20s where I auditioned for a tiny role with two lines, and I couldn’t get it. I was sitting at the edge of my bed waiting for the phone to ring, and I think it was one of the lowest days of my life. So if I could, I would time-slip back to that particular day and tell myself that things are going to work out.”
And work out, it has. His producer on With Love, Kelly McCormick, shares how much he’s been blowing the crew away with his action prowess on that film. She glowed, “I’m obsessed. I think he’s so cool. He’s so classy. He’s so fun and sweet and wide-eyed in this way that’s like sort of like, ‘Bring me anything. Let’s just go for it. What do you think?’ As long as he’s been in the business and as much as he’s achieved, he still has like a real joy to vote for it. You know, like a real openness and like, enthusiasm that’s just still discovering. That is just really, really fun every day.” Leitch adds, “It’s infectious. It’s infectious when you have a lead actor that’s that way with the crew and with his director and all his other creatives. It all sort of trickles down. Everyone’s excited because the joy that he has. He’s ready to go. It’s going to be awesome.”