Ke Huy Quan thanks Spielberg for first role in moving Golden Globes acceptance speech

By Scottie Andrew and Dan Heching, CNN

Ke Huy Quan cheered Steven Spielberg and harkened back to his days as an ’80s child actor in a moving Golden Globes acceptance speech, the first award of the night at Tuesday’s event.

Quan won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a motion picture for his winning turn in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” as Waymond, the devoted and daffy partner of Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn.

But he cut his teeth in Hollywood under the tutelage of Spielberg, who cast him in the 1984 blockbuster “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

“I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity,” Quan told audience. “I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight — Steven, thank you!” (Spielberg, beaming, blew Quan a kiss from his seat.)

Quan played Short Round in the Spielberg film, Indy’s sidekick. He felt “so very lucky” to have been cast in the role, he said in his speech, but after the Spielberg film and ’80s classic “The Goonies,” his opportunities soon dried up.

“I started to wonder if that was it,” he said in his speech. “For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer, that no matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid. Thankfully, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid. And they gave me an opportunity to try again.”

Those “two guys” are Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who co-directed Quan’s comeback film under the moniker “Daniels.” The film, which also received Golden Globe nominations for best picture – musical/comedy and best actress in a musical/comedy for Yeoh, has also earned Oscar buzz.

Quan will next be seen in the second season of Marvel series “Loki,” starring alongside Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson.

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