Ke Huy Quan Says He Honored His Mom By Reclaiming Birth Name As An Adult Actor; Declares “Goonies Never Say Die” – Oscars Backstage
deadline.comBackstage at the Oscars, speaking to the press following his win for Best Supporting Actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan recalled how it felt to change his name back from an Americanized one suggested to him by a manager long ago. “You know, when I started as a kid, it was my birth name Ke Huy Quan.
And then I remember, when it got really tough, my manager told me, ‘Maybe it would be easier if you were to have an American-sounding name.’ And I was so desperate for a job that I would do anything.
And it’s insane that I, at one point, would try a different name, not the name that was given to me, but it can only show you how desperate I was to try to make things different.” But when, three years ago, Quan decided to return to acting after a long fallow period in which he could not find any work, he determinedly used his real name.
In doing so, he felt he had honored his mother who had sacrificed so much for him. “The very first thing that I wanted to do was to go back to my birth-given name,” he said. “Tonight to see Ariana [DeBose] open that envelope and say, ‘Ke Huy Quan,’ that was a really, really special moment for me.
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