Oscar Nominee Tells of His 'Unbelievable Ride' Back to Acting
2023-02-04
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1The actor Ke Huy Quan has traveled an often-changing path on his way to America's most important movie honors, the Academy Awards.
2The 51-year-old was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 2022 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
3Few Oscar nominees this year have gone as far to reach the Academy Awards as Quan.
4Born in Vietnam, he and his family fled that country in 1978.
5They settled in California.
6As a child, he starred in two of the most popular films of the 1980s.
7Quan played the characters Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies.
8But after this early success, Quan struggled to find work as an adult.
9The film industry had few parts for Asian-American actors.
10The actor went to film school, and later began working behind the camera.
11He left his dreams of acting in the past, mostly.
12But Everything Everywhere All at Once changed it all for Quan.
13The movie leads the 2023 Academy Awards race with 11 Oscar nominations.
14That includes the award for best picture.
15Quan is now living the dream he thought he had surrendered.
16The actor spoke recently with the Associated Press about the experience.
17"When I heard the nomination, I jumped up and I screamed so loud," he said.
18"It just seemed so far-fetched. Especially when I had to step away from acting for so many years, that dream seemed like it was dead."
19Quan was thankful for the support.
20But he had been afraid about returning to acting.
21"The last time they saw me up on the screen, I was a little kid. Now, I'm a middle-aged man," he said.
22"Ever since our movie came out, they have shown me nothing but love and kindness," Quan said.
23"This has been a wild and unbelievable ride. I didn't expect any of this. But I do hope that my story inspires them to not give up on their dreams."
24The Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood, California on March 12.
25I'm Caty Weaver.
1The actor Ke Huy Quan has traveled an often-changing path on his way to America's most important movie honors, the Academy Awards. 2The 51-year-old was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 2022 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. 3Few Oscar nominees this year have gone as far to reach the Academy Awards as Quan. Born in Vietnam, he and his family fled that country in 1978. They settled in California. 4As a child, he starred in two of the most popular films of the 1980s. Quan played the characters Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies. 5But after this early success, Quan struggled to find work as an adult. The film industry had few parts for Asian-American actors. The actor went to film school, and later began working behind the camera. He left his dreams of acting in the past, mostly. 6But Everything Everywhere All at Once changed it all for Quan. The movie leads the 2023 Academy Awards race with 11 Oscar nominations. That includes the award for best picture. Quan is now living the dream he thought he had surrendered. The actor spoke recently with the Associated Press about the experience. 7"When I heard the nomination, I jumped up and I screamed so loud," he said. "It just seemed so far-fetched. Especially when I had to step away from acting for so many years, that dream seemed like it was dead." 8Quan was thankful for the support. But he had been afraid about returning to acting. 9"The last time they saw me up on the screen, I was a little kid. Now, I'm a middle-aged man," he said. 10"Ever since our movie came out, they have shown me nothing but love and kindness," Quan said. "This has been a wild and unbelievable ride. I didn't expect any of this. But I do hope that my story inspires them to not give up on their dreams." 11The Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood, California on March 12. 12I'm Caty Weaver. 13The Associated Press wrote this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. 14________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16scream - v. to shout or cry out 17far-fetched - adj. to be unlikely to happen, not real or untrue 18inspire - v. to make someone what to do something or to give them the idea that causes them to do or create something 19screen - n. the flat area where movies are shown or that creates to see on a television or computer 20___________________________________________________________ 21What do you think of this story? 22We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 23Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.