Disney’s D23 Expo has already been a special time for fans of the company’s many brands. The Little Mermaid on Friday, followed by Lucasfilm and Marvel taking the stage on Saturday. The Lucasfilm presentation brought fans their first looks at Indiana Jones 5, including a special appearance by Harrison Ford.
Ford’s presence at the event allowed for an interesting reunion to take place, complete with an Indiana Jones connection. Ke Huy Quan was also in attendance, joining season 2 of Disney+’s Loki and the upcoming American Born Chinese. But he’s likely best known as Indiana Jones’ sidekick from Temple of Doom, Short Round. It was Quan’s acting debut at 12, expanding in the ’80s to star in The Goonies as Data and continuing into the early ’90s with roles in Encino Man.
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Quan spent most of the past two decades behind the camera, working in film production around the globe. This includes choreographing fights on the first X-Men film, The One with Jet Li and was even an assistant director with Wong Kar Wai on 2004’s 2046. But he made his return to acting in 2018, inspired by the success of Crazy Rich Asians. He would drop Jonathan as his name, win a role in , and end up at D23 to reunite with Ford after close to 40 years.
“‘I love you, Indy,’” Quan wrote in the caption on Instagram. “Indiana Jones and Short Round reunited after 38 years.”
While Quan isn’t in the new Indiana Jones film – the final according to Ford on stage at D23 – he would be open to returning at some point if the opportunity ever came up. He said as much during a Reddit AMA back in April.
“YES! Absolutely to more Indiana Jones movies,” Quan wrote in response to one question. “I didn’t pursue acting when I was kid. I happened to be at the right place and at the right time when Spielberg and Lucas was looking for an Asian kid to be Indy’s sidekick. And I just fell in love with it because it’s one of the best profession in the world. Feeling very blessed and grateful to be able to do this again after 2 decades absence.”
It was great to see Quan return, especially in a quality role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s even better to see him share a hug with Harrison Ford after the years they’ve put between themselves.
