Ke Huy Quan talks how THE GOONIES inspired his performance in LOKI and reveals Tom Hiddleston’s acting advice

Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan (Everything everywhere and everything at once) made quite a comeback with his career, but will also forever be known as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Incoming data The Goonies. These are favorite films that will continue to be rewatched and loved by fans around the world, so Quan will continue to identify with them. Luckily, he loves these roles, and even brought some of his Data persona into his most recent appearance as Ouroboros, or “OB,” the head (and apparently sole employee) of the Temporal Variation Authority’s Repair and Advancement Department in the Marvel series Loki.

The actor recently sat down with Variety to talk about his role on the series, which he was excited to do now that the SAG/AFTRA strike is over. Quan is the highest profile new addition to the cast of the second season, which includes Tom Hiddleston in the title role e Owen Wilson as TVA agent Mobius, and was initially eager to join such a well-regarded show for its second season.

“They already have this camaraderie, this beautiful relationship,” he says. “So, going in, I was a little intimidated. I didn’t know how I would fit in. From the beginning, I felt this warmth, this beautiful acceptance with everyone’s arms wide open. They brought me here and I felt like I was at home. It was wonderful.”

He went on to talk about how much he loved this character and how much it reminded him of his own The Goonies character, Data, saying:

When I read the script for the first time, I immediately fell in love with Ouroboros. You can see immediately who this character is: his quirk, his humor, his passion for his work jumps off the page. As I was trying to fine-tune how I want to interpret him, something came to mind. I realized that this character is familiar to me. I think I know who he is. I have to go back 35 years ago to when I played Data in “The Goonies.”

So many fans came to me and the most asked question was, “Will there be a ‘Goonies 2’? And what is Data doing as an adult?” This Ouroboros character is kind of my answer to this question. I see it as a variant of Data. What’s really interesting is, on my first day, I’m all done up, made up and dressed up. I’m walking towards the Ouroboros set. They built this amazing set on the second largest stage at Pinewood Studios. I look up and see that the name of the stage is “Roger Moore”. Now, as we all know, Data loves James Bond. The character 007 inspires him a lot. So I feel like there are some cosmic connections between this character and Data. Playing him was one of the greatest experiences he’s ever had.

It’s really cool! What a full circle moment for the actor and what a tribute to Data. Quan went on to talk about the technical dialogue he had to memorize for the role, and said he asked the head of the MCU Kevin Feige to actually show him what some of the parts he was describing were so he could name what he was looking at and understand what he was saying. Another useful tool was given to him by Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, to whom he asked for help when he saw him perform his lines with ease:

I also asked Tom Hiddleston. In episode 6, he was just spouting that dialogue at 100 miles an hour. I was blown away by his performance. I said, “Tom, how do you do it?” It comes so naturally to him. He talked about his method. He showed me how to do it. And obviously, you know, I practiced it and it worked.

He continued:

Well, I mean, there’s no secret. It’s really about looking at the dialogue and reading it very, very slowly the first few times, and then as you get more comfortable with it, you start picking it up. It’s just that repetition, but it starts very slowly. I do the opposite. I’ll jump right in and practice as if I were saying it behind closed doors. But the process of him starts very slowly and familiarizes himself with every single word. This is the method I’ve been using ever since.

Quan was fantastic in this role. I really enjoyed him this season and am looking forward to his bright future as an actor. Quan can be seen later in the Russo Brothers-direct film The Electric Statein which he will star next Chris Pratt, Millie Bobby BrownAND Stanley Tucci.