Happy Sad Confused - Ke Huy Quan, Vol. II

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Much has changed for Ke Huy Quan since his last visit. He's now an Oscar winner, a part of the MCU, and with LOVE HURTS, at long last the lead of his own film. Ke joins Josh for another inspiring chat about his journey from THE GOONIES and INDIANA JONES to leaving the business to a triumphant comeback. UPCOMING EVENT! Maya Hawke -- February 10th in NYC -- Tickets here! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Quince -- Go to Quince.com/happysadco for 365 day returns and free shipping! Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One and sip, and two, and sip, and three, and sip. Oh, hey, I'm just sipping Tim's all-new protein ice latte. Starting at 17 grams per medium latte, Tim's new protein lattes. Protein without all the work at participating restaurants in Canada. Wait, was that the group chat? Ah, sent a text to the group that definitely wasn't for everyone. You're good. some goldfish cheddar crackers. Goldfish have short memories. Be like goldfish.

In the last year or so, I've had time to reflect on everything that has happened. And I realize that my internal narrative is slowly changing. And it changed from, you know what, nobody wants me. I'm not good enough to, oh, I am good. I deserve to be here. I can be number one on the I can be a leading man, which for the longest time, every script that I read, I would never picture myself as the leading man. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Hey, guys, Josh here. Welcome to another edition of Happy Say I Confused. I'm so excited to say that you are about to listen or watch a returning guest coming back to the podcast. He, Pui Kwan, who won an Oscar a few years ago for everything everywhere all at once,

as Key reminded me. I actually didn't know at the time. His first appearance on the podcast was his first appearance on a podcast. What an honor. And a honor that he came back. Key is inspiring in all the best ways. His story of kind of giving up on acting and leaving acting for decades after being such a huge success as a child in Gunis and Indiana, Jones Temple of Doom and then coming back with everything everywhere and winning that Oscar, it's one of those special stories. This is a guest unlike any other unhappy, sad, confused. I know he's an inspiration to actors and artists and anybody with a dream out there.

So so thrilled that he came back promoting his new movie, Love Hurts, a fun action comedy with key at the center of it. So that's the main event in just a second. A reminder, if you're in New York City and you want to see me do my thing in person, February 10th, it's just around the corner. I'm going to be chatting with Maya Hawke, star of Stranger Things and so much more, including Inside Out 2, which we're going to screen first. We're going to show Inside Out 2 on the big screen, and then I'm going to have a big old chat about her entire career. Maya has never done the podcast, and there's a lot to cover. I'm so excited for this.

Information is in the show notes. Get your tickets now. Come on out, say hi, to me and my. and there are a lot more exciting events coming up soon. If you want all the info on events, live events, discounts, everything. Patreon is your best friend, patreon.com slash happy, say I confused, discount codes, autographed posters, merch, bonus content, it's all there for you. Support the podcast because it lets us make more of the podcast.

Okay, here we go. Ki Hui Kwan, if you don't come away from this inspired, there's something wrong with you. He is the best. Enjoy my chat with Kiwi Kui Kui. Kuan. Well, guys, Kui Kwan is back. Excuse me, Academy Award winner, Key is back. I'm sorry, Academy Award winner and Action Star Key is back. A lot has changed in the two plus years since we chatted. He's back on the podcast. There's a lot to talk about you, of course, known from everything everywhere all at once, Goonies, Indiana Jones, but he's also spreading a good word

today for his front and center action, romantic comedy, love hurts, perfect Valentine's Day movie. It brings key back to the podcast where he belongs. It's good to see him in. Josh, thank you for that beautiful, beautiful introduction. I love it. It's always good to see what you were saying when you hopped on the Zoom. We got a chance to see each other in person, which is always a treat. You were presenting at the Globes, and then I caught you at one of those fancy parties.

What's it like for you now to move through the mix? Because you did them all a couple years back. We've seen the selfie collection. You've got the best selfie collection known to man. do you feel at home in those environments now? I mean, you, you're an academy member, you're an academy winner. What's it like to move through that world right now for you? You know, the first time was incredible.

I was so overwhelmed and also blown away by everything that was going on. Do you know what I mean? My piece is wrong. All good. And it was my first time. what was incredible is like, you know, for so many years, I've always wanted to be in the room with all those people that I admire and love. And as always, you know, I'm a kid in those rooms. I can't help myself, but run around and introduce myself and give all those people that I really

love a hug and, you know, basically shower them with all my love and just tell them how much they mean to me. Having gone through that this time, I'm a little bit more comfortable. But still, every time you think about, every time you get on the red carpet and you see all these beautiful faces, beautiful dresses and tucks and all that, and the energy is incredible. And you really, no matter how what you were feeling before you step on the red carpet, once when you're on the red carpet, you just, you know, you just can't help yourself be really, like, excited because it's amazing. It's truly an amazing to be part of all of that. 100%. Yeah, I've been privileged to do these crazy carpets for years. But if you lose that sense of wonder and excitement, then what are you even doing in this business?

Is there anybody? I mentioned your fun selfies. I think we all vicariously through you because we really connect with like your excitement about being around these folks that you admire, that we admire. Has there anybody that made you nervous to go up to and say, would you post for a selfie with me? Yeah, I was nervous going up to Martin Scorsese. I was, you know, I've been, I've been a fan of his for the longest time. Christopher Nolan is another one.

I took a selfie with him, but I didn't share it. We had a wonderful chat, and I love him, and I love his movies. And when I asked for a selfie, he said has anyone ever said no to you this is my question yes and i and you know and i was really happy and i was also nervous i said no and he says okay then we took a selfie uh but then but then later on that night i realized oh i mean he was just being very generous uh and and just out of respect to him which i have tremendous amount of respect for uh i didn't post that So I was nervous, Schuessi, Christopher Nolan.

But honestly, everybody has been so kind. Every time I go up to them and ask for selfie, they, you know, they all said yes. So I do have a big collection. Have any of these moments, these connections led to, I would imagine some of them lead to meetings and discussions about possible work? I mean, there is some kind of kismet. We'll get to love Hertz in a bit. but who gave you your Oscar, but Ariana DeBose, so that's, there's something in the universe there.

But I guess in meeting all these people, does it, are you seeing the fruits of just connecting with people the last couple of years? Well, you know, it's always nice to meet them, and to meet them in person and to have, you know, kind of a sweet conversation with a lot of times when you're in these events, you don't get to, you know, chat for a long time

because there's so much things going on. People are always constantly moving. So just to have that short exchange is very memorable. And a lot of times, and especially during the entire ward season, we get to see the same people over and over again. And that becomes the family for that season. And every season, they have a different family. But we do run into each other again.

And sometimes we'll reminisce. And sometimes, you know, for example, like you mentioned Oriana DuBose, when she presented me with my Oscar, we've seen each other, we've run into each other in events a few times. And I told her, I said, I would love to work with you. And little did I know that that opportunity would one day come.

So, you know, when they presented love hurts to me. And we were, you know, asked, we were like, you know, wondering who could play Rose. and when her name popped up, I said, yes, yes. Please, please make it happen. Pay her whatever she wants. So it was such a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to work with somebody that I really love. There is a treat in seeing the trailer for this, and it's like, Academy Award winner, Ki Hui Kuan, Academy Award winner, Arianna DeBos.

I mean, come on. How awesome is that? You know, two Oscar winners in an action movie. Love it. Sold. How close is the Academy Award to you right now? Does it have a place of honor in your home, Key? You know what? It's at a very special place right now. I think I can share this. The Academy Museum reached down and asked if I would be, what I asked if I would consider loaning my Oscar. so that they can they can have it on display at the museum and i say yes right away uh so right now it is sitting at the academy museum and i hope that people will go to the museum and check out all the wonderful wonderful stuff they have there and then and then hopefully they'll see mine oscar there and when they see it i hope that you know whatever dreams that they have

that hasn't happened yet uh will keep them you know will keep those dreams alive well i will say that speech and i rewatched it again before our conversation uh it's an immediate all-time or oscar speech i mean from you you know talking to your mom through the screen saying this is the american dream again everybody watching i think really connected with you through the whole season and that was such an amazing culmination do you have distinct memories of giving the speech or did you black out like what's your memory of going through that experience when you know when when i remember uh vividly when ariana debaose and and uh toy kurcher walked out with the envelope and and when they opened it announced i felt like i was

holding my breath and i've been holding my breath for a long time uh and when when ariana announced it uh i was so overwhelmed with emotion uh and and i walked up on stage gave them a hug gave a speech and walked backstage and had no idea what I just said. Right. Yeah. It was, it was, it was, it was a blur. And I just kept, and I remember, you know, asking the stage manager, I said, was his speech okay? But I didn't say anything stupid, did I?

But it was, it was so wonderful. And, and yeah, and my mom watching it at home made it even, more special to me because that night she got so many phone calls from her friends congratulating her. And it was a phone call that, you know, that she got 40 years ago when I, when Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom came out and all her friends called her and congratulated her. And she waited 40 years just as I did to get those same phone calls again. So it was, It was, it made it even more special. And it will always be one of the most, the best and most memorable nights of my life.

So obviously on our last conversation, we talked about a little bit about your incredible journey and, you know, the decades you were away from acting before coming back. So like in the last couple of years, you've had some really great opportunities. This is a big one. And I would imagine there's, I mean, you tell me, was there a transition point where I would imagine when people asked you what you did? before everything everywhere came out maybe the answer was something more along the lines of I was an actor as opposed to I am an actor

like has your answer kind of changed of what you are, who you are in the last three years since everything everywhere? Yes, Josh that's a great question you know for a long time I would get recognized on the streets and you know fans would come up and say

hey, are you the actor in Indiana Jones? Or are you the actor in the Goonies? Or you look really familiar. Right. And oftentimes, you know, when you have to, when you travel and, you know, you have to fill out the custom papers. Sure. And there's always that one line where they ask you, what's your occupation.

And I would always hesitate to put actor. Right. because I wasn't working most of the time. So I felt like a hypocrite if I were to put actor on that line. It just didn't feel, you know, true. So I would always hesitate and I always have a problem. But ever since I came back since 2000, when I make that decision to now, you know, I'm so happy.

When I fill out those forms, I go straight to the occupation. and I proudly write after all capitals, excellent, underline. Yes, yes, yes. And I do it with a smile and I do it with a lot of, you know, a pride. That is something that I didn't expect. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot track side. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime.

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offering a dramatized look as it revisits the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox for the tragic murder of Meredith Kirchner. and the relentless media storm that followed. The twisted tale of Amanda Knox is now streaming only on Disney Plus. All right, so let's talk about your life in acting since then. Because it's a big moment to go through what you went through

and to suddenly go from having no opportunities to choices. Suddenly you're probably turning things down, hopefully getting some interesting material. there must have been a lot of discussion among you, friends, family, internally. What do I want? What do I need? What do I do with this gift? What was your philosophy about what kind of roles you want to go towards after the Oscar win? You know, it was it was such an interesting period for me because I spent so much time try and persuade filmmakers and some producers that I'm right for a role.

And all of a sudden, after the Oscars, I was, you know, I was meeting filmmakers that I love, producers that I love, and they would come, and they said, we would, we have the script, and we think you'd be perfect for it. And, and all of a sudden, wait, so you mean I don't have to audition? This is not like me trying to convince you. and it was like it was really weird to me and it took a little time to adjust and then all of a sudden because of there was so much outpour of love and support the one thing that was constantly on my

mind was that no matter what I was going to do next I didn't want to disappoint the people who supported me so they were on my mind the whole time and I was I was having a difficult time choosing. And, yeah, because I've never been in that situation where I have choices. Right. So it was very foreign to me. And I remember, I was, I was at an event. It was the Time 100 event where Drew Barrymore and I presented Stephen Spielberg with a very

special award. And I was seated next to him. And we chatted and he says, key how are you doing he was so happy for me he says Stephen you know uh and I didn't know how to tell him you know and I said I'm not doing so great and he says why and I says you know I don't know what I want to do next right and he was very sweet and he says okay uh when we get back to LA let's have lunch and we did uh and that was when I brought up love hurts because it was it was offered to me love hurts was offered to me I read it

I loved it, and I didn't think I was right for it. So I passed, and it was right around the time during the Oscar season. So I read it very quickly, I loved it, and I remember, oh, this is great, but why are they offering me this role? I looked nothing like him. So I passed the first time, and thank God they were very persistent. They came back the second time, and I still feel like it wasn't right to me. right to me. And I passed the second time. And the third time, that's when I asked Stephen,

and I said, there was this movie that, you know, that Universal Studios is making. There's this character. It's the lead. He's an action hero. But I don't see myself as that. And I kind of pitch him the character and I pitch him the story. And he says, he, it sounds great. You should do it. And he encouraged me to say yes. And then I left that lunch and I and I and I call my agent right away. I said, can you please get me the meeting? I want to go in there. And I want to meet with the producers, David Leach, Telly McCorme, Guy Dinella and our director, Jojo, Yusapio.

And when I met with them, and they had like, you know, this like, you know, presentation, slides of me in costume, in character. as Marvin Gable. And I'm sitting there and I'm looking at it. I go, wow. And then all of a sudden it dawned on me that, one, all these years I've been conditioned to think that an action star needs to look at a certain way. Because I grew up watching and loving action movies from Stallone, Swarthenegger, Jackie Chan,

you know, Stephen Seagall, Jason Statham. And so I never see myself in that. And all of a sudden, in that room, my perspective started to change. And I looked at, and I remember looking at David Leach thinking, here is a really good and successful Hollywood director. And if he can see me as Marvin Gable, how come I can't? And all of a sudden, from that moment on, I started to look at it from a different lens. And thank God, I am so, so happy that, that one, Stephen encouraged me to do this.

And second, you know, the producers didn't give up on me. Luckily, they didn't take my advice and go ahead and stay there. They didn't take no for an answer. I'm just curious without betraying confidence. Like was there a broader piece of advice that Stephen gave you? Was he basically saying don't overthink it? Like you can like, I mean, that unlocked something for you and kind of approaching roles now in this next phase of your career?

The overall was, you know, I told, you know, the feelings and the struggles and the anxiety that I've had about how, you know, I really don't want to disappoint all those people, all those wonderful fans that were rooting for me. And Stephen said, Key, you know, if you do it from your heart, if you love it, and if you give all your best, and you do it from a place, from a genuine place, you know, they will appreciate it. Whether they like the movie or not, but they will appreciate what you're doing.

And I listened, and that was such a great advice. like don't do it for anything else but do it for you know do for yourself and as long as you believe in it believe in the character believe in the movie uh then you should go for it uh and that's how and once when i heard that and once when i said yes do you love hurts i told our producers i said please get me the best action team possible and of course 87 north knows a lot about action movies and they put together this absolutely incredible action team. And we started training right away for three months before I set foot on set. I mean, for those that don't know, I mean, there is a degree of background way back when. You obviously were, you know, a fight choreographer. You helped

with Coriouin in some films. Like, so there is that aspect to your life. That being said, it's one thing to do that, you know, 25 years ago. And it's another to like do it in, practice as, you know, man in his 50s, like, that's, this is, this is a challenge. I mean, did you, I mean, I guess talk to me a little bit about what it was like physically to go through this. Was it what you anticipated? Was it harder? Oh, I mean, you know, that was definitely on, on, you know, on my mind the whole time. Here's the interesting thing. Right after Indiana Jones, I got, I got a little training to do the action sequence in Temple of Doom. I came back, to LA and my brother and I, we fell in love with action movies and we started learning

martial arts. And at the same time, I fell in love watching all these incredible Hong Kong action movies from Jackie Chan, Samuel Hong, U.M. Bell. And so I studied Taekwondo for many years and when I got myself a black belt, I thought, okay, now I'm ready. I'm out of school. I'm going to go and be an action star just like Jackie Chan and all those wonderful people that I admire because I really love this genre. So I was young and I was ready and little did I know that nobody was interested in making me an action hero. And all the knowledge, all the skills that I've acquired, I had to put them aside because there were no use to me. And luckily, you know, after I graduated from college, I began using some of those skills because I got behind the

camera and I got into action choreography. And a lot of times not only did I help photograph some of those sequences, but it also the responsibility fall on me to train the actors how to throw a punch, how to how to throw a kick, and to get them familiarize themselves with the action. so I got to do a little bit of that but it's not it's not the same as stepping in front of the camera and doing all out so I train myself mentally I think I can do everything

right but it was an interesting process when I finally was there at the gym trying out all these different moves and the team in the beginning they were very they were a little worried as well too because I am, you know, a 50-something-year-old man. So they were, they started something that was a bit easy,

just, you know, punches and very simple kicks here and there. And I would look at it and I'd go, can we try something more? Can we try a more difficult kick, like a jump-back spin kick? And they go, oh, really? You want to try it? And I said, let me try. And we would try it. And surprisingly, like, it felt good that I can do.

it's really muscle memory, but also to get my body in shape to do it even better. So that was the process. Okay, I know the moves. I remember the technique. But then how do I get myself higher? How do I get myself faster? How do I do it with a lot more power? When we did it, you know, Hong Kong directors always love to say, no power, no power.

So you got to do it with more power. So it's really getting my muscles to the shape where I can throw a punch with a lot of force behind it or do a kick. And it was hard. It was definitely hard. It was challenging. I'm quite proud.

But at the same time, I would wake up the next day feeling very sore. I could imagine. It's all on the screen. You feel it watching it. And I will say you were talking about action stars and the folks that were, you know, the same age group we, I grew up with the Arnold's and the slides, et cetera. And I love those guys. But I think of this on the flip side of like folks that I really appreciate, like a Jackie Chan, a Keanu, a Harrison Ford. I love those folks

because you feel the punches they take as much as the punches they give. And I think that's what lets you emotionally connect with an action performer. And that's what I got from watching you and this is like you've got the moves but I'm also I'm feeling it I'm feeling what you're feeling because I'm connecting with you as a as a performer that that's why it's so important from the very beginning and I I told you know the director and our producers and I said if I'm going to do this I want to do all the the fights myself I'm not talking about stunts stunts to me is falling off a building or getting hit by a car or being set on fire that is a very very specific skill.

And those stunt guys put their lives, you know, on the line to make as actors look great. So I will never say I do stunts. But what I can do really well are fights. And, you know, and I'm kind of old school, meaning I remember, you know, watching Jack Jaffe Chan Sam Mahong movies where you can see clearly that it's them up on the screen doing it. It's not a stunt double. So once when you see that, there was a lot. more at stake. And second, in order to make a fight look good, you can't fake it. You have to,

if you're going to throw a punch, you really have to throw a punch with a lot of force behind it. The audience has such a sophisticated eye now. If you just, you know, if you're just doing the movement, they get it right away and they, and they won't be, you know, they won't be emotionally involved right uh so so every fight and and it was hard because it's not easy fighting moshan lynch and and and you know and i was scared for myself most of the time you know he's he's a tough guy but he's a very sweet man uh he was he was very careful and he was very athletic uh and again also daniel woo who played my brother yeah who you know is very familiar with hong kong action And that's what this movie is.

The action is kind of an homage to the 80s Hong Kong action movie. And he knew the rhythm. He knew the moves. And I cannot have asked for a perfect dance partner to do this movie with. I love what you say about approaching them as fights. And stunts are one thing, fights are another. I think of your old comrade Harrison Ford, whenever somebody asks him about doing stunts. He says, I don't do stunts.

I do physical acting. And that's basically what you're saying. Yeah, because, you know, I mean, I love, I have, I have tremendous respect for stunt guys, our stunt people, because they, you know, they literally, they, they, they, they spent a lot of time training. And every stunt they do, there's a lot of danger to that. So I would never say I do stunts, but, you know, but when I say fights, you know, it's punches and kicks and falling onto the ground, selling a punch, reacting to a punch, all of that. The white chocolate macadamia cream cold brew from Starbucks is made just the way you like it.

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and we reminisce actually way back when on your early experience with stunts you talked about Temple of Doom but I referenced working with Corey Ewan you famously did work on the first X-Men film you were brought in as I understand it to help with the mystique Wolverine sequence in the film

so this is Hugh it's so funny to think about this now, 25 years later, he's still playing Wolverine. I mean, my God, amazing. So did you help teach Hugh Jackman how to Wolverine? I mean, this was his first go at that kind of performance, that kind of physical acting. Yeah, we were brought on specifically for that, that big finale fight between Wolverine and Mistake. We were there up for, I think, two months. we choreographed and trained Hugh Jackman and also Rebecca Romaine.

Romaine, yeah. And yeah, and they, you know, they were great. Yes, I did train him. And, you know, and I haven't seen Hugh Jackman in since then. So recently, when Kevin Fahey got his star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, I saw him again there. And I told him about, you know, about the experience.

and he was so nice. He remembered everything. He was just the gentleman that I remembered, and we had a wonderful little reunion. Did you remember him, like, taking to it well? Because I remember he was also famously a replacement for another actor. He was kind of thrown into the deep end on that film. Did that come naturally?

From the very beginning, from day one, when we showed him the moves, it didn't take much, he didn't need much training. Yeah. He, you know, he has this incredible physical. ability. He just needed to learn the moves. So my job was to show him the choreography. But I mean, every punch he threw, every move that he did, it was just perfect. Yeah, he was born to do it. That's why I look so great. So I won't take credit for that. That's him. We just take credit for the choreography. And now 25 years later, how crazy is life when you both are

technically now part of the MCU? part of the MCU connected by you know by by by one man you know I met Kevin a young a very young Kevin Feige yeah so he was also on the set yeah what do you remember about Kevin yeah I remember when when Corey Yuan and I and we have two more assistant action choreographers and we were walking we were showing the entire casting crew uh what we what we choreograph you know the entire secrets and they brought everybody and the set had like 200 people and it was me

and another guy and we're walking the moves slowly at first to show Ryan Singer and the producer Lowen Shuler Donner and I remember seeing Kevin Feihy to the side

and he told me later that he was with the writer and he kept telling the writer says hey that guy that is short round from Indiana Jones that is data and he was

you know he was having a fun time and sure enough you know only a few years later he became the head of Marvel Studios yeah and he correct me if I'm wrong he was the first like official offer the first call you got for an acting gig after everything

everywhere came out he calls you you're in his you're in your car that must have been quite a moment to get the call from Kevin Feigy come join us You know, before I got the call, here's the interesting part. We attended an event for Dick Donner. The Academy was honoring him.

And Dick Donner was there, Kevin Feige, a bunch of other people. And I remember afterwards, Jeff Cohen and I, we ran into Kevin at a bar. And we started chatting, you know, we're just kind of reminiscing about, you know, the work that we all did on X-Men and also the incredible work that he was doing. And at that time, I wasn't an actor yet. But I remember thinking, as I was hearing him talking, I said, God, wouldn't it be wonderful if one day he calls me and puts me in one of his movies or even, you know, ask me to be a part of the MCU family in any capacity?

I would have done it as, you know, as just anybody behind the camera or in front of camera. And I remember thinking about that, that thought that entered my mind. And sure enough, I think it was just like maybe two years later that I got that call. So when that, when that call happened, it was just so memorable because I wanted that call to happen for a long time. And honestly, and, you know, playing all the boys and Loki was just incredible. What are the chances? I know you can't spill anything if you knew anything, but look, you've worked with the Rousseau's.

By the way, I've seen the electric state. I'm one of the few privileged. I haven't seen it. It's good stuff. It's good stuff. So you've worked with the Rousseau's. They're coming back to the MCU. You're in the MCU.

We've got to get another appearance, right? Are you hopeful? I hope so. I mean, honestly, you know, fingers crossed. I love those movies so much. what the Russo Brothers has done for the Avengers is absolutely incredible. I'm so happy that they're back again for two more movies.

Fingers crossed, I don't know. I really don't know. But one thing that I'm sure is whatever story, whatever characters they bring back, it's going to be epic. Yeah. Is there a character you'd love to see Obie interact with if you come back?

All of them. You know, Spider-Man. Spider-Man. I love Spider-Man. I love Dr. Strange. I mean, honestly, it's hard to pick. I'm just, I'm just more than names because those two names just popped in my head. But honestly, I love the entire universe. And it's so vast with so many, so many characters. Oh, how about Shang Chi? I would love to interact with Shang-Chi. Crazy. They haven't done a sequel yet. Maybe if they do a sequel, I would love to be a part of that. I got a chance to work with Destin Daniel Clinton, by the way, on American-born Chinese. Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he's doing the next Spider-Man

film as well. Very exciting. So, again, since we've talked, a lot's happened. We saw Harrison pick up the whip one more time. I really, I enjoyed Dial of Destiny. I thought it was such a great send-off for him. And I remember we talked about at the time, and there was a bit, I feel like in the fandom, like excitement about you coming back. potentially a short round in some capacity. Have you, is that still a hope? I mean, obviously Harrison's done playing that role. It seems pretty firm about that.

But, and I don't know where Kathy Kennedy and Disney is right now, but do you feel like in your heart of hearts, there's still a story to be told with short round? Yes, I think so. I would love to revisit that character. I love that character and the fans love that character. I mean, this is, you know, this is entirely up to Kathy. Kennedy. She's been doing so well with the whole Star Wars franchise and what she has done

for Indy 5. I mean, I don't know. That is, that is, you know, something that I can only hope, but I'll keep waiting by the phone. Have you ever met, I assume back in the day you met Kathy, but have you met Kathy in recent years? Yes, yes, I have. I saw her again at Indy 5 premiere. You know, it was a nice, I went to the premiere. It was such a, nice reunion because George Lucas was there, Frank Marshall, who produced, you know, all these indie movies, was there, Kathy, of course, John Williams. It was, you know, every time I see them, I have, you know, it just puts a smile on my face because that was my first movie family. And in a lot of ways, I love acting. I love this business. I love this whole industry. I love

movies it's because they're now. And of course, I, you know, I, I feel like I always have to bring it because people always are talking about it. I mean, they say Goonies never die, but really Goonies sequel rumors never die. Because I feel like every year there's another kind of thing like, it sounds like it might actually happen. Like, have you, obviously we lost the great Dick Donner just a few years ago and that probably changed potentially what was going to happen, if anything was going to happen. But have you heard actual real murmurings of something more with Goonies in the last couple of years, or is it all just in the ether? You know, it's interesting.

It never fails. Every couple of years or so, there's always a Goonies rumor. I remember just recently, there was one that says, we're doing a sequel with Stephen Spiel were directing, and all the kids are back, and I know nothing about that. So I know that that couldn't be true. You know, it's something that I'm sure Warner Brothers wants to do it. All of us, all of us wants to do it. But it's such a beloved movie.

I'm going to leave it up to Spielberg. I mean, you know, he's the man that, you know, obviously without him, there's no goonies. And unfortunately, we'll ask, you know, the captain of our ship, Dick Donner. But who knows? I'll be there if they have a script. Have you seen a script in the last five, ten years? I'm sure over the decades there have been story. pitches or whatever, but have you seen anything in the last five, 10 years?

No, I have not. I have not. But what I do know is that it's not like they're not trying. In the last 40 years, one of us has tried, we've hired numerous writers. And there are multiple scripts out there. But somehow, I guess Spielberg feels that none of them kind of lifts up to the original. I mean, I know obviously you'll come back, but the question is, are you going to convince your lawyer, Jeff Cohen, aka Chunk? Is Chunk going to come out? Is he going to come out of retirement to act? That's a great question. I don't know. I mean, he has, he is so successful as an entertainment attorney. I don't know. I would love, you know, he's, we are really good friends. We see to all the time. And one of the things that every time I see him and it never fails is he always makes me laugh. He's such a funny guy.

And I would, I would, oh my gosh, if he comes out of, you know, retirement from acting, that would be amazing. So if we alluded to some of the projects, obviously Love Hurts is the big one for Valentine's Day. Electric State is a ginormous one on Netflix ever that he's going to really enjoy that. By the way, by the way, I had a really nice Goonies reunion with Sean Astin. How could I not mention that? Of course. That made my heart sore.

Everyone's going to be so thrilled to see that. He plays my boss in the real estate agent. Yes. His name is Cliff. Was that your idea? Whose idea? Well, both. When his name, we were thinking about, again, you know, like who can play Cliff?

And there were a bunch of names. And when I heard Sean, I reached out to him right away because I thought it was such a great idea. And honestly, you know, the last time that we had any meaningful scene together was, you know, was 40 years ago. Yeah. And when he came to Winnipeg, where we were shooting the movie, and we had that, you know, we did that scene together. Oh, my gosh, it was, what a wonderful, you know, trip down memory lane. All of a sudden, even though we were surrounded by cameras and the entire crew, all of a sudden just being with him and sharing a scene with him, immediately brought me back to

1985 when he was Mikey and I was Data and we were rehearsing we were running over you know running in rehearsing lines and I felt like a kid again and I think the Goonies fans

are gonna love his character one I think he steals every scene he's in and second the Goonies fans especially like they're going to love to see data and Mikey up on that screen again. Totally. I can't believe I forgot to mention. Good call.

So has the success and the new opportunities kind of like silenced the self-doubt that comes in anybody's head, especially actors, they always feel it. I mean, you've won every conceivable award. You're working with some greats. You're number one on the call sheet. You're doing all this great work. Does that quiet the part of your brain that says it could still all go away? Or are you able to?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, of course, you know, there is that, you know, there's that thought as well, too. But what's incredible is that the last couple of years, I've realized that my internal narrative has changed. You know, my personal life hasn't changed. I still live in the same house. I still drive the same car. I don't have an assistant.

So nothing about my personal life has changed. Of course, you know, the big change is my professional life. You know, I'm meeting a lot more people. There are a lot more opportunities now. And since, you know, in the last year or so, I've had time to reflect on everything that has happened. And I realized that my internal narrative is slowly changing. And it changed from, you know what, nobody wants me.

I'm not good enough to, oh, you know, I, I, I am good I deserve to be here I can be number one on the call sheet I can be a leading man which for the longest time every script that I read

I would never picture myself as the leading man I would always look at all the side characters which one am I right for because it was such a it was such a automatically saying that, oh, don't even look at the leading character because that's not for you.

So that internal narrative has changed where now when I look at the script, I do look at the leading man character, you know, the leading character, oh, I can play this, I can be this, I can be that. And it's an incredible feeling. It's very, I wish, honestly, you know, to all the. To all the fans out there, if they're doubting themselves, I really hope that they can have this shift in how they think of themselves. The time has flown by, but I'm going to end with the happy say I can fuse profoundly random questions for you, Kee. Are you ready?

Some rapid fire. Yes. Are you a dog or cat person? Dog. I'm allergic to cats, unfortunately. Okay. Do you collect anything? What do you collect?

Collect. Collect. Do you collect anything? Oh, no, do I collect anything? Oh, that's... Do I collect anything? Let me see what I collect. I don't...

I try to keep it simple. No, no, I don't. But I... It's not, it's not... You know, I have like Funko Pop, I collect Funco Popes. I have that. You know, I love posters, movie posters. But I can't say I...

I, yeah, no. Are you a video game person? Like, what's your favorite video game of all time? I am a video game person, but I'm old school. That's okay, me too. I love, I love the Atari games. I love Super Mario Brothers. I love Mrs. Patman.

I love, I love all the games that I used to play as a kid at Spielberg's office, you know, pole position or galaxy, all that, all those old video games. You know, those arcade games. Yeah, of course. I have one at home. Yeah, I still play those, yeah. I love Mario card. I mean, I love Mario Kart.

What's the wallpaper on your phone? Wallpaper on my phone. See, now you're, it's boring. It's not, it's just a, uh, that's okay. Killian Murphy has just black on his screen. So you have at least the earth there. You have something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Whatever the phone comes. I'm not very good with technology. So whatever it comes. with it, I stick with it. Have you ever been mistaken for another actor? Is there an actor people get you confused with? All the time. And here's this one.

And I'm not offended by it. In fact, I think it's a compliment. I always get mistaken for, are you ready for this? Are you ready for this, Doc? I'm not sure if I don't go for it. I always get mistaken for Jackie Chan. I mean, that's a high, that's high praise. He's a legend.

Yeah, he's a legend. And honestly, what's, to me, it's a compliment. Ever since our trailer came out and, and people go, wow, the trailer looks good. The action scenes looks great. He fights like Jackie Chan. I mean, to me, that's a compliment because, I mean, even though I never got to work with them, I always wanted to, it was a dream to work with them. That's why I got my influence from as a kid is watching those, you know, 80s Hong Kong action movies from him, from Samuel Hong and U.M. Bell.

These three guys to me are, you know, they, they gave us some of the best action movies ever. And in the spirit of happy, Say I Confused, who's an actor that always makes you happy, see them on screen, you're in a better mood automatically. I got to say Harrison Ford. I'm really happy that he has a new movie coming out. You know, our Love Hurts comes out on February 7th. So fingers crossed, you know, I hope the audience go and support it. And then Captain America comes out a week after. So I always say this.

I want to be number one on our opening weekend. and then following the weekend, I'm happy. I'm more than happy. I would tell, and I would tell all my fans to go watch Captain America because, one, I love him, and second, I love Marvel. But before they do that, they need to watch Love Hurts first. Give a one-week window, make sure we get Love Hurts, too, guys. A movie that makes you sad, what movie always makes you sad?

Maybe that always makes me sad, like one specific movie? Yeah. Is there, is there one? Are you a Pixar? Are you, uh, you know, your Won Kar Wai in the mood for love? I don't know. Like, is there a, uh, that tugs at your heartstrings? Uh, I love an Italian movie called Cinema Paradiso.

Great, great choice. I watch that all the time and I listen to that soundtrack. Angelo. Any, any, any, or. Anya Morricone, the late great Anymorecone, that is one of the great soundtracks of all time. Yes, yes. Yes. At one point in my life, that's always playing in the background.

Yeah. I love that movie. It's beautifully made. That soundtrack is interesting. But again, this is just like that's what comes into my mind. But yeah, cinema peri diesel. And finally, a food that makes you confused, Key. You don't understand why people enjoy this and eat this.

What food makes you confused? Ooh. What fruit? Give me some ideas. Give me some ideas. I love food. I eat anything and everything. I'm a big fan of food, too.

But like, is there, like, I don't know, I have my things, mushrooms, beats, sour cream. I know, there are things that I just don't like. I just don't see what the appeal is. Okay, I'm going to say this. I hope I don't get, I don't, I don't, I hope people don't, don't. Don't eat me for it. Honestly, I love all kinds of food, right? I'm a meat lover.

I also love vegetables. Cale. I don't like kale. It's okay. I don't, I've never, I've never, I've never enjoyed it. Yeah, well, who wouldn't be like, I love? Cale's more of like, it's good for you. I love, yeah, but kale's is good for you, but it's just not for me.

No, I get it. It's not controversial. You're in a safe place. Congratulations. on all the success, well-deserved. I was so excited when this one came around that we could catch up in this. And you're always, honestly, such an inspiration to talk to.

I don't know if you're thinking about a memoir. You should be writing this all down because you can be, you already are such an inspiration, I'm sure, to other actors out there. But just to hear you tell your story in different ways is always fantastic. Everybody check out Love Hertz, February 7th. Give some love.

And then, yeah, then you can support Harrison Ford. Seven trillion dollars of movies the week. Yes, please go, go watch our little movie in the theater. It would mean the world to me. And Josh, honestly, I think the first podcast that I ever did, if my memory serves me right, it's yours. Oh, wow. Happy, sad, confused.

I think that was my first ever podcast. And ever since I did yours, I've grown to love it. So many people reached out and told me that they've heard our, you know, our episode. And yes, I really enjoyed talking. to you. You are incredible. Right back at you. It's always a pleasure. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Josh.

And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressure to do this by Josh.

I'm Amy Nicole. Listen, the film critic for the L.A. Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We love movies, and we come at them from different perspectives. Yeah, like, Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas, and I don't. He's too old. Let's not forget that Paul thinks that dude too is overrated.

It is. Anyway, despite this, we come together to host Unspooled, a podcast where you talk about Good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, musts season, and case you miss them. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone. From Greece to the Dark Night. We've done deep dives on popcorn flicks. We've talked about why Independence Day deserves a second look.

And we've talked about horror movies, some that you've never even heard of like Ganges and Hess. So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcast. And don't forget to hit the follow button. Thank you.