Ke Huy Quan's Reaction After Reading Love Hurts Script: "You Should Be Calling Jason Statham!"
Ke Huy Quan wasn't sure he was the right guy for Love Hurts... at first.
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Universal Pictures' Love Hurts will punch its way into theaters on February 7 (get tickets now), giving action fans everywhere the chance to see another side of beloved Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once).
An action movie produced by David Leitch (The Fall Guy) and directed by Jonathan Eusebio, the film follows Quan as Marvin, a pleasant, enthusiastic local realtor with a dark past. When that past comes back to haunt him, Marvin must spring into action and reveal all the skills he learned in a past life as a hitman. It's not a film you'd necessarily expect to see Quan in, but that's exactly the point, as Quan himself explains in a new behind-the-scenes featurette.
RELATED: Everything to Know About Love Hurts
Ke Huy Quan on being cast as an action star in Love Hurts
Of course, Quan first gained widespread fame as a child actor known for roles in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. But before Everything Everywhere All At Once put him back in the spotlight, he spent nearly two decades working as a stunt performer and fight choreographer. Still, Quan says he was puzzled when he got the script for Love Hurts. Despite his fight scene experience, which he demonstrated frequently in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Quan was convinced he was not the guy who was meant to play the action hero Marvin.
"I remember reading the script for the very first time; I was very confused why they would offer me the role of Marvin Gable, because I thought it was written for somebody else," Quan says. "In fact, I said 'You should be calling Jason Statham!' And I understand that what they were trying to achieve was to create a different kind of action star, someone who is not afraid to be vulnerable or wear his emotions on the sleeves."
RELATED: The Cast and Characters of Love Hurts
For Quan, who came out of acting retirement and soon won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Love Hurts was also about something more, not just a culmination of all his years learning stunt work to go with his acting chops, but a chance to prove that anyone can be a star if they don't give up.
"To me, Love Hurts is kind of my answer to those people who find my story inspiring," he says. "Me, being number one on the call sheet, starring in a Universal Studios picture? I didn't think that would ever happen."
Love Hurts is in theaters February 7. Get tickets now at Fandango.
