Steven Spielberg convinced Ke Huy Quan that he should star in the new action comedy movie Love Hurts.

Love Hurts will be released in United States theaters this coming February from Universal Pictures. Quan, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, plays a character named Marvin in the movie alongside Ariana DeBose as Rose.

Speaking with Empire Magazine, Quan recalled how Spielberg convinced him to take the lead role in Love Hurts. Quan and Spielberg previously worked together on 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which saw Quan play Short Round.

What did Ke Huy Quan say about Steven Spielberg and Love Hurts?

“I was at an event with Steven Spielberg and he was asking me, ‘Ke, how are you doing?’ I said, ‘Steven, I’m not doing so well.’ Because of all the love and support that I had gotten during that whole award season, I was so worried that whatever I was going to do next, I would disappoint,” Quan said. “Steven was very generous. He said, ‘Ke, let’s have lunch.’ And I told him about this project and kind of pitched it to him. He said, ‘Ke, it’s great. Do it.’”

Quan explained that any nerves he had about starring in Love Hurts weren’t because of the script; rather, he wanted to make sure he could play an action hero before signing on for the part.

“I didn’t think anybody that looks like me could star in this role. Luckily, they didn’t give up on me. They came back for a third time,” he said. “…I went in and they had these really elaborate slides with me as the main character. That’s when I started to see it a different way. ‘Oh, they’re trying to create a different kind of action hero. Not the type that we’ve seen for decades, but something new.’”

Love Hurts releases in United States theaters on February 7, 2025.