Ke Huy Quan is in the midst of a powerful career renaissance. Winning the Best Supporting Oscar for his remarkable turn in Everything Everywhere All At Once has opened the door to some great opportunities – a list not limited to a major role in the second season of the acclaimed Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki and voicing a key character in the new Walt Disney Animation studios movie Zootopia 2. It’s a very cool comeback for the actor who began his career as a child star… but I have also picked up on a funny irony in his project choices.
While Ke Huy Quan’s breakout role was as Indiana Jones’ buddy Short Round in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, his aforementioned recent project choices have seen him playing parts that recall Indy’s greatest fear: snakes. In Loki, he plays Ouroboros, who is named after an image of a serpent eating its own tail, and Zootopia 2 features him voicing a pit viper named Gary Da’Snake. I mentioned this irony when I had the chance to speak with Quan and co-star Ginnifer Goodwin at the Zootopia 2 press day earlier this month, and he laughed while acknowledging it’s a connection he himself has made. Said the actor,
I’m now Indiana Jones’s most feared animal! (Laugh). No. I mean, you know, I didn’t even make the connection when I got this role. It wasn’t until recently and I go, ‘Hmm.’
To be totally fair, Indiana Jones’ fear of snakes is most prominently featured in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but the coincidence is still fun.
And while Quan had put those pieces together, Goodwin said that she hadn’t made the connection and didn’t get it until I had brought it up:
‘m finding out in real time, by the way. I didn’t think about it. Like, even though we were making snake jokes earlier about Indiana Jones.
As a bonus, Quan also made note of another special string in this fun web. In totality, this has been a great year for the Academy Award-winning actor, as in addition to Zootopia 2 arriving in theaters, he was featured in his first lead role back in February with the release of the action/romance Love Hurts. And where does the year 2025 fall in the Chinese zodiac? He told me,
The snakes in Indiana Jones, just like you said, and Ouroboros and all that. And this is the year of the snake – 2025! So I feel like everything is meant to be.
Snakes are very much a big deal in Zootopia 2, as the sequel digs into the mystery of why reptiles aren’t part of the city population. The movie picks up in the immediate aftermath of the first film and sees officers Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) digging into a conspiracy that dates back to Zootopia’s foundation. With a terrific cast that also includes Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, Fortune Feimster, and Idris Elba, the sequel arrives in cinemas everywhere tomorrow, November 26.