One of the many, many joys in Everything Everywhere All at One is seeing actor Ke Huy Quan back on the big screen. After a childhood featuring massive hits like The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quan had to leave acting because he wasn’t getting the kinds of roles he wanted. Now, he’s back, and it took a little Goonie magic to make it happen.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter as part of a recent actors award roundtable, Quan revealed that his lawyer is none other than Jeff Cohen. Does the name ring a bell? Cohen was also in The Goonies and played the iconic role of Chunk. He too left acting decades ago, in his case to become an entertainment lawyer, and it was Cohen who helped Quan close his deal to appear in the film.
“Jeff Cohen, who was in The Goonies with me — he’s Chunk — he’s all grown now and he’s an entertainment lawyer so he’s my entertainment lawyer,” Quan explained, which elicited the laughs of fellow participants like Adam Sandler and Colin Farrell. “So when the producer of our movie was trying to make my deal, he said he would never imagine that he would have to talk to Chunk to get Data to be in his movie. It was just so sweet.” You can watch the moment, synced up here.
It’s not in the clip above, but according to the Hollywood Reporter’s transcription of the chat, Sandler followed up by asking Quan “Chunk get you a good deal, by the way?” to which he responded, “Jeff is an outstanding lawyer.”
It’s an adorable moment and really puts into perspective just how incredible it is how well so many people from The Goonies have done. Usually, when you think of child actors, you think of sadder stories. Star Corey Feldman’s trying years certainly qualify. But on the other hand, Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, and Martha Plimpton still work constantly — with several stone-cold classics among their filmographies. Now, Quan is back, likely to be nominated for (and possibly win) an Oscar, and Cohen continues to thrive in the business. It’s a nice post-script for a movie many people hold near and dear to their hearts.
While you’re here, why not check out Gizmodo Australia’s guide to what’s streaming this month on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Stan, Binge and more. We’ve also got one for all the good movies coming out in 2023 if that’s more your thing.