Ke Huy Quan is putting his action skills to the test as a realtor whose criminal past catches up with him inLove Hurts. Quan memorably broke out as a child actor with the back-to-back hits ofThe GooniesandIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doombefore stepping away from acting for nearly 20 years due to being typecast, instead turning to working behind the scenes as a stunt choreographer and assistant director. Following hisbreakout return inEverything Everywhere All at Once, which netted him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Quan has found acclaim withLokiseason 2 andAmerican Born Chinese.
Quan stars inLove Hurtsas Marvin Gable, an upbeat realtor whose quiet-yet-successful life is thrown into turmoil when he receives a letter from Rose, a woman from his past, on Valentine’s Day that confirms that he’s no longer hidden and that his mob boss brother is hunting him. Forced to team up with Rose and confront the demons of his past, Marvin must determine whether he’s truly given up the violent man he once was or if he can finally leave his former life behind and enjoy the happy one he’s made for himself.
Every Ke Huy Quan Movie, Ranked Worst To Best
Loki star Ke Huy Quan is enjoying a career resurgence following his Oscar win with a starring role in the MCU, but he’s also in some great movies.
Alongside Quan, the ensembleLove Hurtscast includesWest Side Story’s Oscar-winning star Ariana DeBose, Daniel Wu, Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Rhys Darby, André Eriksen, and Sean Astin. Hailing from 87North, the production house behind similar unconventional action hitsViolent Night,Nobodyand the Ryan Gosling-ledThe Fall Guy, among others, the movie promises to be another thrilling mix of well-choreographed action setpieces and tongue-in-cheek humor.
In honor of the first trailer releasing for the film,Screen Rantinterviewed Ke Huy Quan to discussLove Hurts, why he initially passed on the action-comedy, the extensive training he undertook with the 87North action team to be able to do all of the movie’s fight scenes himself, the thrill of getting to reunite with DeBose after their heartwarming Oscars moment, and whether he’s heard any news on his potential return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe asLoki’s O.B.
Quan Envisioned A Very Different Actor Playing Marvin
“I think they called the wrong guy.”
Screen Rant: I watchedtheLove Hurtstrailer, and I can already tell I’m gonna love this movie. I’d love to hear what it was about the project that drew you to want to be a part of it?
Ke Huy Quan: Well, initially, when I read the script, and I was offered the role, I told my agent, “I think they called the wrong guy. It’s a good script, but I don’t see myself in this character at all. I think they should be calling Jason Statham. He would love to do this.” I’m a fan of Jason’s, so I actually passed on it initially, because I just didn’t see myself. And luckily, they didn’t give up on me. They said, “Why don’t you come, and we want to talk to you.” I went, and I met with David Leitch, Guy Danella, our producer, and, of course, JoJo, our director.
And it was then that I realized, “Oh, wow, they are trying to create a different kind of action star, not an action star that we have seen for the last few decades, but an action star that, one, is not afraid to show his emotions, and second, who doesn’t look like a bada–, but he is truly a bada–, and also someone who doesn’t need other people to think he’s a bada–.” Immediately, I was very drawn to that idea, and I thought, “Oh, maybe I can bring something to this role.” And that’s when this whole journey started.
DeBose Accepting The Role Of Roe “Meant A Lot” To Quan
“…I will love her for the rest of my life.”
Another thing I love about this film already is that it reunites you with Ariana DeBose after that super sweet moment at the Oscars in which she broke down crying as she announced your name. What was it like when you heard she was going to be on board? And then that first day on set with her?
Ke Huy Quan: Well, ever since Ariana announced my name and said, “The Oscar goes to” with such emotion, I loved her from that moment on, and I will love her for the rest of my life. When we were thinking about who would be best to play Rose, once her name was mentioned, I was super excited, and I told our producers, “Please do whatever you can to make her say yes, because I would love to work with her.” In fact, before this came along, I met her a few times at different events, and I remember at one event, we gave each other a hug, and I said, “Ariana, oh my God, it would be a dream come true for me to work with you.”
She said, “Ke, it would be mine as well.” We ended that and didn’t think that my first project after the Oscar was with her. So, it meant a lot to me that she said yes, and that she plays Rose. I think we have great chemistry on screen, and that really stemmed from the mutual admiration and the mutual respect that we have for one another, and it was such a joy to work with her. She’s incredible.
So going off what I’ve seen in the trailer, since your mention of chemistry, is there a romantic past between Marvin and Rose in this film?
Ke Huy Quan: I’ll say this, I play Marvin Gable, who just wants to be a normal guy who loves his 9-5 job, who is very enthusiastic about finding people the perfect home, and his life doesn’t scream danger until everything becomes dangerous. That danger is when Ariana’s character, Rose, comes back into his life and just turns his life upside down.
Quan Trained For Three Months To Be Able To Do His OwnLove HurtsStunts
“…it’s something that I’m very proud about…”
So we talked about the action earlier, and again, just from the trailer, there’s so much great choreography in there. I know you yourself have been involved with stunt work in the past, and obviously, inEverything Everywhere All at Once, you had that amazing fanny pack fight sequence. What was it likeworking with David Leitchand Jonathan, and the stunt team at 87North to capture their specific kind of fighting style?
Ke Huy Quan: Well, one of the things that we agreed upon when I came on board was I told them I love the action movies that came out of Hong Kong in the ’80s. There was something really special about that era, and also, there’s something really special when you can see it’s the actors doing the fights themselves, and it’s not a stunt double. You could clearly see if it was Jackie Chan, or Sammo Hung or Jet Li, it was all them doing it. So, I told them, “Listen, if I’m going to do this, I want to do all the fights myself, every punch, every kick, I want to throw them myself.” They go, “We love that.” I said, “Okay, but I need a lot of training because it’s been a long time since I’ve done this level of physical work.”
We have a great action team led by Can Aydin. And, of course, JoJo and David Leitch, and this is an 87North movie, so this is their expertise. I trained with the guys for three months, just getting myself in shape. And also, I know all the moves. It’s very familiar to me, but also, it’s familiarizing myself with those moves again. Over the years, they’ve become muscle memory, but there’s a difference between what I imagine in my mind versus whether I can still do it or not, because I’m 53 years old. [Chuckles] Luckily — and it’s something that I’m very proud about — I was able to do everything myself.
So, that was really cool. And working with 87North has been incredible. They have a really great action team, and it kind of reminded me of the days when I was working for Corey Yuen. Me, along with his guys as assistant action choreographers, was a lot of fun. We made this movie for the audience who loves this type of movie, so I hope they like it. We’re very proud of the movie.
So, with that past of stunt work and everything, did you get the chance to bring your own ideas to the fight sequences, or did you sort of really trust JoJo and the other coordinators to guide you in what they wanted?
Ke Huy Quan: It was a very collaborative process. One of the things that I learned about fight sequences is that it gets boring pretty quickly if the fight scene doesn’t have a story, and if it doesn’t enhance the character, like if it doesn’t let the audience get more insight into the character who’s doing the fighting. So JoJo and I and his action team, we really tried to — first of all, there are five big action sequences in this movie, and the challenge was each fight scene needs to be different, and needs to have their own story, and that’s where that collaboration came in. We talked about, “Okay, so what should this fight sequence be about?”
It took a long time to work out just the story for the fights, and then it was really Can and JoJo and his team, they’d go and choreograph, and they would show me it. I would practice, and I would incorporate little notes here and there, because I know what I can do. Luckily, over the years, I know how to make myself look good doing these fights, because I speak the language, and then it was them pushing the envelope, really, to see what else we could do. “Oh, so, Ke knows this, let’s try to go in this direction, but push it even further.” So, I was pushing, and it was a big challenge, and I was very happy for that challenge. It was great.
“…threw that punch literally an inch away from the actor’s face.”
I love that you go up against everyone from Marshawn Lynch to Daniel Wu. Given that 87North is very much about the actors doing it themselves, who would you say surprised you the most with how well-prepared they came, and well-suited they were, for their choreography.
Ke Huy Quan: Well, one thing is, I’m really happy that Daniel played my brother, because we have an epic finale fight sequence. He and I speak a very similar language, he’s worked in Hong Kong for a long time, he’s done a lot of action movies. So, when we came together, it was like two pieces to a puzzle, we just synced right away. The rhythm, the pacing, we had a lot of chemistry between us.
Ariana threw her first punch in this movie, and she surprised me, because of how good she threw that punch, there was a lot of power behind that. She threw that punch literally an inch away from the actor’s face. I was by the monitor watching, and I was scared for that actor’s life. [Chuckles] I went over to Ari, and I said, “Ari, the punch looks great, but it’s way too close.” I really thought she was gonna punch him for real. But we did a few takes of it, and she threw that punch with the same speed, with the same power, and it was just like an inch from them, so I was very surprised how good she is.
And Marshawn Lynch, oh, my God. Let me tell you, one of the scariest things in life is when you see Marshawn Lynch coming for you at full speed, and there’s nothing stopping him. He’s incredible. I really enjoyed working with everybody.
I love that. And as a Seattle Seahawks fan, I’m a big Marshawn Lynch fan, so I know how you need to get out of his way when he’s running!
Ke Huy Quan: I’ll tell you this story, Grant. There was a shot, and the camera is about 20 feet away. I’m supposed to, on action, get a two-second head start and run towards the camera as fast as I can, and Marshawn is supposed to catch up to me, grab my shoulder and pull me back. The camera is only 20 feet away, and I’m getting a two-second head start, and I said, “Guys, there’s no way Marshawn is going to catch up to me, the distance is way too short. I have too much of a lead. It’s not gonna work.”
Marshawn says, “Ke, don’t worry, I’ll catch you.” I said, “No, no, no, no, no, it’s not gonna work.” He said, “Ke, trust me, I’ll catch up to you.” Roll camera, action, and I ran as fast as I could, and sure enough, right before I got to the camera, he was there. I felt this huge hand on my shoulder, grabs me and yanks me back, and I go, “Wow, that’s fast. That’s scary.” [Laughs] Marshawn is incredible. I love him so much, he’s the sweetest man.
Quan Hasn’t Heard Anything About His MCU Future (But Is Ready For The Call)
“Oh my gosh, I love that character.”
My team would kill me if I didn’t at least ask, have you heard anything aboutO.B. coming back yet for the MCU? Because I know I’m truly hoping to see more of you in that universe.
Ke Huy Quan: Oh my gosh, I love that character. I remember reading him on the page, and he just jumped right off of it. I was so happy, and I felt so lucky to be able to play him. Also, when the series came out, you’ve got to understand, we couldn’t promote it because we were on strike, the actor’s strike. So, I didn’t get to talk much about it then. But when the show debuted, people really loved this character. And I remember asking Kevin Feige before I did this, I said, “Is this going to be a one-time thing?”
He said, “Ke, if the audience loves O.B., we’ll bring him back. We always give the fans what they want.” So, I haven’t gotten the call yet, but I’m waiting, just like everybody. Fingers crossed, but meanwhile, here’s the thing, Love Hurts comes out a week before Valentine’s Day. This is a Valentine’s movie. I’m super proud of it, it’s a fun movie to bring your date, your girlfriend, your friend, so please go support it when it comes out. It would mean the world to me.
Love HurtsIs Definitely “An R Movie”
“We made this movie for the fans…”
So, 87North is also generally known for going R-rated with their action, with the occasional PG-13. Can you tell me which side of the field this one falls on?
Ke Huy Quan: Oh, this is an R. This is an R movie. We made this movie for the fans, Grant. The fight scenes are epic, and we’re not trying to do anything, but just to entertain you guys for 90 minutes. Hopefully, you’ll have fun, and you’ll forget about reality when you’re in the movie theater, and yeah, we’re very proud of it.
AboutLove Hurts
This Valentine’s Day, Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Loki) rockets into his first major leading man role as an unlikely hero, a seemingly mild-mannered realtor with a dark secret that he is desperate to leave behind. Spoiler alert: He won’t. From 87North—producers of the groundbreaking action films Nobody, Violent Night, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy—comes a visceral, high-octane story of wrath and revenge.
Quan stars as Marvin Gable, a realtor working the Milwaukee suburbs, where ‘For Sale’ signs bloom. Gable receives a crimson envelope from Rose (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose; West Side Story, Argylle), a former partner-in-crime that he had left for dead. She’s not happy. Now, Marvin is thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen, filled with double-crosses and open houses turned into deadly warzones. With his brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu; Tomb Raider, Warcraft), a volatile crime lord, hunting him, Marvin must confront the choices that haunt him and the history he never truly buried.
Love Hurts
Cast
Love Hurts: Released in February 2025, Love Hurts follows a realtor whose past life resurfaces when an old partner-in-crime brings an ominous message. As he faces pressure from his crime-lord brother, he is forced to confront the past and the secrets he thought were long buried.
