One of the most adorable Hollywood photos to come out of this year was when Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan reunited backstage at D23 last month, nearly 40 years after respectively playing Indiana Jones and Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom together. We previously deduced that both the actors just happened to be at Anaheim Convention Center in Orange County, California to promote their Disney projects, but now we have more details about how the sweet reunion went down.
When Ke Huy Quan recently spoke to NY Times’ Kyle Buchanan, the actor, who recently starred in Everything Everywhere All At Once, shared that he was told Harrison Ford was going to be at D23 among the many actors, producers and directors presenting Disney projects that day. When he found out Ford was just outside the green room, he went over to say hi to his Indiana Jones costar after 38 years. Here’s what happened next in his words:
As I walk close, my heart is pounding. I’m thinking, ‘Is he gonna recognize me? The last time he saw me, I was a little kid.’ And as I get closer, he turns and points his finger at me, and he has that classic, famous, grumpy Harrison Ford look. I go, ‘Oh my gosh, he probably thinks I’m a fan and he’s gonna tell me to not come near him.’ But he looks and points at me and says, ‘Are you Short Round?’ Immediately, I was transported back to 1984, when I was a little kid, and I said, ‘Yes, Indy.’ And he said, ‘Come here,” and gave me a big hug.
During the reunion, someone thankfully snapped a photo of the pair of Temple of Doom actors back together all these years. The actor shared this on Instagram at the time:
While Ke Huy Quan didn’t necessarily expect Harrison Ford to recognize him considering he was a child when they met, Ford didn’t forget a face like his and had the sweetest reaction to seeing Short Round again after working with him in the second Indiana Jones movie.
Decades following their time on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, they are still their most famous roles, so it’s certainly sweet to see them back together. Why did it take so long? Well, as Ke Huy Quan has recently opened up about, he actually left the realm of acting until only recently because he was getting “very stereotypical” offers. However, the actor did get into fight choreography, editing and cinematography. He had a sizable comeback in Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2022.
What’s even more full circle about their recent reunion is how Harrison Ford was actually at D23 to debut footage for Indiana Jones 5, which is set to be his final outing as the adventurer. Ke Huy Quan, on the other hand, was at D23 for the announcement that he’d be part of Loki Season 2. And as it turns out, Harrison Ford will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. This week it was announced that Ford will play Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America: New World Order, and then reprise the role in Thunderbolts.
Indiana Jones 5 is set to be among 2023 movie releases, as it's dated to hit theaters on June 30, 2023. It's too bad Ke Huy Quan is not expected to be part of the film.
