Ke Huy Quan says Temple of Doom bonus cheque changed his family's life
Ke Huy Quan was 12 years old when he made Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and was later sent a cheque from Lucasfilm for almost 100,000 US dollars.
The payment arrived after he had already received his acting fee for playing Short Round. It was arranged as a profit share, a slice of the film's earnings paid on top of wages, by director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas, according to Deadline.
Quan describes that extra money as life-changing for his family. The film went on to earn more than 300 million US dollars worldwide, Deadline reported on 21 September 2026. He was a child actor with a supporting role, and the second cheque dwarfed what his family had expected from one job.
The account comes from his memoir, Never Say Die. Entertainment Weekly published an excerpt from the book, with the payment passage detailed on 21 September 2026. The memoir traces his long break from screen acting and his later return as an adult performer.
In the same book, Quan recounts an uncomfortable run-in with a well-known actor at the 2023 SAG Awards, according to Entertainment Weekly. The excerpt does not present the moment as a feud. It is written as an awkward backstage exchange during an awards season in which Quan was suddenly back in the spotlight.
That season ended with major prizes. Quan, now an Oscar-winning actor, won Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 2023 Golden Globes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The win capped a comeback that began with a child role in a blockbuster.
What makes this stand out is the directness of the chain. Two of the most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood decided a 12-year-old should share in the result. It is hard to realise what almost 100,000 US dollars meant to a refugee family in the early 1980s. Quan says it changed their lives.
