“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is, for those who are unfamiliar, a multiple-universe thriller wherein a laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) finds herself aware of, and able to traverse, multiple dimensions. She is enlisted to fight a supervillain, also her daughter, who aims to undo the multiverse with pervasive despair. In keeping with its multiverse setting, Quan plays multiple roles throughout “Everything,” usually serving as Yeoh’s husband or lover. In one iteration, he is a capable martial artist. In another, he is a dashing, lovelorn businessman straight out of “In the Mood for Love.”
Quan shared his Hollywood Reporter roundtable with performers from other notable 2022 feature films, including Colin Farrell of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Austin Butler from “Elvis,” Jeremy Pope from “The Inspection,” Brendan Fraser from “The Whale,” and Adam Sandler from “Hustle.” Quan talks about how an errant Facebook post was what caught the eye of the Daniels, and led them to give the actor a phone call. It seems that Quan had kind of been awaiting an opportunity. He said:
“Daniels saw somebody do a joke on Facebook — a picture of [politician] Andrew Yang with the caption, ‘Short Round is all grown up and he’s running for president.’ Which triggered them to go, ‘Oh, I wonder what Ke is doing.’ They started doing the calculation, ‘Oh, he’s about the same age as this character.’ It was at the same time that I called up an agent friend of mine. I didn’t have an agent for decades, so I was practically begging him to represent me, and he said yes. Two weeks later, I got a call about this script, and an audition.”
The timing, it seems, was perfect.