Everyone Seems to Forget Netflix Caused the Ke Huy Quan Comeback

One of the greatest comeback stories in recent memory was completed when Ke Huy Quan scored an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his incredible performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, but everyone seems to be looking one major – and massively important – detail.

While the former child star’s rise from the ashes to the top of the Hollywood totem pole was remarkable without a doubt, a huge number of outlets, journalists, and social media users repeatedly touted his role as Waymond Wang as his first onscreen credit in 20 years, but it wasn’t. In fact, Netflix’s family-friendly adventure Finding Ohana was released a full 14 months before Everything Everywhere All at Once hit theaters.

Of course, Quan doesn’t play the largest of splashiest role in the widely-acclaimed but completely forgotten streaming exclusive that finds two New York-raised siblings setting out on a treasure hunt with their friends that allows them to reconnect with their Hawaiian roots, even if his casting as Kioki is largely designed to cash in on nostalgia for The Goonies.

Finding Ohana marked the renaissance man’s first big screen outing since 2002’s Chinese-language drama Second Time Around, but nobody seemed interested in mentioning it at all. Don’t get us wrong; Quan deserves all of the accolades that come his way, but it was Netflix who got him to dip his toes back into the water long before Everything Everywhere All at Once, and who’s to say that getting his feet wet on the first one didn’t instill him with the confidence needed to convince him to get back into the game full-time?

Cr. COLLEEN E. HAYES/NETFLIX © 2021

One of the greatest comeback stories in recent memory was completed when Ke Huy Quan scored an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his incredible performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, but everyone seems to be looking one major – and massively important – detail.

While the former child star’s rise from the ashes to the top of the Hollywood totem pole was remarkable without a doubt, a huge number of outlets, journalists, and social media users repeatedly touted his role as Waymond Wang as his first onscreen credit in 20 years, but it wasn’t. In fact, Netflix’s family-friendly adventure Finding Ohana was released a full 14 months before Everything Everywhere All at Once hit theaters.

Of course, Quan doesn’t play the largest of splashiest role in the widely-acclaimed but completely forgotten streaming exclusive that finds two New York-raised siblings setting out on a treasure hunt with their friends that allows them to reconnect with their Hawaiian roots, even if his casting as Kioki is largely designed to cash in on nostalgia for The Goonies.

Finding Ohana marked the renaissance man’s first big screen outing since 2002’s Chinese-language drama Second Time Around, but nobody seemed interested in mentioning it at all. Don’t get us wrong; Quan deserves all of the accolades that come his way, but it was Netflix who got him to dip his toes back into the water long before Everything Everywhere All at Once, and who’s to say that getting his feet wet on the first one didn’t instill him with the confidence needed to convince him to get back into the game full-time?