"Everything Everywhere All at Once" star Ke Huy Quan

Short run, step on it! Okidoki thought the Jones hole in the appartamento! Try not, now there's a kid driving the car! You might remember the young sidekick in a film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. His acting career ended in his youth, or so it seemed. Tracy Smith is talking with actor Ki Hui Kwan. You might have heard it said that Hollywood is a place where dreams go to die, but if you really believe that, maybe you just haven't met the right dreamer. Ki Hui Kwan never looked for fame. Fame found him. Born in Vietnam, he'd come to this country in 1979, and along with his parents and eight siblings, settled near downtown Los Angeles.

38 years ago, that would be me right there. Really? Was it the same? Screaming, playing with the kids. Life in LA's Chinatown, he says, was happy but unremarkable. This is your old elementary school? Yes. Cast-A-Law Elementary School, yes. That is, until the day in 1983, when Hollywood casting agents showed up here, looking for a young Asian boy to star in a Spielberg movie. And the funny thing is, you didn't even really go to the column.

Was your brother who went to audition? Yes, he went to audition. I tagged along, and as he was auditioning, I was behind the camera, giving him directions, coaching him what to do. And the casting director saw me and said, Ki Hui, would you want to give this a try? I didn't think much of it. I said, yeah, sure, why not? Chao Chi, la tutanza! Can our lady read or write? And so, only four years after coming to America, Ki Hui Kwan beat out 6,000 other kids for the role of short-round. Isn't that. He knows that. He's crazy.

In 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. At age 12, he was suddenly a star. Hey, you guys! They're gone! They're not here! And a few months later, when he was cast in 1985's The Goonies, young Ki thought he'd made it in Hollywood. And then, the phone stopped ringing. What happened? Well, I saw it at the very top, so there was no way to go but downhill from there. After Goonies, he made a couple of TV series and a few guest appearances. But after that, nothing.

It was frustrating. Especially when I walk into the room to audition for the casting director, and she recognizes me and she says, oh my gosh, we love your work in Indiana Jones. We love you in The Goonies. So then you're thinking, oh, maybe I have it. Exactly. And I'm thinking, oh, I can land this role. But then again, a week will go by, two weeks will go by, and then nothing.

What does that do to you inside? It's not good for your confidence, not for sure. He remembers going up for a two-line part as a Vietnamese soldier. And I walked into the room and there were 30 other Asian actors waiting to read for the same role. I went and auditioned, went back and waited for the phone to ring. And it was that moment that I said, maybe this isn't for me. Dejected but determined to stay in the business he loved, he came here to USC's School of Cinematic Arts and went on to build a career working behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator on films like X-Men. But in 2018, his dream of working in front of the camera got new life.

You ready for this? When he saw this, crazy rich Asians. Oh, damn, Nick. It's a party, though. I saw it three times in the theater. I cried every single time. But one of the reasons why I cried was because I wanted to be up there with them. And incredibly, he was about to get a chance at a second act.

A new film about an Asian family was in the works. And after a 25-year break from the casting world, Ki Hui Kwan read for the male lead and he nailed it. I left, called my agent and I said, I think I have a shot. I think it went well. I was so excited. I was like, yeah, yeah, please, please let me know what they think, okay? Two months went by. Two months.

Two months. And as each day went by, my hope of landing the job slowly, slowly dissipated. But it was my wife as a key, you. She said, you will get this role. I said, how can you be so sure? And she said, because you said this role is written for you and you want it more than anything, you will get it. She would say that to you. She knew.

And his wife, Echo, was right. His agent finally did call with good news. And that phone call was one of the happiest phone calls I have ever gotten. And I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I said, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I kept jumping up and down. I said, yes, yes, yes.

And I started crying. And I didn't have to say a thing. She knew what that phone call was about. She knew. Yeah. I remember that day well. And now, watching everything everywhere all at once.

It's as if Kiwi Kwan has poured 25 years of pent up emotion into his performance and the world has taken note. Kiwi Kwan. These days, if Kiwi Kwan looks like a man whose fondest dream has finally come true, well, that's because it has. And now Oscar nominee. Please, never, never, never in my life did I think that the word Oscar would be associated with my name. And I wasn't thinking much. None of this.

What's Oscar nominated? Come on. I just wanted a job. Just a job. Just a job. But now, looking back, I would not change a thing. It's so much sweeter now. It's so much sweeter.

So much sweeter now. And you know, I always believe in this, you know, a full life is a life full of ups and downs. You don't know what sweet tastes like until you've tasted, you know, sour or bitterness. And it's awfully sweet now. I can't believe it, Tracy. I still can't believe it. I don't know how I got here.

I don't know how it happened. But I don't think I've ever been this happy.

CBS Sunday Morning, CBS News, news, ke huy quan, hollywood, everything everywhere all at once, tracy smith, oscar nomination