Despite winning an Oscar for his performance in action-packed comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once, there was a time when Ke Huy Quan couldn't work out why 87North Productions, the team behind John Wick and Bullet Train, wanted him to lead their next film, Love Hurts. So much so, that he actually passed on the script twice before eventually signing on to play butt-kicking realtor Marvin Gable.
"When I was first sent the script, I read it right away, because I was excited. One, it came from 87North..." the Loki star tells GamesRadar+ with a big grin. "I remember loving the script but I was confused because I didn't know why they were reaching out to me for this character; I didn't see myself as [Marvin]. I thought it was written for a different type of actor. I actually passed on it.
"Luckily they didn't give up, they came back a second time, and a third time, so I went in and I met with our producing team and [Jonathan] 'JoJo' Eusebio, our director, and then I realized that they were trying to create a different kind of action hero. Someone who doesn't look badass but when the situation calls for it, then you realize, 'Wow, this guy is a true badass!"
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Also featuring the likes of Daniel Wu, Ariana DeBose, and Quan's The Goonies co-star Sean Astin, Love Hurts sees Marvin experience the Valentine's Day from hell when Rose, a mysterious former acquaintance of his, suddenly reenters his life. Turns out, Rose has a complicated history with Marvin's mobster brother Alvin (or Knuckles, as his cronies like to call him) – and now that he's heard she's back in town, he's started threatening Marvin to get him to reveal her whereabouts. Will the sweater vest-loving optimist be willing to risk his new, peaceful life and embrace his dark side to protect them both?
While it's not hard to imagine what the movie would've turned out like had a Keanu Reeves or Jason Statham-type playing mild-mannered Marvin, Quan says he had to personally undo all that he'd come to expect from an action hero in order to take on the role.
"I'd been conditioned all these years to think that an action hero needs to look a certain way; needs to have big biceps, needs to be a certain height, needs to act a certain way," he notes. "So I had to change my own internal narrative and to look at this character from a different perspective. Once I did that, I thought, 'I am Marvin Gable!' It was such a revelation, and once I said 'yes' to this, we did make little tweaks here and there to make it even more [suited] for me. It was so fun! I'm glad they didn't give up on me and I changed my mind."
Love Hurts releases in cinemas on February 7. For more, check out our picks of the best action movies of all time.
