When Ke Huy Quan took home the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role for his performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” he shouted-out his longtime friend Jeff Cohen in his speech, calling him “his ‘Goonies’ brother for life.” Cohen and Quan starred together in the classic 1985 film when they were just kids, and the pair have remained close friends ever since. “Jeff Cohen, aka Chunk, is a good friend of mine,” Quan told Looper in 2022. “He’s been a brother to me for 35 years, ever since ‘Goonies,’ and working on that movie was one of the greatest adventures of my life.”
Cohen even helped Quan secure his “Everything Everywhere All at Once” contract. “Jeff Cohen, who was in ‘The Goonies’ with me – he was Chunk – is all grown now and he’s an entertainment lawyer,” Quan told The Hollywood Reporter in January when asked who secured his deal. “When the producer of our movie was trying to make my deal, he said he never imagined that he’d have to talk to Chunk and Data for his movie.” When asked if Cohen had gotten him a good deal, Quan replied, “Jeff is an outstanding lawyer.”
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The deal Cohen helped secure would go on to be incredibly life-changing for Quan, who has taken home a number of awards for his performance, including a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. While the actor had some major successes as a child, including the character Data in “Goonies” and a role in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” he experienced radio silence from Hollywood for many years of his adult life – which almost led him to give up his acting career entirely.
“As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck. For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer,” he said in his Golden Globes speech in January. “No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.” Fortunately, the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” script came along in the nick of time.
“Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine,” he said in his tearful Oscars speech. “To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.”
Ahead, check out photos of the longtime friends together.
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