Ke Huy Quan recalls Steven Spielberg's 'life-changing' generosity

Ke Huy Quan has recalled the "life-changing" generosity Steven Spielberg showed him after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

The Vietnamese-born actor was just 12 when he played Short Round in the iconic 1984 adventure movie directed by Spielberg.

In an excerpt from his new memoir Never Say Die, as published in Entertainment Weekly, Quan recalled his family's joy when Spielberg and producer George Lucas ensured he shared in the success of the film.

"One afternoon, I walked into the kitchen and found my parents standing together at the table," he wrote.

"Mom was holding an envelope with my name printed across it. Dad had the papers that had been inside."

Describing his parents smiling with "surprise" and "disbelief", Quan went on to share what was inside the envelope.

"It was a cheque from Lucasfilm," the 55-year-old actor recalled.

"It was for almost $100,000 (£75,000), an amount that didn't make any sense to me."

Quan had already been paid a fee for his role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, so the cheque came as complete surprise to him.

However, after the film starring Harrison Ford made more than $300m (£224m) at the worldwide box office, Spielberg and Lucas wanted to show their appreciation for Quan's involvement.

"Back then, almost no actors got a piece of a movie's profits. Even today, only the biggest stars do. That a kid like me, making his first film, would be included in something like that was unheard of," he explained.

"And Temple of Doom wasn't some small movie no one was expected to see. It was the sequel to a massive hit, a movie everyone knew would make a lot of money. That made their gesture even more generous."

"That small share was life-changing for my family," he concluded.