40 years later, Goonies star Ke Huy Quan shares why he thinks the '80s adventure is still so loved: "We didn't know it was going to become this classic that it is today"

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40 years later, Goonies star Ke Huy Quan shares why he thinks the '80s adventure is still so loved: "We didn't know it was going to become this classic that it is today" News By Molly Edwards published 25 November 2025

Exclusive: Goonies star Ke Huy Quan had no idea the '80s classic would have such a legacy

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(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Ke Huy Quan is no stranger to an '80s classic. Along with his iconic role as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quan also has a starring part in The Goonies.

Quan played Data in the film, an enduring adventure movie whose cast also includes Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, and Martha Plimpton, and which follows a group of kids on a treasure hunt guided by an ancient map.

2025 marks 40 years since The Goonies hit theaters, and, four decades later, Quan tells us why he thinks the film is still so loved.

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"It's an incredible story, and it was just this perfect casting of this group of actors that came together. We got along so well. And I think it is to the credit of our director, Richard Donner, who kind of let us be who we were at that time," Quan says when GamesRadar+ meets with him in London to talk about his role in Zootropolis 2 (Zootopia 2 in the US).

"We were just a bunch of kids, and he allowed us to have that and carry [it] over onto the screen. It's a great movie. When we were making it, we didn't expect much," he continues. "We didn't know it was going to become this classic that it is today. 40 years later, people are still talking about it. Everywhere I go, that's all people want to know is, one, 'What was it like to make the movie?' Second is, 'Would there ever be a sequel?' It's one of the most asked questions. And, yeah, we're working on it. So, hopefully we'll get to make one soon."

A sequel to The Goonies was revealed to be in the works earlier this year, with Steven Spielberg and original writer Chris Columbus on board to produce. Potsy Poncirol will write the sequel.

While it's unclear when The Goonies sequel will hit our screens, you can see (or rather, hear) Quan as Gary De'Snake in Zootropolis 2 when it arrives in cinemas this November 28.

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Molly EdwardsSocial Links NavigationDeputy Entertainment Editor

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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