Yahoo Lifestyle Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose Were Both Injured While Shooting 'Love Hurts' (Exclusive)
With one day left of filming Love Hurts, while shooting a fight scene, Ariana DeBose took a shoulder to the nose.
"I remember that night," her co-star and fellow Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan recalls. "Everybody was scared."
"It was just a mishap," DeBose tells Parade while chatting about the action film. In a movie with as many stunts and extended fight sequences as Love Hurts has, bumps and bruises are inevitable.
"It happened, and I was like, 'Oh God, oh God, oh God,'" she remembers. "I took a second, recovering, having that moment, and then I dug deep, and we continued shooting because I was like, 'Nope. We have worked too hard. We are on schedule. We are almost there. We are finishing this. Just bring me ice and Tylenol, and I will see a doctor in a minute.'"
"What can I say? She's tough," Quan says, commending his co-star and first-time action hero for her dedication to the craft.
Quan and DeBose both deliver impressive stunt performances in the Valentine's Day-themed film about hitman-turned-realtor named Marvin Gables (Quan), who is lured back into the world of organized crime by his past love Rose (DeBose). While Quan has worked as an action choreographer before and performed his own stunts in films like Everything Everywhere All At Once, DeBose is new to that world. Though her extensive dance background, including her Oscar win for West Side Story, certainly help her out.
"Rose, the character, is a tough bitch, and I was like 'I'm not going to be the wimp on the set right now,'" she recalls. "Absolutely not."
Ahead of the film's release both of its stars chatted with Parade about shooting the action sequences in Love Hurts and the injuries they sustained along the way. Quan and DeBose also dished on her presenting his Academy Award, how Broadway compares to movies and the Goonies reunion Quan orchestrated on set.
Read the full interview below:
Matthew Huff: Ariana, you won your Oscar, and then the next year Ke won and you presented it to him. You were at award ceremonies all year together. Is that how this project came about or was it a happy accident that you ended up working together?
Ariana DeBose (AD): Well, I don't necessarily believe in coincidence anymore. I believe in divine choreography. But, I watched this one walk through his award season with such joy. And [he was] so present in the room and happy to meet everyone that he came into contact with. I think that kind of energy is infectious. So, I was very emotional, like with genuine happiness, for him when his moment came, because I thought it was so deserved.
Ke Huy Quan (KHQ): I remember that night well. When you opened the envelope and announced my name with so much emotion, I was so touched, and I remember seeing you again at various events, and I always go up to you and give you a big hug. I'd say, "Come on Ari, let's do a movie together."
AD: And I was always like, "Yeah let's go!"
KHQ: So when this came, and we were wondering who can play Rose, and when her name was brought up, I immediately jumped up with joy. I said, "Yes, she is perfect. Please give her whatever she wants so she can say yes." And thank God you said yes.
Ke, this is your first major film after winning the Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once. What made you want to sign up for Love Hurts?
KHQ: In the beginning, when they sent me the script and I read it, I was so confused because I didn't see myself as Marvin Gable. In fact, I never saw myself as the number one on a call sheet. Honestly, I think that has to do with all those years of auditioning for minor roles, so how can I possibly be a leading man? I reached out to my favorite filmmaker of all time, Steven Spielberg. I told him Universal Studios is asking me to be the lead in an action movie, and I pitched him the story. He said, "Kid, that sounds great. You should do it." All of a sudden, my own internal narrative, everything I was telling myself, started to change. It was really then that I began to see myself as Marvin Gable and leading a movie.
AD: And he led so beautifully.
The action scenes in Love Hurts are pretty intense. Ke, you've worked in action films before, and Ariana, you're a dancer. What was filming these fight scenes like compared to work you'd done in the past?
AD: This was the first opportunity I'd gotten to do full-fledged sequences. I appeared in Argyle, and I smack somebody over the head, but that's a very different thing than what I'm doing in this movie. I was so excited at that the opportunity. Yes, my dance background was very helpful because to me, fight choreo is all dance. It's the same palette, just different colors here and there. I was very game, and I was a sponge, and I put my best foot forward. It was also very inspiring because, I did my little bit, but this one, like the whole movie, is ratatatata, high-intensity yoga poses, his foot on somebody's neck. You can't not be inspired when you're working with this one.
KHQ: I remember when Ari was training with our action team, and I was watching from the side thinking, "Wow, she's really good," and I went to her and said, "Ari, have you done this before?" And she says, "No", so I was really surprised. That dancing background, even though it's different, it's also very similar. When you're doing these fight sequences, a lot has to do with the rhythm, the pacing. For me, I'm quite comfortable. I know these fights very well.
AD: He's a black belt!
KHQ: Yeah, and it was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to show the world something that I've always wanted. Honestly, I'm very proud of all the fights that we have in this movie. It's epic.
What was the training like for those sequences? How long did you prepare for those?
AD: I think mine might've been a couple of weeks, and then like touch-ups off and on.
KHQ: In the very beginning, I told our producers that if I'm gonna do this, I wanna do all the fights myself. Sometimes I scare myself because that was such a big statement. Mentally, I think I can do it because of my background, but I haven't done it for so long. I knew what it takes to make these fights look good, so I trained with our guys for almost three months to get myself physically ready. It was a lot of bruises and aches and pains.
AD: A lot of ice.
KHQ: Salt baths. Tylenol.
And what was your most difficult scene Ke?
KHQ: For me it's the kitchen fight, because that was the first fight we shot. In the very beginning you see King (Marshawn Lynch) and Otis (André Eriksen) come in and beat the sh-t out of Marvin Gable. For that one particular shot where they slam me onto the counter before I turn and fight back, I remember I had this thick pad on to protect myself, and every time I landed the pad would stick out of my my wardrobe. It didn't look natural, so I ripped it off. We did it again and again and again from different angles, and I felt a slight pain on my chest, but I was expecting it. I didn't know the damage until the next day when I was getting ready, and Echo, my wife, was standing at the doorway. Her eyes teared up, and she said, "Are you okay? Are you in pain?" I looked in the mirror, and my entire chest was just black and blue. She went to the production office, and said, "Please order a lot of salt." It was salt baths every night.
AD: Love Hurts brought to you by epsom salt.
Related: Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan's 'Indiana Jones' Reunion at Oscars Delights Fans
Sean Astin's also in Love Hurts. Ke, you and Sean worked together on The Goonies. Did you reach out to him and set up this little reunion?
KHQ: I did. When we were thinking of who could play Cliff, Marvin Gable's mentor, there was only one name and that was Sean. I was so excited to have this reunion on screen after 40 years. So I texted him. I said, "Hey Sean, our producers are gonna reach out. Please say yes." And he did, and that day when we were shooting another Goonie showed up. My entertainment attorney, Jeff Cohen, aka Chunk. It was really a nice Goonies reunion. Our crew were really happy. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Related: Sean Astin Wasn't Paid Much for 'Lord of the Rings,' but His Net Worth Isn't Too Shabby
Ariana, you've done a lot of Broadway work in the past. I wondered if you have plans to go back there anytime soon, and what your dream roles would be.
AD: Oh, I have many dreams. I've made no secret that I'm very hungry to get back to the stage. I miss it. I love working in that way, and I love the theater. There's nothing like it. I have a plan, but it's being formulated and, when I have something to say, I promise you I will say it.
Key is that something that you would be interested in doing at some point?
KHQ: Absolutely not. It scares the shit out of me! Performing in front of a live audience? There's no outtakes. There's no do-overs. To memorize all those lines and all the movement and all the blocking? It's way too much. I want to just stay on movie sets.
AD: Honestly, you are so at home on a movie set, but I would say if there was ever the right thing, you would be very good. Look at all the multitasking you do in our film.
KHQ: I would totally do a cameo if you do a play, maybe show up one day just as a background actor.
AD: Perhaps I will build a moment for you, my darling.
This is a movie about secret past professions. What was the weirdest job you worked outside of acting?
AD: I recognize my privilege in saying this, but beyond working at a dance studio, I don't think I've had another job. I only know how to do this. I don't have any other skills.
KHQ: There was only one job that I did that had nothing to do with this industry. I was maybe 21 or 22 , and I was unemployed for a long time. My parents were really worried about me, and they said, "Ke, why don't you try something else?" They opened a restaurant, and they wanted me to manage it, and I did that for a year. I'm so glad that restaurant didn't quite work out, because if it did, honestly, I would still be doing that, because I didn't think this was possible.
AD: That job found you when you needed it, and then it went as you didn't need it anymore. And aren't we all lucky that didn't work out? Because now we have you as an action star.
I'm very happy that that restaurant closed down.
This interview was condensed and edited for length and clarity.
