Corey Feldman is rooting for his old friend and “Goonies” co-star Ke Huy Quan to win an Oscar Sunday night — because, after all, “Goonies never say die.”
The former child actors were both just 12 years old when they played “Mouth” and “Data” in the classic 1985 movie.
Following a 25-year break from acting, Quan, now 51, is a hot favorite to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” — a sensational achievement considering that, during the pandemic, his health insurance ran out because he had no work.
And Feldman, also 51, told Page Six exclusively that he’ll be watching the ceremony: “I see Ke as a winner, he’s never stopped being one to me … The Goonies are family. People don’t really realize the depth of that blood, it runs deep.”
Indeed, the actor and singer revealed the cast of the Goonies, including Sean Astin, keep a text chain open, exchanging long and emotional greetings over the holidays.
“We kept each other entertained on set. There was a real family dynamic, and nearly 40 years it’s still there,” Feldman said. “At Christmas time, there is a thread of greetings — every single Goonie, Fratelli, [screenwriter] Chris Columbus, [director] Richard Donner. These powerful emails … ”
While Feldman has famously had his fair share of ups and downs, including a stint in rehab for drug addiction, Quan ended up quitting acting for decades before winning the role as Waymond Wang in “Everything Everywhere … “
“I see things a little bit differently, being his friend and being around it all,” said Feldman, who is currently on tour to promote ‘Love Left: 2:1,” his new album.
“For all those years, he was doing amazing things around the world, he was working in China, he was the second unit director on Jet Lee films, he worked with [Goonies director] Richard Donner, who is such an amazing human being and has kept us all in his circle,” he added of Quan.
“He was always working, even if as an actor, he was shelved to the background for many years.”
Feldman was invited to one of the first screenings of “Everything Everywhere…”
“I had a feeling it was something very special,” he said. “I just gave [Quan] a little advice, I said, ‘It’s been a long time, keep your head up and don’t let them get to you.’
“I thought this is a remarkable performance, a brilliant film,” Feldman added. “The fanny pack scene is beyond iconic. I said, fans of ‘The Goonies ‘are going to lose their minds.”
The film, which follows an Asian family’s bid to reconcile through multiple universes, could well sweep the boards Sunday.
It has 11 nominations, including a Best Picture nod, while Michelle Yeoh is nominated for Best Actress, and both Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis are nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Feldman revealed in his 2013 memoir, “Coreyography,” that he was abused by his mother and molested by men in the entertainment industry for years, transgressions that led him to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. He spoke Page Six on Friday, the 13th anniversary of his beloved best friend and former co-star Corey Haim, who died from an apparent drug overdose at age 38. Haim also made similar allegations of abuse.
“The bittersweet, tragic loss of Corey will never die in my heart,” Feldman said.
But he reminisced that Ke had nothing like his own experience: “Ke didn’t go through those things. He had a very sheltered childhood, he had great parents, a great family — they never let him out of their sight.
“If you went into his dressing room, there would be his mom, dad and grandma, the whole family, making wontons and cooking. There was always something cooking!”
Feldman is not the only former Goonie supporting his old friend. Quan has remained best friends with Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk.
Cohen is now a successful Hollywood lawyer and even negotiated Quan’s film deal, with Quan telling The Hollywood Reporter: “Jeff is an an outstanding lawyer.”
He joked: “When the producer of [‘Everything Everywhere … ] was trying to make my deal, he said he never imagined that he’d have to talk to Chunk and Data for his movie.”
Following Quan’s Oscar nomination last month, Cohen tweeted: “Could not be more proud of and excited for my Brother, Ke Huy Quan.
Meanwhile, Kerri Green, who played cheerleader Andy in “The Goonies,” told Page Six: “I am so excited for Ke! His performance blew me away, he was beyond brilliant and I can’t think of anyone else who deserves this more. Not only is he an incredible actor, but he is such an incredible person. I really hopes he wins!”
And a rep for Josh Brolin, who played Brand in “The Goonies,” told us: “We’re all rooting for Ke!”
Quan has enjoyed a fairytale awards season so far, scooping a Golden Globe, SAG and a Critic’s Choice award.
But it has been emotional, as the actor — who first found fame as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” in 1984— told CBS “Sunday Morning” how the phone stopped ringing after “The Goonies.”
“I started at the very top , so there was no way to go but downhill from there,” Quan admitted. In his teens, he had roles on a couple of TV series and made a few guest appearances, but then nothing came his way.
He teared up on CBS as he told how he finally quit after going to audition for a two-line part as a Vietnamese soldier and found 30 other Asian actors waiting to read for the same role: “I went back and waited and at that moment I thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t for me.’”
After graduating from film school at USC, Quan worked behind the scenes as an assistant director and stunt coordinator on movies like the “X Men” series.
But he decided to give acting another chance after watching “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018.
“I saw it three times in the theater,” he has said. “I cried every single time, but one of the reasons why I cried was because I wanted to be up there with them.”
He found himself back in the casting room after “Everything Everywhere…” directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as the Daniels, saw mention of him on Facebook.
Quan said he thought he had “nailed” the audition, but didn’t hear back for two months.
It was his wife, Echo, who told him to have faith.
“She said, ‘You will get this role.’ I said, ‘How can you be so sure?’ and she said, ‘Because you said this role is written for you and you want it more than anything, you will get it.”
When the phone eventually rang, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Even then, after filming in 2020, the project’s release was pushed back due to COVID and he lost his health insurance.
Born in Vietnam, Quan came to Los Angeles in 1979 along with his parents and eight siblings. In 1983, Hollywood casting agents came to his school, Castela Elementary School, looking for an Asian boy to star in Steven Spielberg’s film, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Jones.”
Only four years after coming to America, he beat out 6,000 other kids to win the role.
If Quan wins the Oscar, he will be only the second Asian Best Supporting Actor winner, following Haing S. Ngor for “The Killing Fields” in 1984.
He’s now again a hot property in Hollywood.
Quan will next reunite with Yeoh in the Disney+ series “American Born Chinese” and will also appear in the Russo Brothers’ new movie, “The Electric State.”
He also has a role in Season 2 of Disney+ show “Loki,” alongside Tom Hiddleston.
“Never, never, never in my life did I think that the word Oscar would be associated with my name,” Quan told CBS.
“I wasn’t thinking much, none of this, but Oscar nominated? Come on, I just wanted a job, but now, you know looking back I would not change a thing … I don’t know how I got here, or how it happened, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”