Ke Huy Quan stars as a mild-mannered real estate agent with a dark secret in the upcoming action film Love Hurts (previously titled With Love), and Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look. In his first leading role, the Academy Award winner plays Marvin Gable, a real estate agent in suburban Milwaukee whose life is upended when he receives a mysterious crimson envelope. It's sent to him by Rose (Ariana DeBose), his former partner in crime whom he thought was dead.
Marvin is soon thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen commanded by his brother, crime lord Knuckles (Daniel Wu), forcing him to confront his buried past. Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, Rhys Darby and Sean Astin also star in the film from veteran stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio (John Wick, The Fall Guy) in his feature directorial debut.
Director: Jonathan Eusebio
Writers: Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore
Stars: Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir
When Quan’s agent informed him that he’d been offered the lead role, “I was excited,” but also “very confused,” the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. “I said, ‘Wait, why are they offering me this? I’m nothing like that.’ I even said, ‘They should call Jason Statham. He’s going to love this script.’” But after meeting with producers, he realized the film required “a different kind of action star, not the action star we’ve seen over the last few decades. He’s not afraid to be vulnerable; he doesn’t look like a tough guy until the situation calls for it. That’s an interesting take on the genre.”
Eusebio, on the other hand, knew he would be Quan from the start. “With Ke, this movie coincided with the awards season of Everything Everywhere All At Once,” the director says. “You’re watching him make his comeback; he’s very inspiring, his speeches are the best. I already knew from his stunt experience in Hong Kong, so I knew how physically capable he was.”
Quan, who has a background in martial arts and did stunts in titles like 2000’s X-Men before his return to the screen, trained for three months before production began, focusing on stretching, weights and core training. “I was adamant about this. I told our producers, ‘You have to let me do all the fighting myself,’” he says. “And this without even knowing if I could do it or not!”
Quan, a fan of classic Hong Kong action films starring legends like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Sammo Hung, was determined to follow in their footsteps by doing his own stunts. “I knew it was going to be intense and very difficult, but I wanted to do it,” Quan says. He was returning to his apartment in Manitoba, Canada, exhausted and bruised after a day of work, which included tussling with former NFL star Lynch (there was “nothing scarier” than having a former running back coming at him at full speed, he jokes) and martial arts icon Wu. “We really pushed ourselves,” he says of the latter. “I’m old school and so is he, and that’s how we were taught to make a fight sequence look good. You can’t fake it.”
And let’s not forget fellow Oscar winner DeBose, who Quan says brought “a lot” to Rose. “You don’t want to mess with Rose,” he jokes of the “tough” and “determined” character. It was especially moving to star alongside the person who (emotionally) handed him his big Oscar win in 2023. “There was a mutual admiration between us, a respect for having gone through the whole awards season together and receiving the Oscar from her and announcing my name with such emotion,” Quan says. “I remember going up to her and giving her a big hug. I said, ‘I’d love to work with you. ’ I didn’t know my first movie after the Oscar was with her.”
Although Marvin was very demanding of Quan (shoutout to Epsom bath salts), he would do it all over again, despite the concerns of his former EEAAO co-star and good friend Michelle Yeoh, who knows a thing or two about action sequences. “I was having dinner with my wife and she asked, ‘How is Ke? ’ She said, ‘He’s exhausted every night. He’s working so hard. ’ Michelle says, ‘Echo, tell him not to do it all himself! ’ “Tell him to leave it to the stunt double. ’ And of course, I didn’t take her advice,” Quan says. “I wanted to prove to myself that I can still do it.”
Eusebio is “very proud of the cast” that was assembled. “It’s a very fun movie,” he says. “The most interesting action heroes are the ones people can relate to. It’s nice to be able to relate to someone who looks like you or grew up in the same circumstances.” Quan hopes that resonates with audiences. “I don’t look like a typical action star,” he says. “A tough guy doesn’t have to look like a tough guy.”
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