Jason Scott Lee
| Jason Scott Lee | |
|---|---|
 Jason Scott Lee, 2003 | |
| Born |
November 19, 1966 Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Spouse(s) | Diana Chan (2008–present) |
Jason Scott Lee (Chinese: 李截; pinyin: Lī Jié, born November 19, 1966) is an American actor and martial artist. Lee is perhaps best known for his roles as Bruce Lee (no relation) in the 1993 martial arts film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, and Mowgli in Disney's 1994 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book.
Personal life
Lee was born in Los Angeles, California.[1] He was raised in Hawaii and is of Chinese and Hawaiian descent.[2] He attended school at Pearl City High School.[3]
Career
Lee started his acting career with small roles in Born in East L.A. (1987) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). He played his first leading role portraying Bruce Lee in the biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993.[4] Lee has trained in Bruce Lee's martial art Jeet Kune Do since portraying Lee and continues to train and is now a certified instructor under former Bruce Lee student Jerry Poteet. He played leading roles in other films such as Map of the Human Heart (1993) and Rapa-Nui (1994). He starred as Mowgli in the 1994 live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Lee was originally considered for the role of Liu Kang in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat, but Lee turned down the role and was replaced by Robin Shou. Lee played Caine 607 in the 1998 film Soldier, along with Kurt Russell and Mortal Kombat film director Paul Anderson. In 2000 he played Aladdin in the miniseries Arabian Nights. He did voice-over work for the 2002 Disney animated adventure film Lilo & Stitch, which was his last theatrically released film until 2007.
Lee went on to appear in several direct-to-video films such as Dracula II: Ascension (2001), Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003), and The Prophecy: Forsaken (2005). Lee is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood.
Lee played Eddie in the 2007 sports comedy film Balls of Fury, in his first theatrical release film since 2002. Lee performed as The King of Siam in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I in a production at the London Palladium in 2000 opposite Elaine Paige.[5] Lee made his operatic debut in the non-singing role of Pasha Selim in Hawaii Opera Theatre's production of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu in February 2009.[6]
Lee was also to perform as The King of Siam in the 2014 Opera Australia production of The King and I in Melbourne opposite Lisa McCune, but was injured, and Lou Diamond Phillips had to take his role.
In 2016, Lee played Hades Dai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Born in East L.A. | Paco | |
| 1989 | Back to the Future Part II | Whitey | |
| 1991 | Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College | Kyle | |
| 1993 | Map of the Human Heart | Avik | |
| Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story | Bruce Lee | ||
| 1994 | Rapa-Nui | Noro | |
| Picture Bride | Worker | Uncredited | |
| The Jungle Book | Mowgli | ||
| 1997 | Murder in Mind | Holloway | |
| 1998 | Tale of the Mummy | Riley | |
| Soldier | Caine 607 | ||
| 2002 | Lilo & Stitch | David Kawena | |
| 2003 | Dracula II: Ascension | Father Uffizi | Direct-to-video |
| Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision | Ryan Chan | Direct-to-video | |
| 2005 | Dracula III: Legacy | Father Uffizi | Direct-to-video |
| Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | David Kawena | Direct-to-video | |
| The Prophecy: Forsaken | Dylan | Direct-to-video | |
| Only the Brave | Glenn Takase | Direct-to-video | |
| Nomad | Oraz | ||
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | Eddie | |
| 2008 | Dance of the Dragon | Cheng | |
| 2014 | Seventh Son | Urag | |
| 2016 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny | Hades Dai | |
| Burn Your Maps | Shaman Helper | ||
| Alaska is a Drag | Diego |
Television
| Year | TV Series | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Matlock | Lee Tran | Season 2, episode 2: "The Fisherman" |
| 1989 | Wolf | Chin | Season 1, episode 6: "Curtains of Silence" |
| 1990 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | John Henderson | Season 7, episode 4: "American Eyes" |
| The Lookalike | John "Charlie" Chan | Television movie | |
| Vestige of Honor | Ha-Kuhn | Television movie | |
| 1997 | The Hunger | Craig Yun | Season 1, episode 4: "The Secret Shih Tan" |
| 2000 | Arabian Nights | Aladdin | Miniseries |
| 2010–2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | Detective Kaleo | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Warrior | Koto | Television movie |
Documentary
| Year | Documentary | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Slanted Screen | Himself | Documentary |
| 2012 | Secrets of Shaolin | Himself | TV Documentary |
Honors and recognition
In recognition of Lee's positive impact on the image of Asians in America through his physical, attractive roles, Goldsea, the Asian American magazine website, placed him at Number 7 on its compilation "The 130 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".[7]
References
- ↑ "Jason Scott Lee Biography (1966-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ↑ Todd Gilchrist. "Jason Scott Lee Interview". IGN.
- ↑ "The Shadow of the Dragon : It wasn't easy finding an actor to play martial arts god Bruce Lee, but Jason Scott Lee found the key to the man behind the flying fists" (page 2 of 4) by Lawrence Christon, Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1993
- ↑ Rainer, Peter (May 7, 1993). "'Dragon,' Jason Scott Lee: They Have the Chops : The biopic depicts a larger-than-life Bruce Lee. The actor playing him meets the challenge and proves himself a star in the making.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- ↑ Loveridge, Lizzie. "A CurtainUp London Review, The King and I", Curtainup.com, May 3, 2000. Retrieved March 22, 2014
- ↑ http://www.hawaiiopera.org/news_and_events/112108_jason_scoot_lee Archived May 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "The 130 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
External links
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