Jason Scott Lee (Chinese: 李截; pinyin: Lǐ Jié; born November 19, 1966) is an American actor and martial artist. He played Mowgli in Disney's 1994 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book and Bruce Lee in the 1993 martial arts film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Jason Scott Lee | |
|---|---|
 Lee in 2003 | |
| Born | November 19, 1966 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Spouse |
Diana Chan
(m. 2008) |
Personal life
editLee was born in Los Angeles.[1] He was raised in Hawaii and is of Hawaiian and Chinese descent.[2] He attended school at Pearl City High School.[3]
Lee has been married to Diana Chan since 2008.[citation needed]
Career
editLee started his acting career with small roles in Born in East L.A. (1987) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). In 1990, he appeared in the television film The Lookalike. In 1992, he played his first leading role in the romantic drama Map of the Human Heart. In 1993, he portrayed Bruce Lee in the biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.[4] Lee has trained in Bruce Lee's martial art Jeet Kune Do since portraying Lee and continues to train and became a certified instructor under former Bruce Lee student Jerry Poteet. He is not related to Bruce Lee.[5] In 1994, he starred in Rapa-Nui and as Mowgli in the live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book with Lena Headey and John Cleese. 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 instead. He was also cast to star in the immigrant epic An American Dream to be filmed by Michael Cimino in 1997,[6] but this fell apart. In 1998, he played the main villain Caine 607 in the science fiction 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 film Lilo & Stitch.
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.[citation needed]
In 2007, he played Eddie in the sports comedy film Balls of Fury alongside Dan Fogler, in his first theatrically released 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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[citation needed]
In 2016, Lee played Hades Dai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. In 2019, he voiced the main character, The Swordsman, for Kevin McTurk's crowdsourced short puppetry film, The Haunted Swordsman.[citation needed]
In 2020, he played the villain Böri Khan in Disney’s Mulan, a live action remake of the 1998 animated film of the same name. He also joined the cast of the historical drama The Wind & the Reckoning as Ko’olau, a cowboy who took part in a rebellion against soldiers of the recently instated Provisional Government of Hawaii forcing the displacement of leprosy patients to the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony in Molokaʻi. Film production happened as the COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak in the islands,[9] the film released in early November 2022.
In 2021, Lee starred in the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., a reboot of Doogie Howser, M.D..[10][11]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Born in East L.A. | Paco | Film debut |
| 1989 | Back to the Future Part II | Chester "Whitey" Noguera | |
| 1991 | Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College | Kyle | |
| 1992 | Map of the Human Heart | Avik | |
| 1993 | Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story | Bruce Lee | |
| 1994 | Rapa-Nui | Noro | |
| The Jungle Book | Mowgli | ||
| 1997 | Murder in Mind | Holloway | |
| 1998 | Tale of the Mummy | Riley | |
| Soldier | Caine 607 | ||
| 2002 | Lilo & Stitch | David Kawena (voice) | |
| 2003 | Dracula II: Ascension | Father Uffizi | Direct-to-video |
| Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision | TEC Agent Ryan Chang | ||
| 2005 | Dracula III: Legacy | Father Uffizi | |
| Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | David Kawena (voice) | ||
| The Prophecy: Forsaken | Dylan | ||
| Nomad | Oraz | Limited release | |
| 2006 | Only the Brave | Glenn Takase | |
| 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's Assistant | ||
| Alaska Is a Drag | Diego | ||
| 2019 | The Haunted Swordsman | The Swordsman (voice) | Short |
| 2020 | Mulan | Böri Khan | |
| 2021 | The Wind & the Reckoning | Ko'olau | |
| 2022 | Boon | Killa | |
| 2025 | Lilo & Stitch | Luau Manager |
Television
edit| Year | TV series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Matlock | Lee Tran | 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 |
| 2021–2023 | Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. | Benny Kameāloha | Main Role[12] |
Documentary
edit| Year | Documentary | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Slanted Screen | Himself | Documentary |
| 2012 | Secrets of Shaolin | Himself | TV documentary |
| 2014 | Trekking Malaysia with Jason Scott Lee | Himself | Travel documentary |
Honors and recognition
editIn 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".[13]
References
edit- ^ "Jason Scott Lee Biography (1966-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
- ^ Todd Gilchrist (August 29, 2005). "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 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 December 4, 2010.
- ^ Chase, Donald (October 25, 1992). "ON LOCATION : Re-Enter the Dragon : A film biography of kung fu king Bruce Lee, who died almost 20 years ago, weaves martial arts action with an interracial love story". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ Michael, Dennis (May 14, 1997). "Brando signed up for new pic". CNN - Hollywood Minute. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
Actor Jason Scott Lee is about to join Al Capone's Chicago mob. The Hollywood Reporter trade paper indicates the actor will star in "An American Dream," based on a true story about the first Asian immigrant to become a powerful player in Capone's operation. Michael Cimino will direct in Chicago, San Francisco and South Korea.
- ^ Loveridge, Lizzie. "A CurtainUp London Review, The King and I", Curtainup.com, May 3, 2000. Retrieved March 22, 2014
- ^ "Hawaii Opera Theatre - Jason Scott Lee stars as Pasha in HOT's upcoming production". www.hawaiiopera.org. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009.
- ^ "Movie production pulls off safe filming during pandemic". CBS News. April 25, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- ^ "Jason Scott Lee on Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. and His Hope for Future Seasons". youtube.com.
- ^ "Hawaii's 'Doogie Kamealoha' series comes to an end". www.staradvertiser.com.
- ^ "'Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.': Jason Scott Lee To Star In 'Doogie Howser' Reboot At Disney+". deadline.com.
- ^ "The 130 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
