Brandon Lee

For other uses of the name Brandon Lee, see Brandon Lee (disambiguation).

Brandon Bruce Lee (李國豪 Cantonese: Léi Gwokhòu Pinyin: Lǐ Guóháo; February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was a Chinese-American actor of Chinese, German, and Swedish descent. He was the son of the late legendary martial arts film star Bruce Lee.

Career

Early work

In 1986, Lee got his first movie role in the Hong Kong action thriller Legacy of Rage in which he starred with Michael Wong and Bolo Yeung, who also appeared in his father's last film, Enter the Dragon. The film was made in Cantonese, and directed by Ronny Yu. It was also the only film Lee made in Hong Kong. Regarding the pressures of being the son of a legendary father, Brandon said, "You only have the burdens on you that you choose to put there."

Kung Fu sequels

Lee then returned to Los Angeles, where he worked for Ruddy Morgan Productions as a script reader. He was asked to audition for a role by casting director Lyn Stalmaster. The project was Kung Fu: The Movie, which was to be a feature-length television movie follow-up to the television series Kung Fu.

Herbie Pilato, in his 1993 book The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western, commented on the casting of the original Kung Fu series:

Before the filming of the Kung Fu TV series began, there was some discussion as to whether or not an Asian actor should play Kwai Chang Caine. Bruce Lee was considered for the role. In 1971, Bruce Lee wasn't the cult film hero he later became for his roles in The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), Way of the Dragon (1972), Enter the Dragon (1973), and Game of Death (1978). At that point he was best known as Kato on TV's Green Hornet (1966-1967). (Kung Fu guest actor Robert Ito reports that Lee hated the role of Kato because he "thought it was so subservient.") "In my eyes and in the eyes of Jerry Thorpe," says Harvey Frand, " David Carradine was always our first choice to play Caine. But there was some disagreement because the network was interested in a more muscular actor and the studio was interested in getting Bruce Lee." Frand says Lee wouldn't have really been appropriate for the series - despite the fact that he went on to considerable success in the martial arts film world. The Kung Fu show needed a serene person, and Carradine was more appropriate for the role. Ed Spielman agrees: "I liked David in the part.

Pilato also comments that Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee, was involved in sequels to the series:

In the first sequel to the TV series, Kung Fu: The Movie (1986), Caine (played by Carradine) is forced to fight his hitherto unknown son, Chung Wang (played by Lee). Towards the end of the film, Chung Wang asks Caine if he is his father. The question seems somewhat ironic since in real life Brandon's father was the chief contender for the role of Caine in the series. After Bruce Lee lost the part to Carradine, he went back to China, where he made The Big Boss, the film that began his legendary career in martial arts movies, (page 157).

Lee then went to star in the second television film sequel, Kung Fu: The Next Generation (1987) in which the story moved to the present day, and centered on the story of Johnny Caine (Lee), who is the great-grandson of Kwai Chang Caine.

Later work

Lee then made a guest appearance in the short-lived American television series Ohara (1988) as Kenji, son of title character Lt. Ohara (played by Pat Morita). 1990 saw the release of his first English language B-grade film, Laser Mission, which was filmed cheaply in South Africa in 1988. In 1991, he starred opposite Dolph Lundgren in Showdown in Little Tokyo, his first studio film and American film debut.

Lee signed a multi-picture deal with 20th Century Fox in 1991. He then had his first starring role in Rapid Fire, and was scheduled to do two more films for them.

In 1992, Lee landed the lead role of Eric Draven, an undead vigilante avenging his murder, and that of his fiancée, in the movie adaptation of The Crow, a popular underground comic book. About his character Lee said, "He has something he has to do and he is forced to put aside his own pain long enough to go do it".

It would be Brandon Lee's last film. Filming began on February 1, 1993, which was his 28th birthday.

Death

On March 31, 1993, the 52nd day of a 60-day shooting schedule for The Crow, the scene being filmed involved Lee's character walking into his apartment and discovering his girlfriend being raped by thugs. This would subsequently lead to Eric being brutally killed, along with his girlfriend, by the thugs. Actor Michael Massee, who played one of the villains named Funboy in the movie, was supposed to fire a gun at Lee as he walked into his apartment with groceries.

Because the movie's second unit team were running behind schedule, it was decided that dummy cartridges — bullets that outwardly appear to be functional, but contain no gunpowder — would be made from real cartridges, which had been brought to the set earlier in production. Bruce Merlin, an effects technician, dismantled the live cartridges by removing the bullets, emptying out the gunpowder, detonating the primer and reinserting the bullets. This rendered the cartridges inoperative but realistic in appearance. Merlin and his propmaster, Daniel Kuttner, took initiative to create some blanks by removing live cartridges and replacing the gunpowder with firework powder; the bullets were not reinserted.

Later, a cartridge with only a primer and a bullet was fired in a pistol; this caused the bullet to lodge in the forcing cone of the revolver. When the first unit used this gun to shoot the death scene, the chamber was loaded with blanks which had no bullets. However, there was still the bullet in the barrel, which was propelled out by the blank cartridge's explosion. Consequently, Lee was shot and severely wounded as cameras were rolling at the Carolco Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina. Seconds later, director Alex Proyas stopped the scene, but Lee remained on the floor. Stuntman (and Lee's friend) Jeff Imada ran over to him with a paramedic, and discovered a thin slit an inch below to the right of his navel. By this time, Lee had slipped into unconsciousness and was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered that a bullet was the cause of the damage. They fought for five hours in an attempt to save him, but at 1:04 PM he was pronounced dead at the age of 28.

His funeral was held several days later; he was buried next to his father in Lake View Cemetery, Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington. The following day, a memorial service was held in Los Angeles, California, at the home of actress Polly Bergen; over 200 people attended, including David Carradine, David Hasselhoff and Kiefer Sutherland. Jeff Imada, Lee's closest friend; and Eliza ('Lisa') Hutton, Lee's intended bride, were so shocked they couldn't speak, while his mother, Linda Emery, reminded everyone, "Brandon would want this to be a happy occasion; we are here to celebrate his life."

The footage of the incident was soon destroyed without ever being developed.

The shooting was ruled as an accident, although many fans suspected foul play. (Bruce Lee's own death in 1973, at the age of 32, apparently from a reaction to an analgesic he had taken, was also considered suspicious.) Bruce Lee's character in the 1978 version of Game of Death is shot in a similar fashion. His character, like that of his son in The Crow, returns from the dead to get revenge on his adversaries.

Some fans also suspected that Lee's death was all part of a curse on the Lee family because Lee had died 20 years after his father; both deaths were very mysterious, and Brandon would also die before the release of a film that would catapult him to stardom. After his death, his fiancée Eliza Hutton and his mother supported director Alex Proyas' decision to complete the movie. At the time of Lee's death, only eight days were left before completion of the movie. A majority of the film had already been completed with Lee and only a few scenes had to be done.

To complete the film, a stunt double (Chad Stahelski), who was a friend of Lee's at the famed Inosanto Academy, and special effects were used to add Lee's face onto the stunt double. Another stunt double named Jeff Cadiente was also used to complete the movie (Cadiente was already Brandon Lee's stunt double on The Crow and they were also good friends). These scenes were filmed after Lee's death:

• Eric Draven's death in flashbacks (this was the scene Brandon was filming at the time he had died);

• a scene with Eric walking into his apartment after returning from the dead was digitally composited from a scene of Lee walking into an alleyway with raindrops added (the rest of the scenes in the apartment were all done with the double);

• Lee's face was digitally composited onto the stunt double when Eric puts on make-up in front of a mirror and walks towards the broken down window of his apartment;

• When Sarah (Rochelle Davis) visits Eric, his face is not seen as it is actually the stunt double.

• When Eric Draven plays his guitar on the rooftops it is one of Brandon Lee's body doubles.

• During T-Bird's demise Eric Draven does not speak, nor is his face shown; the close-up of Draven's face was from a deleted shot.

• After the shootout at Top Dollar's the scene where Eric Draven is running on the rooftops from the police was filmed with a double. So was his escape in Officer Albrecht (Ernie Hudson)'s car.

The Crow was released in May 1994 and became a box office hit. The film is dedicated to Lee and his fiancée Eliza Hutton. They were to have been married on April 17, 1993, in Mexico. Lee is survived by his mother and sister.

In an interview just prior to his death, Brandon quoted a passage from Paul Bowles' book The Sheltering Sky that he had chosen for his wedding invitations; it is now inscribed on his tombstone:

"Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you cannot conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless..."

The Interview can be seen on VHS and DVD of the The Crow.

Personal life

In 1990, Brandon met Eliza "Lisa" Hutton at director Renny Harlin's office, located at the headquarters of 20th Century Fox. Hutton was working as a personal assistant to Harlin, and later became a Story Editor for Stillwater Productions, in 1991. Lee and Harlin shared an agent at the time at William Morris Agency. Lee was immediately smitten, and soon the two were very much in love. They moved in together in 1991 and became engaged in October of 1992.

They were to be married in Mexico on April 17, 1993, a week after Lee was to complete filming on The Crow - just 18 days after he died. At the time of Lee's death, Hutton was working as a Casting Assistant and was on set of his film The Crow so much that she was later credited with being Brandon's on-set assistant. After his death, Hutton petitioned to have gun safety regulations tightened on film sets.

Trivia

• Lee's Chinese zodiac sign is the dragon (like his father). He was born on Chinese New Year's eve, the last day of the dragon.

• He was first asked to play his father in a biopic but declined. The role was later given to Jason Scott Lee (no relation), and the biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, was released three weeks after his death. The film was dedicated to Brandon Lee in the end credits.

• At the time of his death, he allegedly was in talks with filmmakers about making sequels to Rapid Fire and The Crow.

• He was born seven days before the death of his grandfather, Lee Hoi-Chuen.

• He was named after actor Brandon De Wilde (Shane), who was his mother's favorite actor.(Source:Prevue Magazine, October, 1991)

• The Finnish band The 69 Eyes wrote a song titled "Brandon Lee" (on the album Blessed Be, released in 2000).

• Seven years after his death, a Swedish direct-to-video film Sex, logner & videovåld was released in which Brandon Lee had a cameo appearance. Brandon had filmed his cameo in 1992 when he met the director of the film in Sweden where he was promoting his film Rapid Fire. The film was delayed for 8 years and finally released in 2000. It is dedicated to Brandon in the end credits.

• Lee was able to protect himself when a robber broke into his house. The robber was sent to the hospital with a few broken bones including his arm.^[1]

Filmography

• Legacy of Rage (Long zai jiang hu) (1986) ..... Brandon Ma
• Kung Fu:The Movie (1986) .... Chung Wang
• Kung Fu:The Next Generation (1987) .... Johnny Caine
• Ohara (TV Episode 1988) ..... Kenji
• Laser Mission (also known as Soldier of Fortune) (1990) ..... Michael Gold
• Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) .... Johnny Murata
• Rapid Fire (1992) ..... Jake Lo
• The Crow (1994) .... Eric Draven

References

• Pilato, Herbie J.The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western. Boston: Charles A. Tuttle, 1993. ISBN 0-8048-1826-6
• Dyson, Cindy. They Died Too Young: Brandon Lee. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. ISBN 0-7910-5858-1
• Baiss, Bridget. The Making of The Crow. London: Making of The Crow Inc, 2000. ISBN 1-8700-4854-7

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