magazine interview with Shannon Lee
Her father and brother's deaths might have
overshadowed a lesser talent than Shannon Lee's, but the 31-year-old actress, TV
presenter, writer and 'princess of the martial arts scene' is busily updating the image of
martial arts movies, while carving out a niche for herself. Hello!
caught up with her at her Los Angeles home and spoke to her about the legacy of her name.
Your father's movies still get
shown on TV today. Do you watch them?
"Oh definitely. I've got them all at
home. I have watched them them since I was a kid."
Were you aware of Bruce Lee as a
movie star and martial arts phenomenon or was he just Daddy?
"Well, a little of both. I was four when
he passed away and I don't have many memories of him, only brief images."
Your brother Brandon also died
tragically young....
"It was horrific. It was 1993 and I was
living in New Orleans and my mum, Linda was in Idaho. Brandon was filming The Crow
in North Carolina. Mum got a call from his fiancée, Eliza Hutton - there had been an
accident on set and Brandon was in hospital.
When we got off the plane in North Carolina we heard he was dead."
The untimely deaths of your father
and brother led to rumours of a curse. Do you feel there's a shadow of tragedy hanging
over you?
"No. I don't believe in curses. Accidents
happen and that's what Brandon's death was - an accident."
Computer effects were used to
finish The Crow. Have you seen the film?
"When it came out I was in a quandary as
to whether I should see it, but Brandon had been very excited about the project so I knew
he'd have wanted me to. It was a great movie and he was great in it."
What memories do you have of him?
"There were four years between us and we
had a typical older brother - younger sister relationship in that we terrorised one
another. We were a really closeknit family and Brandon always looked out for me and
protected me."
Although you worked on Dragon:
The Bruce Lee Story, he chose not to...
"I had a small role as a singer, and they
offered Brandon the part of our father, but he never considered it. He wanted to make a
name for himself. Also, I think it would have been difficult for him to play his
father."
Were the vocals in the film yours?
"Yes. I have a degree in music and am
classically trained. At that point I was still deciding what I wanted to do.
When I was working as Brandon assistant on Rapid Fire, I began to
think about acting as a career. He suggested that if there was something else I wanted to
do, I should consider that instead, but if I really wanted to try it, then I should give
it a go."
Do you feel as though you live and
work in your father's shadow?
"I always assume that when I go in for an
audition, they will know who I am, especially if it's for an action role. I think that
they expect to see someone who looks Chinese and instead they get me."
Do you speak Cantonese?
"I speak a bit of Cantonese and I'm
studying Mandarin right now. It's a difficult language, but it's fun."
How was your first experience at
scriptwriting?
"It was very creative and fun. I soon
found out that when you are writing, so many ideas just pop into your head. I'm very
visual and can picture a scene in my head as I am writing. The rewrites are more
tedious!"
You've certainly moved around a bit
over the years...
"Well, I was born in Los Angeles, but
when I was two we moved to Hong Kong where my father was filming his movies at the time. I
lived there until I was four. When my father died we returned to Seattle, my mother's
home, which is where he and Brandon are buried."
Which martial arts do you practice?
"When I was 11 or 12 I studied jeet kune
do, which is the art my father founded, but I didn't train much while growing up. At the
time all my friends were playing soccer and softball, so I played those sports too.
I started training seriously about five years ago, working on kung fu and
karate, then I got involved with The Bruce Lee Educational Foundation - a centre for
information regarding my father's art. From that point my interest grew.
After I had been doing jeet kune do for a while I landed my first major film
role in And Now You're Dead. Meanwhile, the same production company that did all
my dad's films gave me intensive training in tae kwon do and wu shu. I also studied kick
boxing, movie-style fighting and a bit of stunt-fighting."
You've been married to your husband
Ian Keasler for six years now. How did you meet?
"As seniors in high school. We were
friends for a couple of years then the friendship turned into something else. We dated for
five years and have been married for six. In 1993, we both decided to move to Los Angeles.
That was a hectic year because Brandon died, we made the move and a few month's later
Ian's father died of cancer. We got married the following year."
What are you working on right now?
"I've just finished a science fiction
film called Epoch in which I play the NASA advisor on Asian politics. And I've
also written a new film script, Seraphim."
