Jason Scott Lee: Primal Man 2/6 | Asian American Personalities

Asian American Profiles

Jason Scott Lee: Primal Man

PAGE 2 OF 6

GS: Why is it taking so long to film a movie that normally takes about six to eight weeks?
JSL: There's a lot of things they overlooked because no one had ever tried to do an epic in the western sense with Hollywood people and such in Kazakhstan. When you're trying to organize 400 extras or so, and 400 horses, who have no idea what making a movie is all about, you tend to have a communication breakdown. Things that you thought you could shoot in a day would take a week.

GS: Is this a Hollywood project in the sense of being directed and produced by a Hollywood studio?
JSL: Yeah, the Kazakh people -- producers as well and investors -- are all looking to it as maybe their Lord of the Rings for like what it did for New Zealand.

GS: It might be a six or eight hour movie?
JSL: No, I think the only reason it's taking so long is... I mean, I don't really care how long it takes because Ivan Passer is given the latitude to make the shots right. Because everything is on location, he's waiting for the right setup, the right lighting and all these things.

GS: So you're having to hurry up and wait a lot.
JSL: Oh yeah. I don't mind if he's getting the shots. In a sense we're making a movie the way maybe Kubrick made it or maybe John Ford or David Lean.

GS: In the sense of the authenticity of location?
JSL: Yeah, yeah. I dreamed of working for a person who has this kind of attitude. Also the producers weren't as pushy as they are in Hollywood. They have a tendency to let him shoot and let him shoot. I'm grateful for having had this kind of experience because I've always wanted to work with those kinds of directors who took their time.

GS: So it's a high quality project?
JSL: Yeah.

GS: Do you think it will have mass appeal for American audiences?
JSL: I'm not sure. There is a quality to it that I haven't seen in epic movies for a while.

GS: Is it like The Last Emperor in terms of epic scope and grandeur?
JSL: The thing about this film is that there's a funny kind of gentleness about it. That's the rare thing that I don't find in ...

GS: So the pacing is not as tight as most Hollywood films.
JSL: No.

GS: You've done a lot of location work in the last two or three years.
JSL: My work throughout my career has been location.

GS: That's true.
JSL: Soldier I did in Los Angeles and maybe bits and pieces of Dragon.

GS: Who plays the main character?
JSL: His name is Kuno Becker. He's originally from Mexico and he lives in Los Angeles. They chose him because he's one of the up and coming young actors, on the hot list, I guess.

GS: So they really are shooting for mass appeal.
JSL: They told me how many countries are involved, something ridiculous like 28 countries.

GS: What's the budget?
JSL: We started at twenty million. The reason we broke down, weather was one reason and financing was another. I think they had to go back and look to the investors and refinance the movie because we spent the twenty million.

GS: Is that the reason for ...
JSL: It's still not a Lord of the Rings $200 million-plus kind of thing.

GS: You were in a new Dracula movie, playing Father Uffizi, a vampire killer...
JSL: Vampire slayer? [laughs] That was fun. I'd rather do something that has fantasy when it comes to violence rather than realistic violence. Some people say it's too gorey or too bloody but I enjoy that kind of character.

GS: You seem to have gotten good reviews from fans of the horror genre for stealing the scenes and being the real center of the action. Do you agree?
JSL: Yeah. Over the years I've learned how to handle myself physically. I know what dynamics work on the screen, through movement and through action. I definitely put it all together when I do something like that. But also the way it's written. The mystery of the character as sort of a quiet, dark hunter of vampires is rather appealing. I enjoyed reading the script. They told me that's the chracter they wanted me to play. I go, “Oh great!” We may be working with a three million dollar budget but hey, the guy's a fantastic director and the producer and the director are just great guys. For me it has to be those two worlds coming together -- a great group of people first off, and if the script is suited for what I can do, even better.

GS: So you're not trying to shy away from playing the action figure.
JSL: That's who I am! I live my life in action. I play harder than I work. In that sense, it's just another thing. Some people aren't physical actors.

GS: There's been speculation that maybe you're trying not to be typecast as an action an action actor.
JSL: Well, everyone is an action actor.

GS: In the physical sense. You're not trying to get away from that at all?
JSL: No, it's who I am! I dn't know what kind of speculation you heard, but I don't think people really know me. [laughs]

GS: You have no interest in going back into pure drama or romance?
JSL: If the story is right I'd do it, but a lot of the stories I've seen that have been presented to me for drama have not been very appealing.

GS: You're playing an Italian in the Dracula movies.
JSL: I'm not being typecast am I? [laughs]

GS: That's refreshing.
JSL: That's what's interesting. A lot of people are adopted or carry an English name and you look at them and they look Corean or something . It's the kind of world we live in now. It creates more interest, more questions as to who the character is.

GS: There's no effort to make you look Italian?
JSL: There's a back story that evolved from bits and scenes that I did with Roy Scheider where he is my mentor. He sort of brings up a little bit of the back story of finding me in a burned-out mission somewhere.

GS: So your ethnicity is worked in.
JSL: Yeah.

GS: They apparently don't know what to call the other movie you've done -- Prophecy 4 or 5.
JSL: [laughs] I haven't heard from there in a while.

GS: What was that role about?
JSL: That was to be with friends and have fun. [laughs] These are the same guys that did Dracula [Resurrection]. So they called back and said, “Hey, Jason, would you like to come out and play with us again?” I said, “Sure! What's the time frame?” I was able to fit it in so I went out and did it. It's a mercenary role and there's a very minute section of a small little scuffle. That's more of a dramatic role actually but in the horror genre.

GS: There's been talk about a project called Silk Curtain you're supposed to be in negotiations for. What kind of movie is that?
JSL: You remember in The Last Emperor there was the Emperess Dowager.

GS: The old lady?
JSL: It's based on her life.

GS: So she's like the last empress then.
JSL: Like the prequel to The Last Emperor.

CONTINUED BELOW

GS: What role would you be playing in that?
JSL: There were a couple of roles. We did a sort of a theater reading in Honolulu because the writer is out of Honolulu. I think it's either a prince or something. It was a while ago, maybe five years ago. A lot of independents are struggling to get financing.

GS: You've been involved in herbal medicine and growing plants. How deeply are you into that now?
JSL: I have a small farm on the Big Island.

GS: What do you grow there?
JSL: I have pear trees, mandarin orange trees, lemon, citrus... And I've been trying to do barley and buckwheat.

GS: You mean as cash crops?
JSL: Not necessarily cash crops but just for my own interest.

GS: Is this an expensive hobby or a self-sustaining business?
JSL: It's not entirely expensive, but it's geared more toward a philosophical interest. I had gone to Japan and studied with Masanobu Fukuoka who is the father of natural farming. Along with tending the land is a lot of philosophy that goes with it. When he was brought to my attention I realized that it was in direct accordance with my acting approach and also my martial arts approach, from what I garnered.

GS: Are you physically involved in farming day to day?
JSL: My main problem is going off to do movies. PAGE 3