Nelson Lee (Credit: Ben Cope)
Actor Nelson Lee, who currently stars in the CW comic television series Stargirl and Disney’s live-action adaption of Mulan, remains a proud Saint John native.
“I love arriving in that airport that has, you know, gotten bigger,” said Lee. “I loved that they had different gates even though there’s just one door.”
Lee and his family immigrated to Canada from Taiwan when he was five years old and decided to move to Saint John. His parents operated Linja Gifts and Oriental Foods in the City Market until it closed in 2016.
He was planning on coming back to Saint John this summer, catch up with friends and rent a cabin on PEI where they would stuff themselves with seafood. “I’m really sad I can’t do it this year, but hopefully next summer,” he said.
Lee initially thought of acting as a hobby, performing with the KV Players in Saint John and at the University of Toronto while studying business and philosophy. “It was something I never pursued or thought of pursuing when I was a child because it was too scary, I couldn’t even wrap my mind around doing it as a profession.”
After a trip to Europe and nearing the end of his studies, Lee found himself continuing to be drawn to how he felt on stage performing and decided to take the plunge. He applied and was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, before graduating in 2001.
Some of his credits include, Oz (2002), and Westworld (2020) on HBO, miniseries Traffic (2004), nail salon organized crime dramady Claws (2019), and SpikeTV’s Blade: The Series (2006).
“We always say we were definitely ahead of our time, if we had come out now, we would have lasted ten seasons,” said Lee, of Blade.
Nelson Lee (Credit: Ben Cope)
Lee is currently starring as the supervillain Dragon King in the CW/DC Universe superhero series Stargirl, which has been renewed for a second season.
“It’s been really exciting to see everyone’s reaction to it, I’m really proud of it, I think it’s a great show,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of that and to bring that character to life.”
The series has also been a Blade reunion of sorts. Actor Neil Jackson, who played Blade’s villain, is also part of Stargirl’s cast and Geoff Johns, who wrote for Blade and is one of DC Comics’ major power players, created the Stargirl superhero and is one of the show’s writers.
“He created the character because his sister died in a commercial plane crash in the Nineties so he created this character to follow Starman called Stargirl (named Courtney), which is his sister’s name; it’s a beautiful thing that he’s done and that’s why it means so much that we’re part of it,” Lee said. “I remember him talking to us about it during Blade so to come kind of full circle and be a part of it again and do it all together has been fantastic.”
Lee’s casting as The Chancellor, who oversees conscripting new recruits to join the Imperial army, in Mulan was a long process but worth the wait.
“I think the casting agents were amazing and the director’s vision, (New Zealander Niki Caro, who directed 2002 film Whale Rider and the pilot of Anne With an E in 2017) was completely singular and she knew exactly what she wanted,” he said.
Lee tested multiple times over a year and got the good news from his agent when he was doing a play in Pittsburgh.
“I just got in my apartment, and I checked my phone and it was blowing up with my agent saying, ‘Call me, call me back, call me right now!’”
Mulan shot in New Zealand and China and was a life-changing experience.
“It’s a huge movie, $300 million budget, I’d never been in anything that large,” he said. “I’ve been working for about 20 years and it’s been great and I’ve been lucky, but that was a next-level kind of thing and it’s hard not to just completely be in awe when you’re standing on those sets.”
Mulan was supposed to be released March 27 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was first postponed to July 24 and now tentatively set for August 21.
Lee shared that the film’s world premiere on March 9 in Los Angeles was the industry’s last major red-carpet event before U.S. movie theatres’ nationwide shutdown on March 16.
“We were at the Kodak Theatre, which is where they do the Oscars,” he said. “It’s packed, we’re doing interviews on the carpet, we’re hugging or kissing, there were a couple of people doing elbows, instead of handshakes, but for the most part, we’re all going for it.”
Lee was supposed to go to Toronto for Mulan’s Canadian premiere and had arranged an entire event for his family.
“I was going to bring my mom, all my nephews and nieces, we were all going to go in a limo, do the red carpet,” he said. “It’s crazy how quickly it moved, how we all went from like, ‘no big deal’ to ‘holy crap, this thing is no joke.’
Lee is optimistic and practical about the increase in the growth of diversity and inclusivity in the entertainment industry, having seen more opportunities for racially diverse actors and content creators since he graduated.
“When you are a kid you want to see someone that looks like you on television,” he said. “When I was a kid that’s why Bruce Lee was my hero; there was no one else, he was just this amazing role model.”
Films such as Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell connected universally with audiences and were huge box office successes, with Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite winning Best Picture at this year’s Oscars.
“The goal is to keep it going, and cover it on all aspects from writers from actors, producers, directors. That’s how we continue to keep the door open and continue to make content that’s important,” he said. “There’s a rich culture that I can’t wait to be tapped, to see real, human stories where people happen to be Asian.”
Like most everyone else on the planet, Lee is trying to keep a schedule and keep out of the quarantine slump, while trying to figure out when the entertainment industry will restart productions.
“I think we’re all trying to figure out how we get back to work,” he said. “Obviously I want to work, but I also want to be safe and I want everyone else to be safe. We’ve been talking about doing certain films lately, taking meetings and auditions, but it’s still very up in the air about how that happens.”
At the end of the day, he is thankful to be healthy and safe, staying positive, and plans to return to visit Saint John when he can.
“There’s been some benefits to this quarantine. The introspection has been really nice to think about everything, take a break from this crazy pace of everything and connect with people I haven’t connected with in a long time.”
This story was originally published on Huddle.Today – an Acadia Broadcasting Limited content partner.
