Jason Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor and former professional skateboarder.
Lee was born in Orange, California. He was raised in nearby Huntington Beach, where he attended Ocean View High School, although he did not graduate.
Career
Skateboarding
Jason Lee was a prominent professional skateboarder in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Notable tricks performed by Lee (and there were many) were 360 flips, kickflip backside tailslides, and curb cut launched Japan airs. He was co-founder of Stereo Skateboards with Chris Pastras in 1992; the company was revived by the pair in 2004 after having been defunct for several years.
Lee was one of the first skateboarders to receive a pro model shoe, produced by Airwalk. His part in the 1991 Blind skateboards promotional video Video Days, shot by Spike Jonze, remains influential to this day. Today, he is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative street skaters of the early '90s.
Acting
Intrigued by a few minor acting roles, including the Spike Jonze-directed Sonic Youth music video for "100%" in 1992 and a small part in Allison Anders' 1993 film Mi Vida Loca, Lee decided to leave professional skating for a full-time acting career, surprising the skateboarding world. His first major movie role was in Kevin Smith's Mallrats which became a cult hit. He remained a close friend of Smith and has appeared in most of the director's works, including Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Jersey Girl. Most consider Lee's acting career to have truly launched with his Independent Spirit Award-winning role in Chasing Amy as Banky Edwards, the pseudohomophobic comic book artist and best friend for life to Ben Affleck's character.
Lee graduated to leading man roles in Stealing Harvard (alongside Tom Green) as well as A Guy Thing (alongside Julia Stiles). He has also appeared in minor roles in Enemy of the State, Almost Famous, and Vanilla Sky, and has supporting roles in Dreamcatcher, Big Trouble, and The Ballad of Jack and Rose. He also voiced the schizophrenic (according to the DVD Directors' Commentary) supervillain Syndrome in the animated movie The Incredibles and its DVD bonus video Jack-Jack Attack. Lee reprised the role as a "robot copy" of Syndrome the Disney on Ice play Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure.
Television success
Lee's new 2005 NBC sitcom, My Name Is Earl, in which he finds karma as his life guide and 'rights' all his wrongs from the past using a compiled list of things he must make up, debuted to critical acclaim and impressive ratings on September 20, 2005. It was quickly ordered for a full season—the first sitcom of the season to do so. Several months later, it was also quickly renewed for a second season. His performance on the show has resulted in a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy as well as a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
Personal life
He has a son, Pilot Inspektor Riesgraf Lee; this name, strange even by Hollywood standards, was reportedly inspired by the song "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" by the band Grandaddy.
He is a Scientologist.
Trivia
Lee is a fan of actor Burt Reynolds and often incorporates a reference to Reynolds in his work:
- In Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Lee uses the phrase "Reynold's style".
- In Dogma, he goes to "Mrs. Reynolds" door.
- In Jersey Girl, he refers to Matt Damon's character as "Reynolds".
- In My Name is Earl, an episode involved Earl's brother Randy (played by Ethan Suplee) wanting to go to the county fair to see the car from the Burt Reynolds film Smokey and the Bandit.
Credits
Filmography
- Clerks II (2006) - Lance
- Monster House (2006) (post-production) - Bones
- My Name Is Earl (2005) TV Series - Earl
- Jack-Jack Attack (2005) - Buddy Pine/Syndrome (voice)
- Drop Dead Sexy (2005) - Frank
- The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) - Gray
- The Incredibles (2004) - Buddy Pine/Syndrome (voice)
- Sonic Youth Video Dose (2004) (TV)
- Jersey Girl (2004) - PR Exec #1
- I Love Your Work (2003) - Dishevelled Man
- Dreamcatcher (2003) - Joe "Beaver" Clarenden
- A Guy Thing (2003) - Paul Coleman
- Stealing Harvard (2002) - John Plummer
- Big Trouble (2002) - Puggy
- Vanilla Sky (2001) - Brian Shelby
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) - Brodie Bruce/Banky Edwards
- Heartbreakers (2001) - Jack Withrowe
- Almost Famous (2000) - Jeff Bebe
- Mumford (1999) - Skip Skipperton
- Dogma (1999) - Azrael
- Enemy of the State (1998) - Daniel Leon Zavitz
- American Cuisine (1998) - Loren Collins
- Kissing a Fool (1998) - Jay Murphy
- A Better Place (1997) (as Dennis Pepper and Linus Peacock) - Dennis Pepper/Steve
- Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997) (TV) - Phillip Messenger
- Chasing Amy (1997) - Banky Edwards
- Drawing Flies (1996) - Donner
- Mallrats (1995) - Brodie Bruce
- Mi Vida Loca (1993) - Teenage Drug Customer
- Video Days (1991) (V)
Other media
- The Incredibles (2004) (VG) - Buddy Pine/Syndrome (voice)
- Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure (2006) (Disney on Ice) - Syndrome robot (voice)
External links
- Jason Lee at IMDb
- Stereo Skateboards
- Template:Dmoz
- Pictures of Jason at the View Askew Pixel Pound