01.18 pm, Wednesday February 10 2010

Jason Scott Lee swaps movies for farming

11:18 AEST Fri Nov 4 2005
AAP
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Less is more for actor Jason Scott Lee who has all-but given up Hollywood for a quiet life on the farm.

Lee, 38, still acts in the occasional film but his priorities have changed.

"I didn't want to be considered just an actor so I started farming," Lee said.

"I don't have an agent and I don't have a manager. The simplicity of living gives you the strength of character and an understanding of what it truly is to live the art of life."

Lee commits to one film a year, allowing him to live a quiet life in his Hawaiian homeland.

His latest project is an animated children's feature, Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch, set in Hawaii. It is the follow-up to 2002s Lilo and Stitch and is released direct to DVD on November 9.

Lee plays relaxed surfer David, a character that brings a calming influence to the often crazy adventures of Lilo and Stitch.

"I think I bought an honesty to the character that is kind of indigenous to a lot of the local people in Hawaii, an almost naivety," Lee said in a recent interview in Hawaii.

"There is a sense that ignorance is bliss kind of attitude."

This latest Disney animation was made at Sydney's DisneyToon Studio's, one of the last films before the studio closes next year.

The film returns with another adventure from Lilo, a lonely parentless girl, who has befriended Stitch, an intergalactic creature.

In this latest instalment, wild creature Stitch has nightmares of reverting back to his old, naughty self.

And while Lilo assures Stitch that he's still good, her main focus is on winning the local hula competition, something she wants to win to make her deceased mother proud.

The film features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning as Lilo, Chris Sanders as Stitch, David Ogden Stiers as Dr Jumba Jookiba and Kevin McDonald as Pleakly.

Another well-known Hawaiian local, Tia Carrere, did the voice for Nani.

"I think they bought me on because I grew up here in Hawaii and I have this kind of thing naturally," Lee said.

"With Tia coming on and myself coming on, we gave it a nice flavour to where it was authentic enough but not to the point where it was unintelligible.

"It is a nice mix and a happy medium to get a feeling of this gentle relaxed culture come through in the characters."

Lilo and Stitch paints Hawaii in the same light as Hollywood has done many times before - a place of sun, surf, relaxation and Elvis music.

But Lee said that while this was good, he hoped the film gave a deeper understanding of Hawaiian culture.

"Lilo and Stitch is a gentle way, a superficial way of entertaining and accommodating people and teaching of our culture," Lee said.

Lee was born in Los Angeles in 1966 to a third generation Chinese-Hawaiian family.

His family moved back to the north shore of Oahu, Honolulu, Hawaii, when Lee was just two years old and there he grew up until the age of 19.

He got into acting at the age of 19 when he moved to LA and joined a small theatre group.

"I tried an acting class and it seemed frightening and interesting," Lee said.

"We did some really powerful plays in that little space. We did a lot of absurdist plays, straight plays, some classical things.

"It was there that I was tempted to explore more of different cultural aspects of theatre.

"Then I started doing movies and movies was that as well. The only thing about movies was that it allowed me to travel to all those places around the world."

Lee's first film role was in 1987s Born in East LA.

He went on to play a series of bit-parts in films such as Back to the Future II and Map of the Human Heart.

But it was his starring role in Dragon: The Bruce Lee story that made him a Hollywood star.

"I have always had this feeling of wanting to work internationally because I always felt the acceptance of being ethnic would be more appropriate," Lee said.

At the age of 26, Lee decided the LA lifestyle wasn't for him, moving back to Hawaii.

Since then, he has done roughly one film each year, including roles in Rapa Nui, The Jungle Book, Timecop and Nomad.

And he has two films to be released next year, The Prophecy Forsaken and Only the Brave.

"I have been working once a year pretty steadily every year that I have been living here.

"I am not a very big ambitious person in the world outside in that I have to be on top of the show all the time.

"When you start living in essence not for yourself but for your future generations, it changes your concept of living and it changes your concept of time."

 
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