Our Slice of SciFi roving interviewer, Linda Craddock got to spend some time with James and she talks with him about the new film, his love for music and what we can expect from Ando and Hiro in the next season of “Heroes.”
Linda Craddock (SoSF): Hi James and welcome to Slice of SciFi, how are you today?
James Kyson Lee (JKL): Hi Linda, happy to be here.
SoSF: James, how did you get involved with the project “A Couple of White Chicks at the Hairdressers” and by all means tell us about your role?
JKL: Oh boy, we basically got a call from the director and it was more “can James come and do a cameo and it’s a really interesting concept and we have a very interesting cast” and I said yeah, sure. It was a Sunday and it wouldn’t conflict with our schedule so I came in and the funny part was I played basically Harry Shearer’s lover who is widowed by his death and he ends up taking over the salon and so he’s a hairdresser. This is a world that I don’t know that much about so I had to get Salon 101 (laughter) in half an hour, do you know what I’m saying (laughter) and we were asked, you know we had access to a salon in Beverly Hills and it was hilarious and I thought it was one of the funniest ensembles you could put together Harry Shearer, Shelly Long, myself and Deborah Theaker and it ended up being a blast, it was a lot of fun.
SoSF: Roxanne Captor wrote, directed and produced this film. Talk a little about your interaction with Roxanne who has been referred to as a Francis Ford Coppola protégé, which speaks volumes.
JKL: I like Roxanne a lot. We had a great time working together. We recently had lunch together to talk about some more stuff. I think because she has an acting background, she’s really an actors director, she’s really open to people’s input and their creativity and having room for this flexibility it was a definite pleasure working with her and she’s got such an interesting idea. This concept itself, it’s so funny (laughter), I just laugh about it every time I talk to her so hopefully a lot of her efforts will come to fruition.
SoSF: Shelly Long and Deborah Theaker have had a good deal of success within the comedy genre. What was it like working with these two ladies? I mean, like you said, it must have been a blast. Give us some examples
JKL: You know, I grew up watching “Cheers”, it was like one of my favorite shows…
SoSF: Exactly!
JKL: …to me Shelly was like the Aniston, Jennifer Aniston of her hey day and she was so good comedically, she really made that role of Diane Chambers so I was just a big fan of both of them and Deborah we just had a great time talking. She’s from Chicago and she came out of Second City and I have an improv background here at IO. So, we really had a connection and started talking and sharing stories and I just loved working with the girls and we also had Katie Linder from the Soap. Everybody who was there that day, it was really a fun atmosphere. I got to go out and play for a few hours and be a hairdresser (laughter). You know when do you ever get to do that? Not on Heroes so yeah, it was pretty funny.
SoSF: I am sure there are a ton of them, but share one or two funny anecdotes about your time on the film!
JKL: I don’t know–we shared so many stories I don’t think any one in particular sticks out except the plot to maybe that film. (laughing) I saw the final product afterwards, like a rough cut and I don’t know (laughing) it’s just the whole setting and then Harry’s doing that commercial what’d you call it?…. whatever shampoo and conditioning thing I just thought it was so freaking hilarious.
SoSF: It was!
JKL: I forgot where Roxanne got the idea but she got it from somewhere and I remember her talking about that a little and I just thought it was the funniest thing.
SoSF: “White Chicks” will be featured at the 2007 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival on September 16, will you be in attendance?
JKL: What day is that? I know she told me about it. You know what, I would love to be there but I think that’s the day for the Emmy Awards and that’s the only reason I can’t be there, I’m actually going to be at the Emmys for our show. Heroes is nominated for an Emmy for Best Drama, myself, otherwise I’d love to be there but definitely [I’ll] be there in spirit.
SoSF: Speaking of Heroes, you are well known for your role as Andoon NBC’s Golden Globe nominated hit drama.
JKL: Thank you.
SoSF: Now in its 2nd season.
JKL: Yeah.
SoSF: Describe your character and what you like most about the show?
JKL: Oh, where do I start? I just think the writing is so phenomenal. You know you’d have to start from there and this team of writers and the producers do such a good job. Obviously we are so grateful for Season One, but I’m really proud that they have not let up and just try and ride this wave and challenged themselves to really top season 1 and make themselves better and in Season Two they’re already taking off on such a note that I’m excite and ecstatic about it for the premiere because the fans are going to be in for a treat. It’s definitely getting to another level.
There’s going to be new characters and new story lines developing so that even if for some odd reason you missed Season One, you should be able to jump in and enjoy Season Two without feeling lost or scared. Season Two starts off four months after where Season One ended and there’s actually going to be two parallel time lines that are going on. One in the present day and one in 16th century Japan. My buddy Hiro is going to be stuck in the past, while I’m the present and there’s going to be some kind of connection between us two to keep the storyline going forward. A lot of surprises twists and turns and it’s going to be very exciting.
SoSF: Wonderful, I look forward to it.
SoSF: What can we expect from Ando in the new season with respect to character development?
JKL: Well, myself, and also a lot of the characters from the first season have gone through quite a lot of change in the 4 months and Ando’s sporting a new look, (laughter). I’ll let you find out during the premiere but he’s moved on from the members only jacket (laughter) which is a big favorite of mine because it’s like the last remaining member. You can’t even find those anymore (laugher) There’s going to be a very interesting way for the storytelling coming into play with Ando and Hiro in the first 3rd of the season itself. A lot of things are still under wraps and things are constantly and organically being created so the whole Ando and Hiro would be a nice adventure and again travel around the world like we did in the 1st season because that’s where we have the most fun, obviously.
SoSF: Now I understand you had to learn Japanese for this role?
JKL: Yeah
SoSF: How’s that progressing?
JKL: It’s going great. It’s been really fun and that’s been one of the big highlights of Season One, it’s just been studying this language and learning the culture and its very interesting because in New York City, my father was actually an Electrical Engineer so he’s still learning the language and I studied it in college but obviously this was a great opportunity to get fully immersed in it and this summer I got to do a 20th Century Fox movie called “Shutter” and we went to Tokyo. I got to travel for a week to see cities like Tokyo, and Hiroshima and Osaka.
It was an amazing, amazing experience and it really opened my ears even more towards the language. It was so great to see some of the assets that came into play in our show to actually see it with my own eyes. For example in the pilot we talk about, you know, how Hiro is upset that the train is late a couple of minutes “oh, what a big deal”. Well actually in Tokyo when the subway is a minute or two late, it is a huge deal because they have these digital times boards and screens that tells you when it’s coming and it comes literally on the dot. So when they’re like three minutes late you know something has happened. Little stuff like that I had noticed that was really, really fun.
SoSF: You have worked on a number of film projects within the past year, a few in the category of shorts including “Beef Palace”, you mentioned “Shutter”, and there’s “Big Dreams Little Tokyo”. You have also appeared in several TV series. Do you have a preference for film or TV or is it just a matter of the opportunity that presents itself?
JKL: It really kind of depends. It’s a case by case subject and you know I think they’re two different animals. Obviously our show[“Heroes”] moves at such a frenetic pace, its pretty fast. We have two full working units going on at the same time so this means we film twice as much stuff as a normal 1-hour drama does. I can tell you how crazy this is — last season during 1 week I had to shoot 4 scenes for 4 different episodes with 4 different directors in the same week. We’re shooting multiple episodes at the same time. That’s just unheard of. So our show is a different animal. TV’s set, which I like, I really like the pacing of TV. Film, depending on what kind of role you’re playing you have more of an arch where you start out and there might be some kind of rehearsal period and what not. There’s a beginning and an end that they do sort of have in their mind already once you go through that journey of a character, it’s an amazing, cathartic and almost transformational too. I feel like every character that I play I take something from them as well as bring something of myself to it so with that alone it is fascinating and after you’ve finished there’s the conclusion and then you move on to the next one; where in television, there isn’t an immediate end that’s ahead in the future so it’s like an ongoing journey so I’m a fan, I like both.
SoSF: Can you tell us anything about your new film “White on Rice”, you mentioned “Shutter”?
JKL: Yeah, “White on Rice” is a romantic comedy. It evolves around a family whose brother-in-law, he’s like late 30’s, who’s back at home after a painful divorce and just completely throws the family dynamics into discombobulation. I play a character named Tim who is in his mid ‘20’s and he’s a rock musician and he’s sort of stuck in this corporate job and he can’t deal with it. He decides to escape out of it and pursue a music career. I’m also dating the niece of the family and the hilarity comes into play when this 39-year old brother-in-law tries to go after her because he [thinks he] loves her. The family also has a 10-year old son who is this genius piano prodigy and he’s also in love with my girlfriend too, so there’s this bizarre love rectangle going on and it’s just funny because one, the brother-in-law, the 39-year old is sort of a 10-year old trapped in a 39-year olds body and the little boy is like a 39-year old trapped in a 10-year olds body (laughter), so you have total opposites and we shot all of it in Utah along the Salt Lake City area. It was a lot of fun.
SoSF: What are some of the types of movies or TV you enjoy watching, drama, comedy, action?
JKL: I’m a big fan of comedy. The recent ones that I saw I really like were Knocked Up and Superbad. It was Judd Apatow and it was really [a] learning [experience]. I’m into sort of the real life comedy, characters with a strong point of view in absurd situations and just a feeling of reality rooted in it. I’d much rather have that, seeing human beings reacting to absurdity in the kind of circumstances, those are the comedies I enjoy more than slap stick. I’m a huge fan of Michael Moore and his work Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, I can’t say enough about it. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me and 30 Days. I’m more into the independent team more than the huge blockbuster as you may call it. Human behavior interests me more than an hour of CGI. There’s a place and time for that too, but more often than not, I’m more into the real life.
SoSF: You’ve also done a few commercials recently. Is that something you look forward to between projects? Do you own a Playstation 2 console? (laughter)
JKL: (laughter) Someone gave me a Xbox for a gift. I did a lot of commercials when my career first started and right now just the way my career’s progressing I am slowing trying to simmer out of that and moving more into endorsements, but commercials are fun and the world of commercials has changed where it’s become sort of slice of life. A lot of times you get to do kind of improv and have fun and play a little bit but it’s definitely a really good life-line for an actor until you’re on a show like this. It has definitely helped me in the past and I’m thankful for it.
SoSF: Here’s something I find very interesting about you. I understand you sometimes perform at random in piano bars in L.A. and sing and record jazz standards. I know the fans would love to hear about your other talents!
JKL: (laughter) It’s funny when I first moved out to L.A. I actually started studying in casting in spurts before acting. Performing wasn’t actually in my life until 4 or 5 years ago. I discovered a world of standards. I don’t know it just seemed all so fascinating and I fell in love with it and just reading about music from the ’20s and up and every body from Rogers and Hammerstein to Jules Stein and everybody, so I’m a big fan of the genre. I wouldn’t consider myself a singer per se because I don’t have any professional training, but I’ve done some musicals and theater too and jazz music is something that I really love… and yeah I would go to these random piano bars and this person with sheet music singing and it was really fun. I haven’t done it in a while but I did record a song [for the] “White on Rice” sound track. Me and my girlfriend in a movie, we do a sort of a rock rendition of “You Don’t Know Me” so maybe they’ll be coming out, sometime next year with the movie.
SoSF: Well having said that, would music be your career choice if it were not acting?
JKL: I think so. In college, believe it or not I used to be in a hip hop group for a little bit and we used to tour different colleges and venues and what not so music was definitely part of my first love and it was a big part of my life and it still is and I have this huge affinity and respect for a musician because I really appreciate their talents. I think there’s a lot of similarities and connections between acting and obviously music which you are both performances that reach human emotions so yeah….in “White on Rice” I got to play a musician and so in one of the scenes I get to rock out with a band on stage so I got to live out my fantasy for a day.
SoSF: James, we are out of time but , I am so grateful that you took the time for this interview and juggled your schedule.
JKL: Oh, you’re welcome.
