Imagine wanting to be an actor. Not too hard to imagine since many young people make that decision every day. Now imagine that your father is the greatest martial arts film star of all time. It makes things a little more difficult, doesn’t it? Actor Brandon Lee had this to deal with when he decided he wanted to be an actor. After all, his father was Bruce Lee, the man who set the bar for martial arts films and was more famous 30 years after his death than he was when he was alive.
Rather than try to replace Bruce, Brandon set out to carve his own niche in acting. Ironically, one of Brandon’s first acting job was on Kung Fu: The Movie. It was a reprise of Kung Fu, the 70’s show in which Bruce Lee lost the lead role to actor David Carradine. He appeared in another Kung Fu movie and then in Laser Mission, a low budget film. His first real break was 1991’s Showdown in Little Tokyo in which he costarred with Dolph Lundgren. That was followed up with 1992’s Rapid Fire, which was fairly well received. In both films, people recognized Brandon’s on screen charisma. He refused the chance to play his father in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and instead began filming The Crow, a movie based on a comic book hero in Wilmington, NC in early 1993.
Just like his father, Brandon would die at a very young age and in a very controversial manner. By March 31, the cast was eight days away from the end of the shoot for The Crow. Spirits were high as Brandon was to be married in a little over two weeks. Shortly after midnight on the 31st, he reported for a flashback scene of his character’s death. As his character entered through a door, a drug dealer would shoot him from 15 feet away. As the actor playing the drug dealer aimed and shot, Brandon collapsed and it was soon discovered that he had a hole in his lower abdomen. He was rushed to the location medical center and into emergency surgery. Shortly after 1:00 pm, on April 1st, Brandon Lee died at the age of 28. Brandon’s mother Linda and his fiancée Eliza supported the completion of the film using stunt doubles and digital composites of Brandon for the final scenes. The Crow did well at the box office. The footage of his death was later destroyed.
What actually happened? It was originally believed that one of the lead slugs used in blanks came off the casting and lodged itself in the gun, being fired at Brandon when the blank went off. The autopsy proved that theory wrong, stating that a live .44 caliber bullet had killed Brandon. But, no one on the set could explain how that happened. Another thing no one could explain was why the actor playing the drug dealer fired directly at Brandon rather than doing the industry standard of faking the shot. Just like with his father’s death, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding Brandon including the Chinese mafia still seeking revenge against Bruce. But, in the end, all we really know is that a beloved father and son both died far too young.