Jason Scott Speaks For The First Time About It: “To This Day, No One Can Explain It…” | HO

In Hollywood, legends are often born from myth, tragedy, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction. But few stories are as haunting—or as shrouded in unanswered questions—as the one that followed Jason Scott Lee during and after the making of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Now, for the first time, Lee is breaking his silence about the moment that has haunted him for decades—a moment that, he admits, “to this day, no one can explain.”

What began as a career-defining role for a young actor from Hawaii would become a journey into the heart of one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries. It’s a story about the cost of becoming a legend, the thin veil between art and life, and a chilling coincidence that still reverberates through the film industry.

Becoming Bruce: The Unlikely Choice

Long before he was cast as Bruce Lee, Jason Scott Lee was an outsider in Hollywood—a Chinese-Hawaiian actor who struggled to find roles that didn’t fall into tired stereotypes. Born in Los Angeles in 1966 and raised in Oahu, Jason’s early life gave little hint of the legendary figure he would one day portray. He didn’t grow up practicing martial arts. His first roles—like in Born in East L.A. and Back to the Future Part II—had nothing to do with fighting or philosophy.

In fact, when Universal began searching for someone to play Bruce Lee in what would become Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Jason Scott Lee was not an obvious choice. The studio first approached Brandon Lee, Bruce’s real-life son, but Brandon turned down the role, wary of being trapped by his father’s shadow. That decision opened the door for Jason, whose quiet intensity and physical presence caught the attention of casting directors.

But the weight of the role was crushing. “It was like being told to become a god,” Jason would later say. To prepare, he was introduced to Jerry Potit, one of Bruce Lee’s original students, who became his mentor in Jeet Kune Do. The training was brutal—physically, mentally, and emotionally. “I had an emotional breakdown while I was training,” Jason recalled. “It flattened me. I wasn’t just learning to fight; I was learning to become someone almost mythical.”

The Demon Scene: When Fiction Turns Prophetic

Dragon was not a conventional biopic. Directed by Rob Cohen and based loosely on Linda Lee Cadwell’s memoir, the film blended real events with dreamlike sequences and symbolic battles—most notably, a recurring confrontation with an armored demon, a manifestation of the supposed “Lee family curse.”

It was during the filming of this now-infamous demon scene that the line between acting and reality began to blur for Jason Scott Lee. On set, the atmosphere was thick with unease. Crew members reported equipment failures, flickering lights, and a sense of dread. “There was something about that day,” Jason said in a recent interview. “The energy was just wrong. Everyone was on edge. No one could explain why.”

The scene called for Bruce Lee, played by Jason, to enter a surreal, graveyard-like realm and do battle with the demon, fighting not just for himself but to save his son, Brandon. The symbolism was obvious—a father protecting his legacy from a dark force. But for Jason, it felt like something more. “It wasn’t just acting. It felt like something was watching and waiting,” he admitted.

During a particularly emotional take, as Bruce sees a vision of his son being pulled away by the demon, Jason broke down—not in character, but as himself. He collapsed, overwhelmed by a sense of foreboding he couldn’t shake.

The Chilling Coincidence: Art Imitates Life

What happened next would turn a symbolic movie scene into a real-life tragedy that stunned the world. Less than two months before Dragon was set to premiere, Brandon Lee was killed in a freak accident on the set of The Crow. He was shot with a prop gun that had been improperly prepared, dying at just 28 years old.

The timing was almost too much to bear. In the film, Bruce Lee fights a demon to save his son. In reality, Bruce’s real son was struck down just as he was stepping into his own legacy. “When I heard what happened, my heart dropped,” Jason said. “I couldn’t breathe. That scene—it felt like we had called something down.”

The demon sequence, never meant to be literal, suddenly felt like a prophecy. Fans and conspiracy theorists pointed to it as further evidence of the so-called Lee family curse—a generational shadow that seemed to follow the family from Hong Kong to Hollywood.

The Lee Family Curse: Myth or Pattern?

For decades, whispers of a curse have haunted the Lee family. In traditional Chinese culture, families sometimes gave sons feminine nicknames to ward off evil spirits believed to target firstborn boys. Bruce’s parents did just that, hoping to protect their son from unseen forces. But Bruce died suddenly at age 32, his cause of death still debated to this day. Twenty years later, Brandon died under equally bizarre circumstances.

Dragon leaned into this mythology, visualizing the curse as a literal demon stalking Bruce throughout his life. The final confrontation, where Bruce fights to save his son, was meant as a metaphor for generational trauma and the burden of legacy. But after Brandon’s death, the scene took on a chilling new meaning.

Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter, has worked tirelessly to refocus attention on her family’s achievements rather than their deaths, dismissing the curse as sensationalism. Still, the legend refuses to die. “Maybe it’s human nature to look for patterns when faced with tragedy,” Jason mused. “But some things are just too strange to ignore.”

The Weight of the Role: Possession or Performance?

Jason Scott Lee is not a superstitious man. But he admits that certain moments on set felt “possessed” by something beyond acting. “There were times when it didn’t feel like me at all,” he said. “Movements would come naturally, lines would hit with uncanny timing. It was as though I was channeling something—not just Bruce, but the weight of everything he carried.”

The emotional toll was immense. Jason often went home from set exhausted, questioning whether he was worthy of the role. Conversations with Linda Lee Cadwell and Brandon Lee echoed in his mind, grounding him in the reality behind the legend. But nothing could prepare him for the impact of the demon scene, or the real-life tragedy that would follow.

To this day, Jason has never rewatched the demon sequence all the way through. “It stirs something in me that’s hard to describe. Part grief, part fear, part awe. It’s not just a movie scene—it’s a moment where fiction and reality collided.”

The Lingering Mystery

Officially, Bruce Lee died of cerebral edema; Brandon, from a prop gun accident. Rational explanations exist for both. But the timing, the symbolism, and the strange occurrences on set have kept the legend alive. “The line between fiction and something else felt blurry at times,” Jason admitted. “Like the role had tapped into something ancient and unsettled.”

In the years since, Jason Scott Lee has moved on to other roles and other lives. But the experience of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story—and that one unexplainable moment—has never left him. “Some stories write themselves,” he said. “And not even death can stop them.”

The Unanswered Question

As the world continues to debate the meaning of the Lee family tragedies, Jason Scott Lee’s experience stands as a reminder of the mysteries that still linger in the shadows of Hollywood. Was it just coincidence? Or did the film tap into something deeper, something no one can fully explain?

“To this day, no one can explain it,” Jason repeats. And perhaps, in the end, that’s the point. Some stories are meant to remain unsolved—echoes of legends, curses, and the unknowable power of fate.