Jason Lee: from mallrat to all that in no time flat

Interview, Oct, 2002 by Kevin Smith

During his almost 10 years in the business, actor Jason Lee's played the guy next door, the best friend. He's the everyman who excels at playing average, a quality that endears him to both audiences and directors, a handful of whom use him the way a coach might use a veteran ballplayer. This fall and into next winter, Lee steps off the bench and has his moment in the sun, or spotlight, starring first in Stealing Harvard, with Tom Green and Megan Mullally, and later as one-third of a love triangle also involving Julia Stiles and Selma Blair, in A Guy Thing. Offscreen, the former professional skateboarder is rolling, too: He recently launched a foundation dedicated to furthering the arts in his hometown of Los Angeles. Here he talks to director Kevin Smith, who frequently turns to Lee for scene-stealing acting and introductions to artists.

KEVIN SMITH: Chasing Amy's Jason Lee.

JASON LEE: Dogma's Kevin Smith.

KS: What are you up to, cat?

JL: Just eating a banana. Pretty exciting, huh?

KS: Let's talk art. Most people don't know that you're a huge art collector-slash-supporter.

JL: Yup.

KS: Well, let's hear about it.

JL: [laughs] I met [the artist] Bryten Goss about 10 years ago when he was 16, and he was coming out of his phase of being a punk rocker, and I'd say I've bought about 20 of his paintings over the years. And through that, I got turned on to going to museums and to seeing other artists.

KS: When did you meet Gottfried Heinwein?

JL: About a year-and-a-half ago, through Bryten.

KS: Since this is Interview, most cats probably are familiar with Gottfried's stuff, but for those who aren't, his most famous painting is probably Boulevard of Broken Dreams with lames Dean, correct?

JL: Yep. Those posters, they're all over the place. I guess Gottfried's made a good dime on those over the years, huh?

KS: A pretty penny. You've turned me on to both Gottfried and Bryten, who did a huge painting of my wife in the buff.

JL: Tell people where it's hanging and why.

KS: It's in the boudoir. Bryten wanted us to hang it in the entryway, [Lee laughs) so when people walk in, it's like, "She's nude! Deal with it!" But we live with my wife's parents and I don't think they have seen her naked in quite some time, and I don't think they want to be reminded that she even gets naked--so we opted for the bedroom. Anyway, you started a foundation and named it after yourself: the Jason Lee Foundation for the Arts. Didn't wait till you were dead--started it while you were alive and could actually do something about it.

JL: Well, I figure I have some pull with my name. Not a lot, but some. The folks who see my movies and actually like what I do, maybe they'll see what we're doing with the foundation, and hopefully make a donation.

KS: "Hi. I'm Stealing Harvard's Jason Lee, and I'd like to talk to you about art."

JL: "Please make the check payable to..."

KS: [laughs) You're bringing art to a bunch of people who might not see it otherwise.

JL: That's the idea. We have a new gallery space in downtown L.A., and we'll have three different exhibitions, in October, November and December.

KS: Where do you find time to act?

JL: I'm acting a lot, actually, because I have to pay for all the art. I've done seven movies over the last two years. It's been kind of nonstop.

KS: Stealing Harvard is up in September. Who directed it?

JL: Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall.

KS: He put out an hysterical comedy album a few years back. Isn't Tom Green in the movie, too?

JL: Yeah. Tom Green. Leslie Mann. Megan Mullally of Will & Grace plays my sister.

KS: And after that one you have...

JL: A Guy Thing with Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, Julie Hagerty and James Brolin.

KS: James Brolin? You've started working with a much larger stable of talent than the normal hucksters in the flicks we do. You second banana-ed to

[Tom] Cruise!

JL: Yeah. That was pretty amazing. But it's because of those films we did together, I think.

KS: You were Cruise's boy! I went to the premiere [of Vanilla Sky], sat in the audience and said, "This guy knows Cruise!" You were tremendous in that picture.

JL: Thanks, Kev.

KS: And that's the second time you worked with Cameron [Crowe].

JL: Yeah. The first was Almost Famous [2000].

KS: You were fantastic in that. But I'm a fan. I appreciate every performance you've given, except for that one in Mi Vida Loca [1994], where you're standing next to Spike Jonze with that terrified look on your face.

JL: [laughs] What you see onscreen is me being nervous. All I had done before that was a music video [Sonic Youth's "100%"], and I skated in that. Spike was directing it and he wanted skateboarders in it, so he called me. But other than that I hadn't done anything.

KS: But you took to acting like a fish takes to water. You're one of the only people I know who's had two careers and retired from one.

JL: Yeah. At the young age of 32.

KS: You're 32 now. When did you retire?

JL: I stopped skating at 24, milked it for a little while and hung up the board at 25.

KS: Do you still get on it from time to time?