LEE: When I first met with Alex Proyas, the director, one of the
things that he talked about was wanting to see the film through Eric
Draven's eyes. You're dealing with...a man who has come back from the
dead, and I think the thing that I enjoy most about this is the
questions that raises. If you died, and a year had passed since you died, you have to
assume that the people you loved and the people who loved you would
have had to come to terms with having lost you. And now suddenly you
are given the chance to come back for two days.... Wouldn't you feel
a responsibility not to trammel in the lives of the people who have
had a year to deal with that loss? And you would see the world from a
perspective no one has.... That's one of the wonderful things about
playing this character-there are no rules about how a person who has
come back from the dead is going to behave. There's this wonderful quote from
TELLER:
LEE: It's extreme. The character comes back from the dead, and, at
first he doesn't know where he is, how he got there.... How does that
tie in with the physicality? I just didn't think he should be too
healthy-looking, so I lost some weight for the role.
I've been colder on this film than I've been in years; I can never
remember deliberately going outside when it was about 5 degrees, in
the rain, with no shoes on. I think it adds to the character's
experience--I mean, he's torn up emotionally, physically, and
psychically, and the fact that there have been some stringent
physical demands placed on me
TELLER: There's a great deal of action in the film. How did you
approach the fights in this picture?
LEE: I must say I've never done anything where I felt that the
violence was as justified as it is in this
TELLER: There's a unique look to Eric-his dress, his makeup, his
conversational style. Could you talk about that?
LEE: If you've ever found yourself pushed to the limits of your
tolerance... you find yourself doing some things that, from the
outside, can be seen as quite insane.... The makeup Eric ends up
putting on when he assumes this persona of the Crow is his reaction
to being pushed to those limits. He cannot deal with what is going
on, and by assuming this persona he creates someone who can.
TELLER: What is his reward?
LEE: His reward is that he is promised that he will be with
Shelley, the woman he loved, in a better place. That's interesting
because that falls into
TELLER: There's a wicked, dark sense of humor in this film.
LEE: You're dealing with a character who is, at some points, quite
insane. And I hope that any wicked, dark sense of humor Eric exhibits
comes out of the fact that he'd been pushed to the point where it
seems quite sensible to say some of the ridiculous things he says.
God knows the times I have found myself in absurd situations....
I had this guy break into my house about four years ago, and I
caught him in the middle of robbing me. I jumped in through the
window...and put him on the ground. When the cops came, the fight had
progressed out the window, onto the sidewalk. He had a knife I had
taken away from him, and I pressed
TELLER: Destiny plays a very important role in the film.
Characters are linked by events past. What about the destiny of
Brandon Lee?
LEE: Oh, now we're gonna talk about me, huh? Well, I'm freezing to
death; it's cold in here! Was I destined to play this role? I don't
know if I was destined to play this role, but I feel very fortunate
to be doing so.