Lee loyal to fans despite mainstream fling

Jason Lee, a sort of demigod in the cult world of Kevin Smith
fanatics, is about to step foot in odd and foreign territory: the
romantic leading man.

Lee, best known for his roles in films like Smith’s
“Chasing Amy” and Cameron Crowe’s “Almost
Famous,” may not seem the obvious choice to play the object
of affection for two Hollywood hotties, Julia Stiles and Selma
Blair, in “A Guy Thing” which opens nationwide
today.

In fact, Lee himself was not initially sold on the idea of
playing the lead in a romantic comedy, but he eventually found the
opportunity to do physical comedy appealing.

“I’ve never done something this mainstream, this
much of a leading role and this much physical comedy,” Lee
said. “I just wanted to see if I could do it.”

Fans of Lee’s work may worry whether this will signal his
departure from the alternative, independent films in favor of the
more conventional studio films, like his fellow Kevin Smith
protégé, Ben Affleck. 

“(In mainstream Hollywood), sometimes the food is a little
better and you have better sleeping quarters but its good that I
went back to this independent movie that I started last night
because I think I had gotten used to doing the bigger
movies,” Lee said.

While “A Guy Thing” might not impress fans of
Lee’s prior work, the movie he is currently filming may
assure Lee’s fans that he’s still indie at heart.
It’s called “I Love Your Work,” and is directed
by Adam Goldberg. The film stars Giovanni Ribisi as an actor being
stalked by a crazy fanatic played by Lee.

“(It’s) young people making a movie for a million
bucks,” Lee said about “I Love Your Work.”
“It has that real high energy thing of trying to get it done
and be creative. Since you don’t have as many luxuries, you
know you’ve got to get the job done. Things are a little less
driven on bigger movies because things come a little
easier.”

Lee’s interest in passionately created art can be linked
to his hobby.

He is an enthusiastic art collector who plans on opening a
museum within the next 10 years. He also hopes to soon establish a
non-profit foundation for the arts, which will provide grants to
artists.

In addition to his film work Lee helped revolutionize the sport
of skateboarding during his stint as a professional boarder in the
early ’90s.

But like Lee’s straddling between mainstream and
independent films, he doesn’t plan to abandon skateboarding
entirely even as he moves on to bigger things.

“Maybe I’ll make a comeback like Michael
Jordan,” Lee said.