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Celebrities Being “Naughty” with C.S. Lee
Celebrities Being “Naughty” with C.S. Lee
| Being “Naughty” with C.S. Lee |
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| Written by Hazel on Friday, 20 March 2009 00:00 |
 Being “Naughty” with C.S. Lee
by: Hazel LodevicoThe Dexter star talks about why being the bad guy is so much more fun Everyone needs a little help from his friends. So is the case with everyone’s favorite TV serial killer, Dexter on the hit Showtime series. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is the blood splatter analyst by day and murderer by night who spends his time keeping up his innocent façade. No one can break through to Dexter’s secret, and if you do, you won’t live to tell it. But there is one person Dexter can relate to, his best friend Vince Masuka. With a foul mouth and perverse humor, Vince is the outward expression of what Dexter tries to hide. For C.S. Lee, the Korean American actor who plays Vince, being naughty is much more fun. Talking to Lee, it’s a little surprising the affable 36-year-old actor plays the sardonic Vince. “For me, I find any role that’s well-written interesting,” says Lee. “Not only does Vince have that dark humor, what makes him even more interesting is that he’s written in a way that people don’t lose interest in him.” Vince’s enigma personality developed in Dexter’s first season, thanks in large part to Lee’s improvisations during scenes. “I only did it because the dialogue that was written for my character wasn’t as solid or defined. The writers didn’t know what to do with my character,” says Lee. “I knew that department needed some work.” In one scene, after bagging up a body and discussing all the gruesome details of the murder, Vince blurts out as blasé as possible, “I’m hungry. Let’s go grab some sushi.” It’s the kind of deliciously evil humor you’d love to watch but hate to be around in real life. For Lee, it’s the kind of humor that makes great television. “I’ve had more compliments regarding Vince than any other character I’ve played,” says Lee. “People are always interested in things that they deem sort of naughty or not-PC. I think it makes people talk about things that they wouldn’t normally talk about. “ Lee is no stranger to playing the antagonists. In NBC’s Chuck, Lee played geeky nemesis Harry Tang. Audiences loved Harry’s sarcastic sense of humor so much the cameo role was promoted to recurring character status. Although Lee recalls fun times full of nonstop laughter with the crew while on set, in a more serious note, Lee says that Harry was a step forward in roles he had previously played. Sure, Harry was geeky (an ode to the model minority stereotype), but it was a role without the ever-present foreign accent Lee says he had grown accustomed to using over the years. “The fact that Harry was an Asian American on TV without an accent made him more interesting and real,” says Lee. “I can relate to him more and I think audiences, in general, can relate to him.” As an Asian American, Lee describes his childhood as “white-washed,” growing up one of few Asian residents in a predominantly white Washington town. He played football and was expected to fulfill his parents’ all-American dream of choosing a respectable profession such as a doctor or a lawyer. Lee says he came close to going to MIT and becoming an engineer, but the acting seed had been planted when he began taking theater classes in high school. He had also begun taking a keen interest in films. At, the same time, Lee was also making a new discovery – this time about his Asian American identity. “In a way, I felt like an alien watching from the outside looking in. I began to see how much I didn’t really fit in,” says Lee. “I knew need to make a film about this. Film gave me a chance to look at society from a afar, and express myself.” Lee earned a full-ride scholarship to Cornish College of the Arts and eventually earned his Masters in film at Yale School of Drama. Despite his laudable educational background, Lee’s early career was a struggle, with bit parts in shows like Monk and The Sopranos. But, with his career picking up steam with Chuck and now Dexter, Lee says he’s happy where he is now. “Things have been going well and the road hasn’t stopped,” says Lee. “I’m going to stay on this road for awhile and when the fork appears and the opportunity to direct or be in films is there, I’ll do that. But I like where I am right now.” |
