Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, and actress. She is a former MuchMusic VJ and a former radio host on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined belo ...

. She has appeared in films, notably in the John Cameron Mitchell movie '' Shortbus''.

Early and personal life

Lee was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. She was the second daughter of a father from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and a mother from

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

, Lee was raised as a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, and her mother an escapee from Communist China who remained in and out of psychiatric institutions when Lee was young. She grew up within a strict, secretive and unstable family. When Lee was 15, her parents split up and Lee ran away from home, for a time living on the street before eventually living with a "community of lesbians and artists". In the mid-1980s, she became the lead singer for

Bob's Your Uncle "Bob's your uncle" is a phrase commonly used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries that means "and there it is" or "and there you have it" or "it's done". Typically, someone says it to conclude a set of simple instructions or when a ...

, a

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band. Lee often incorporated

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

techniques into the band's melodic rock. When that band broke up, Lee pursued a solo music career, releasing several solo albums and performing as an actor in theatre, film and television projects. She was the lead singer for the band Slan. Neko Case covered Lee's song "Knock Loud" on her 2001 EP ''

Canadian Amp ''Canadian Amp'' is a 2001 EP by Neko Case. The recording features Case performing four covers of material by Canadian songwriters, along with a Hank Williams cover, a traditional folk song and two original songs written by Case (one of which w ...

''. She was in a relationship with writer and musician Adam Litovitz, who was also her frequent artistic collaborator, from 2007 until 2018."Sook-Yin Lee: Candid with the Camera — Except for One Thing". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', 11 June 2010. They occasionally performed improvised musical sets under the name LLVK, short for Lee/Litovitz/Valdivia/Kamino, and formed the band Jooj, which released its debut album in 2015. An album of music written by Sook-Yin and Adam was completed in 2020 and was released under the title of ''jooj two'' in April 2021 on

Mint Records Mint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker. Mint has put out over 150 releases, several of which have won Juno Awards. His ...

. She resides in Toronto.

Career

Broadcasting

Lee became a VJ for MuchMusic in 1995, hosting MuchMusic's alternative music show '' The Wedge''. In 1995, on the day that sexual orientation was held to be protected under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

in the ''

Egan v Canada ''Egan v Canada'', 9952 SCR 513 was one of a trilogy of equality rights cases published by a very divided Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1995. It stands today as a landmark Supreme Court case which established that sexual orientation con ...

'' case, Lee celebrated the decision by kissing a woman on the air. She later appeared on the cover of '' Xtra!'' in 1997. During her last appearance as a MuchMusic VJ in 2001, Lee and her co-host turned their backs to the camera, and mooned the audience on live television. She became the new host of CBC Radio One's Saturday afternoon pop culture magazine radio-show ''

Definitely Not the Opera ''Definitely Not the Opera'' (or simply ''DNTO'') was a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture and storytelling, that aired on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons from 1994 until 2016. The show's running time varied ove ...

'' in 2002. ''Definitely Not the Opera'' completed its run in 2016. In the fall of 2004, she hosted a documentary celebrating

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...

as part of the CBC Television series '' The Greatest Canadian''. During the Summer of 2008, Lee was a member of the CBC Olympic broadcasting team for the Beijing games. During the games, Lee filmed a TV spot that touched upon concerns regarding human rights and political issues. In 2016, Lee hosted the 10 episode summer series ''Sleepover'' for CBC Radio, which continued as a podcast until 2018. In 2020, Lee hosted '' Landscape Artist of the Year Canada'', a Canadian adaptation of '' Landscape Artist of the Year'', for Makeful.

Film work

As a feminist, Lee specifically works on films that discuss feminist and/or racial issues. ''Escapades of One Particular Mr. Noodle'' (1990) was her debut as a feminist film director. This film was produced by

Studio D Studio D was the women's unit of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the world's first publicly funded feminist filmmaking studio. In its 22-year history, it produced 134 films and won 3 Academy Awards. '' Cinema Canada'' once called it th ...

, a primarily feminist film production company, as one of the short films in their segment '' Five Feminist Minutes'' (1990). Lee played the lead character Alessa Woo, alongside fellow Canadian actor

Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in '' Smoke Signals'', Frank Fencepost in ''Dance Me Outside'', Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', Kickin' Wing in ''Joe Dirt'', U.S. Marine ...

, in Helen Lee's 2001 film ''

The Art of Woo ''The Art of Woo'' is a 2001 Canadian romantic comedy film written and directed by Helen Lee and starring Sook-Yin Lee and Adam Beach. Plot Alessa Woo (Sook-Yin Lee), an art gallery employee in Toronto, has built an image as a rich heiress, but ...

''. Lee also has a smaller part in John Cameron Mitchell's film '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', playing Kwahng-Yi, a guitarist in Hedwig's rock band made up of Korean-born army wives. In 2003, she became the centre of controversy when Mitchell first announced that he was casting Lee in his film '' Shortbus'' (released 2006). Due to Mitchell's announcement that the film was to be sexually explicit in nature – Lee and other cast members perform non-simulated intercourse and masturbation on screen – the CBC initially threatened to fire her. In making ''Shortbus'', Mitchell sought to make a film about love and sex without censoring itself. Celebrities such as director

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, actress Julianne Moore and artist and musician Yoko Ono, as well as the CBC's listening audience, rallied behind her, and the CBC ultimately relented. The movie premiered at the 2006

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. Her performance in ''Shortbus'' earned Lee the 2007 ''International

Cinephile Cinephilia (; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words cinema and philia, one of the four ancient Greek words for love. A ...

Society Award for Best Supporting Actress''. This was not her first film that explores a sexually explicit nature. She acted in ''

3 Needles ''3 Needles'' is a 2005 Canadian drama film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. The title refers to the three main characters who make a deal with the Devil in order to survive a global epidemic. The plot deals with interwoven stories of persons around ...

'' (2005), a short film about HIV and AIDS. The film takes place in various locations around the world - Canada, China, and South Africa - demonstrating the universality of STDs/STIs. In 2012, she was chosen to play Olivia Chow in the biopic television film '' Jack'', alongside Rick Roberts as Jack Layton. The film aired on CBC Television in 2013. She subsequently won the 2014

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series ...

for ''Best Performance by a Lead Dramatic Actress in a Program/Mini-Series.'' Lee stars in, wrote and directed ''The Brazilian'' segment of the 2008 film ''

Toronto Stories ''Toronto Stories'' is a 2008 Canadian anthology film. It has four segments that are bound together by a young boy, lost in an unknown city. After the prologue, the four segments are directed by different people: "Shoelaces" by Aaron Woodley, "The ...

''. Her feature film directorial debut '' Year of the Carnivore'' premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

in 2009. Lee, Litovitz and

Buck 65 Richard Terfry (born March 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian alternative hip hop artist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, count ...

also collaborated on the film's soundtrack, which garnered a Genie Award nomination for Best Original Score at the

31st Genie Awards The 31st Genie Awards ceremony was held on March 10, 2011 to honour films released in 2010.

. Her second feature film as a director, '' Octavio Is Dead!'', premiered at the

Inside Out Film and Video Festival Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 ...

in 2018, and received several

nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards.

Theatrical work

In 2013, Lee wrote and starred in a theatrical performance show ''How Can I Forget?'' at Toronto's

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of '' Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhi ...

and Summerworks theatre festivals. She and Litovitz also staged ''Morrice Fled: Two Paintings Talk to Each Other'', a pop-up performance at the Art Gallery of Ontario based on the art of James Wilson Morrice, in January. In 2014, Lee choreographed a dance solo for Syreeta Hector as part of ''On Display'' for Toronto Dance Theatre. From 2015 to 2017, she created and directed ''Sphere of Banished Suffering'' with dancers Jenn Goodwin, Mairi Greig, and Charlie McGettigan with Litovitz developed in residencies with LUFF art+dialogue, Dancemakers, Artscape Sandbox, and premiered at the Festival of New Dance 2017. In 2019, she wrote and appeared in ''Unsafe'', a documentary theatre production on the topic of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, at

Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is a non-profit contemporary performance arts company based in Toronto, Ontario, ''Canada''. About Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is one of Canada's largest not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, based in Toronto, Ontari ...

Discography

*1994 – '' Lavinia's Tongue'' ( Zulu Records) *1996 – '' Wigs 'n' Guns'' ( Zulu Records) *2003 – ''Electric Blues'' (with Slan, Last Gang Records) *2010 – ''Original Music from and Inspired by the Movie Year of the Carnivore'' (with

and Adam Litovitz, Last Gang Records) *2015 – ''JOOJ" (with Adam Litovitz, Last Gang Records) *2018 – ''Octavio is Dead!" (Original Soundtrack for the Film with Alia O'Brien, and Adam Litovitz, Last Gang Records) *2021 – ''jooj two'' (with Adam Litovitz,

)

Filmography

*'' Five Feminist Minutes'' (1990) (segment "Escapades of One Particular Mr. Noodle") *''Green Dolphin Beat'' (1994) *'' Bad Company'' (1995) *''

Sliders Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * ''The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

'' (1995, TV series) *'' Boy Meets Girl'' (1998) *'' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2001) *''

'' (2001) *''

'' (2005) *'' Shortbus'' (2006) *''

'' (2008) *'' Year of the Carnivore'' (2009) *'' Jack'' (2013) *'' Octavio Is Dead!'' (2018)

References

External links

*
Sook-Yin Lee's profile as host of DNTO at CBC

Sook-Yin Lee
at Queer Media Database Canada-Quebec {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sook-Yin Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian alternative rock musicians Canadian women rock singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian film actresses Canadian performance artists Women performance artists Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television actresses Canadian women film directors Canadian women screenwriters Bisexual actresses Bisexual musicians LGBT film directors LGBT songwriters Canadian women television personalities Canadian VJs (media personalities) Canadian women radio hosts Canadian actresses of Chinese descent Canadian musicians of Chinese descent Canadian actresses of Hong Kong descent Canadian musicians of Hong Kong descent LGBT broadcasters from Canada LGBT singers from Canada Actresses from Vancouver Film directors from Vancouver Musicians from Vancouver Writers from Vancouver CBC Radio hosts Much (TV channel) personalities Canadian Screen Award winners LGBT Roman Catholics 1966 births 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Asian-Canadian filmmakers