Brandon Lee's Family Remembers Late Actor 30 Years Later

Brandon Lee's family is remembering the actor 30 years after he was accidentally shot and killed by a jammed prop gun at age 28 on the set of "The Crow."

Speaking with CNN, family members compared him to his father, Bruce Lee — too big in spirit to be contained by time.

"My brother's fearlessness and his sense of adventure and freedom, his inherent artistry and creativity, and his desire for learning and growth all came from the time that he spent with my father," Shannon Lee told the outlet. "My father was my brother's hero."

Brandon Lee's mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, recalled how Bruce Lee delighted in sharing his martial arts with his son. But in 1973, when he was 8 years old, Brandon Lee's father died from cerebral edema. He was 32. Cadwell recalled how "terribly hurt" her son was when Bruce Lee died.

The family packed up and moved to Seattle before settling in Los Angeles, hoping for a fresh start after Bruce Lee's death. It was here Brandon Lee pursued his love for acting.

"Brandon was so much like his father in that he thought long and deeply about his passions," Cadwell said.

And like Bruce Lee, being a father was something Brandon Lee had hoped to experience with his fiancée Eliza Hutton, his sister said. Unfortunately, Brandon Lee died weeks before they were set to marry.

"Brandon was a gifted and dedicated writer, actor, and athlete with a sensitive soul who was wrongly taken from us too soon," Hutton said. "No matter how deep the pain I've endured in losing him, I wouldn't trade our time together."

In 2021, Hutton spoke out about Brandon Lee's death while calling on filmmakers to stop using live guns on set following the accidental fatal shooting that took place during filming for Alec Baldwin's "Rust."

Brandon Lee died in March 1993 in a similar accident that killed "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. He was filming for "The Crow" when another actor shot him using a gun that was supposed to have only been loaded with blanks. This incident, as well as the accidental shooting that took place on the set of "Rust," were both "avoidable," Hutton told People in an interview.

"I was shattered by the shock and grief of losing the love of my life, Brandon Lee, so senselessly. My heart aches again now for Halyna Hutchins' husband and son, and for all those left in the wake of this avoidable tragedy," she said. "I urge those in positions to make change to consider alternatives to real guns on sets."