Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, actress and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

artist. She is a former

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

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 below ...

. She has appeared in films, notably in the

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and t ...

movie ''

Shortbus ''Shortbus'' is a 2006 American erotic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in an early 2000s New York City. ...

''.

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 List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. She is the second daughter of father, Leo Lee, from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and a mother from

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, Lee was raised as a devout

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. 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. Lee also has a sister, Deanna, a Vancouver-based artist. 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, a

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

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 Neko Richelle Case ( ; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case's singing voice has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a pow ...

covered Lee's song "Knock Loud" on her 2001 EP '' Canadian Amp''. She had a relationship with the comic artist Chester Brown from 1992 until 1996. She is depicted in several of his comics. He moved to Vancouver for two years to be with her, and moved back to Toronto with her when she became a VJ for

. He also drew the cover for her 1996

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

'' Wigs 'n Guns''. Brown's relationship with Lee is the last

boyfriend A boyfriend is a man who is a friend or acquaintance to the speaker, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is platonically, romantically or sexually involved. A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suito ...

girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...

relationship he had, as he explains in '' Paying for It''. They remain good friends, and Brown has contributed artwork to her productions as recently as 2009's '' Year of the Carnivore''; in 2024, Lee directed the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of Brown's graphic novel ''Paying for It''. She was later 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. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', 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. Lee is bisexual and gender-fluid.

Career

Broadcasting

Lee became a VJ for

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 Section 15 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' contains guaranteed Social equality, equality rights. As part of the Constitution of Canada, the section prohibits certain forms of discrimination perpetrated by the governments of Can ...

by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

in the '' Egan v Canada'' case, Lee celebrated the decision by kissing a woman on the air. She later appeared on the cover of ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'' 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 CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

's Saturday afternoon pop culture magazine radio-show '' Definitely Not the Opera'' 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, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

as part of the CBC Television series ''

The Greatest Canadian ''The Greatest Canadian'' is a 2004 television series consisting of 13 episodes produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to identify one greatest Canadian of all time, according to those who watched and participated in the progr ...

''. 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 Makeful is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Blue Ant Media focused on lifestyle programming relating to do-it-yourself projects such as food, design, style, and crafts in connection with maker culture (from which the channel takes its na ...

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, 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. Marin ...

, in Helen Lee's 2001 film '' The Art of Woo''. Lee also has a smaller part in

's film ''

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to: * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (musical), 1998 ** ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (soundtrack), 1999 * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (film), 2001 {{disambig ...

'', 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 ''

'' (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 Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

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 filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

, actress

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

and artist and musician

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

, 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 Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

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

International Cinephile Society The International Cinephile Society is an online organization of professional film critics and journalists worldwide. It was founded in 2003 and, has approximately 170 members—among them are Mike D'Angelo, Justin Chang (''Los Angeles Times'') ...

Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was not her first film that explores a sexually explicit nature. She acted in '' 3 Needles'' (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 Olivia Chow (born March 24, 1957) is a Canadian politician who has been the 66th and current mayor of Toronto since July 12, 2023. Previously, Chow served as the New Democratic Party (NDP) member of Parliament (MP) for Trinity—Spadina fro ...

in the biopic

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

'' Jack'', alongside Rick Roberts as

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

. The film aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

in 2013. She subsequently won the 2014

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () 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) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

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''. 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 most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

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 rapper. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country ...

also collaborated on the film's soundtrack, which garnered a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

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 The Inside Out Film and Video Festival (formerly, Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival), also known as the Inside Out LGBT or LGBTQ Film Festival, is an annual Canadian film festival, which presents a program of LGBT-related film. Th ...

in 2018, and received several

nominations at the

7th Canadian Screen Awards The seventh annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018.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 plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

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 The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

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 governmen ...

, at Canadian Stage.

Discography

*1994 – '' Lavinia's Tongue'' ( Zulu Records) *1996 – '' Wigs 'n' Guns'' ( Zulu Records) *2003 – ''Electric Blues'' (with Slan,

Last Gang Records Last Gang Records is a record label formed by Canadian music industry lawyer Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton in the fall of 2003 at the Pop Montreal Music Festival. Last Gang was nominated as Independent Record Label of th ...

) *2010 – ''Original Music from and Inspired by the Movie Year of the Carnivore'' (with

and Adam Litovitz,

) *2015 – ''JOOJ'' (with Adam Litovitz,

) *2018 – ''Octavio is Dead!'' (Original Soundtrack for the Film with Alia O'Brien, and Adam Litovitz,

) *2021 – ''jooj two'' (with Adam Litovitz,

)

Filmography

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

Bad Company Bad Company were an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex- Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex- Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson). Kirke was the only m ...

'' (1995) *'' Sliders'' (1995, TV series) *'' Boy Meets Girl'' (1998) *''

'' (2001) *'' The Art of Woo'' (2001) *'' 3 Needles'' (2005) *''

'' (2006) *'' Toronto Stories'' (2008) *'' Year of the Carnivore'' (2009) *'' Jack'' (2013) *'' Octavio Is Dead!'' (2018) *''Death and Sickness'' (2020) *'' Darkest Miriam'' (2024) *'' Paying for It'' (2024)

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 rock singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian film actresses Canadian multimedia artists Canadian performance artists Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television actresses Canadian women screenwriters Canadian bisexual actresses Canadian bisexual writers Canadian bisexual musicians Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters Bisexual screenwriters Bisexual women musicians Bisexual women writers Canadian television personalities Canadian video jockeys Canadian radio hosts Canadian actresses of Chinese descent Canadian musicians of Chinese descent Canadian actresses of Hong Kong descent Canadian musicians of Hong Kong descent Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Canadian LGBTQ screenwriters Actresses from Vancouver Canadian non-binary actors Film directors from Vancouver Singers from Vancouver Writers from Vancouver CBC Radio hosts Much (TV channel) personalities Canadian Screen Award winning actors Canadian LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ Roman Catholics 1966 births 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Asian-Canadian filmmakers Mint Records artists 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Screenwriters from British Columbia Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival award winners Canadian women television hosts LGBTQ women singers Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners