Trivia

Had planned on changing to a career in Computer Science when his film career stalled, but his wife encouraged him to stick with it.

Never storyboards his movies, even visually complex films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

Is one of only seven living directors who have won the Directors Guild of America Award more than once. The others are Steven Spielberg (3 times) and two-time winners Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Oliver Stone and Milos Forman. However, Lee is unique in this group and being the only one not to have directed a best picture Oscar winner.

Was a stay at home parent for six years when his film career stalled and his wife was the sole earner in the family.

Was 37 years old when he directed his first feature film.

Developed a very strong relationship with Anne Hathaway while filming Brokeback Mountain (2005). It was Ang who persuaded Anne to take the role of Jane Austen in Becoming Jane (2007); having directed Sense and Sensibility (1995) he knew she would be perfect for the role.

Earned his Masters Degree in Fine Arts from New York University.

Because of his directorial work of Life of Pi (2012), the film became the first family film to win the Academy Award for Best Director since Carol Reed for Oliver! (1968) at the 41st Academy Awards in 1969, though others have been nominated: Norman Jewison for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), George Lucas for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Steven Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Martin Scorsese for Hugo (2011).

Was considered to direct Spider-Man (2002).

Directed 5 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams.

His movies The Wedding Banquet (1993), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) were Oscar-nominated for "Best Foreign Language Film". Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) won.

The first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Director who is not Caucasian, i.e. American or European. In the years since, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, and Bong Joon Ho have also went on to win Best Director Oscars.

Left Taiwan in 1978 to study in the US.

Father Sheng Lee died in 2004 at the age of 91. He was the head teacher at Tainan First Senior High School.

Two sons: Haan (b. 1984) and Mason (b. 1990), both born in Illinois.

When he cast Winston Chao as his lead in The Wedding Banquet (1993), Chao was an airline steward and model and had never acted in a film before. They spent three to four hours every day to teach him how to act. Lee later cast Chao again in Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).

Only Asian to win a Best Director Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA. Along with Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, he is also one of three non-Caucasian directors to win all three awards for directing.

Turned down an offer to direct Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).

Is one of 10 directors to win the Golden Globe, Director's Guild, BAFTA, and Oscar for the same movie, winning for Brokeback Mountain (2005). The other directors to achieve this are Mike Nichols for The Graduate (1967), Milos Forman for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Richard Attenborough for Gandhi (1982), Oliver Stone for Platoon (1986), Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List (1993), Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018), Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant (2015), and Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water (2017).

Graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1980 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theater Studies from the Department of Theater.

He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Two of his films, The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride with the Devil (1999), are in the Criterion Collection.

Only one of four people to have won the Best Director Oscar more than once without any of those films having won the Oscar for Best Picture. His two wins are for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012). The other three individuals are Frank Borzage for directing 7th Heaven (1927) and Bad Girl (1931), George Stevens for directing A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956), and Alfonso Cuarón for directing Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018).

He was the first Asian director to direct a comic book film with Hulk (2003) and was the only one until James Wan directed Aquaman (2018) and Cathy Yan directed Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020).

Was in negotiations to direct Terminator Genisys (2015) but a deal could not be reached.

He has directed four films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012).

While attending NYU, worked on Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), Spike Lee's well-renowned student film.

Ang Lee discovered actor Winston Chao and cast him in The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). In the film Kabali (2016), Chao plays the part of a mob boss whose mentor is named Ang Lee.

Taught Kai Wong filmmaking as Montgomery-Fellow-in-Residence at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League college which Meryl Streep once attended.

A dedicated fan of Calgary Flames hockey team.

Is to date the only filmmaker to have directed both a Chinese martial arts swashbuckler, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and a superhero film, Hulk (2003).

Graduated from Tisch School of the Arts Graduate program.

Father of Mason Lee.

Directed two films which won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Brokeback Mountain (2005). Lee also won Best Director for the latter.

One of 4 children.