Orion Lee on Making First Cow and That Crushing Last Line

One of the films that has been flying under the radar this awards season is A24’s First Cow from writer-director Kelly Reichardt. The film boasts a 95 percent fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and nearly every review has singled out Orion Lee for his terrific performance as King-Lu, a Chinese immigrant on the run for killing a Russian man, who also dreams of owning his own farm one day. Born in Hong Kong, Lee has been acting for more than a decade now, making appearances in blockbusters like Justice League and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, and recurring on the FX series Tyrant. After years of paying his dues onscreen, Lee finally landed a role he could really sink his teeth into with First Cow, for which he was nominated for a Gotham Award for breakthrough actor, as well as an Independent Spirit Award for his supporting turn in the film. With the voting deadline for Oscar nominations approaching soon, Collider’s For Your Consideration host Scott Mantz sat down with