The Crow actor who accidentally shot Brandon Lee admitted he never got over the tragic death

The actor who accidentally fired the fatal shot that killed Brandon Lee on a film set admitted he “never got over” the 1993 tragedy.

Michael Massee spoke about the “very slow and careful process” of his The Crow His co-star confronted him in a moving interview in 2005.

The Missouri-born actor, who died in October 2016 following a stomach cancer diagnosis, played the lead role in Alex Proyas' gothic superhero film at the side of the son of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee when the horror struck.

In a chilling case of life imitating art, Lee was filming a scene in which his character was to be shot when he suffered the fatal injury caused by an improperly prepared prop gun fired by Massee.

Lee, who was just 28 at the time of his death, had eerily told his pal Brad Pitt just a year before the incident that would haunt Massee for the rest of his life that he would “die as young as his father.”

On that fateful day in March 1993, shortly before the end of the filming of the movie, the martial arts star shot a scene that would prove his death in The Crow – which has since been controversially remade.

Lee was supposed to walk through a door with a shopping bag before Massee would shoot him with blanks from a distance of 18 feet.

The actor was then asked to flip a switch attached to the bag to activate “squibs,” essentially small fireworks that simulate bloody gunshot wounds. Ultimately, however, it was his own blood that was spilled.

Brandon Lee played the role of Eric Draven in The Crow (Miramax Films)

The weapon used in the scene was a real revolver loaded with blanks made from converted live ammunition, and the special effects team had removed the powder from the bullet.

However, the weapon was not properly checked and released before the camera roll began, which proved to be a fatal mistake as a bullet fragment from an earlier cut of the scene was still in the barrel of the weapon.

So when Massee pulled the trigger, the bullet was fired from the gun with almost the same force as if it had been loaded with live ammunition.

Lee was hit in the abdomen and fell backwards instead of forwards, as was intended in the scene. When the director called “cut,” he did not get up. However, the crew initially thought he was joking or perhaps still acting.

Although he was taken to hospital and underwent six hours of emergency surgery, Lee could not be saved.

His death was ruled an accident due to negligence, while his mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers, which was later settled on undisclosed terms.

Massee, on the other hand, suffered from his involvement in the death of his co-actress and was traumatized.

Michael Massee in The Crow (Miramax Films)

He took a year off from acting and could not bring himself to The Crow when it was released in May 1994 – but grief followed him throughout his life.

In 2005, 12 years after the incident, the actor gave a rare interview in which he spoke about the lasting impact Lee's death had on him, admitting that he was plagued by “nightmares” about that ill-fated day on set, adding that he didn't think you “ever get over something like that.”

Speaking to Extra TV, the 64-year-old explained that after Lee's death he was very aware of “the dangers of making a film” and “the possibility that something could go wrong on set.”

Massee said: “I've never spoken about it on camera. What happened to Brandon was a tragic accident and I'm going to live with it. I needed so much time – not so much to put it in perspective, but to be able to move on with my life.”

“I never felt the need or obligation to talk to anyone about it except his then-fiancée and his mother, who I called. It's very personal and I want to make sure in my work that it never happens again.”

The Seven Star continued, “It's not that I've avoided talking about it, it just doesn't seem relevant to me or to affect anyone other than the people who were involved in it.

“And for me, for my life journey, how I managed to get to the other side,” he explained. “It was a very slow and thoughtful process. I took a year off and went back to New York and did nothing. I didn't work.”

Massee said he sought comfort from close friends and family “to get over it.”

The The lost highway The star added that Lee's death “should not have happened at all,” adding, “I shouldn't have even been holding the gun in that scene until we started shooting the scene and the director changed it.”

“For a variety of reasons, that shouldn't have happened. It was so far away that if it had been a real gun, we wouldn't have been able to hit the side of a barn with it.

“The bottom line is that it actually happened.”