James Lee Guy
James Lee Guy
James Lee Guy (born 1968) is an American actor in film and television in China known in front of the camera by his stage name Gai Ji Li, (Chinese: 盖吉 利; pinyin: gài jí lì) meaning "very lucky". His name was given to him by his Chinese wife. Guy, a native of Paragon, Indiana, first met his wife, Helen, when they were both students at IUPUI staying at the International House. Guy followed Helen to Beijing in the summer 1997 and then traveled together to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and proposed to Helen in front of their university classmates before returning to IUPUI. Guy returned to Beijing during the winter break 1997-98 to visit his fiancée and married under Chinese law on January 9, 1998, then returning to the university to continue his studies that spring, but the long distance relationship played an impact on his studies and dropped out that summer, returning to his wife start their life together. Guy was asked by a close friend to join him as an extra in film the film The 38th Parallel. Upon meeting the assistant casting director, he was placed in a helicopter flying over Changping District, and during that scene the casting director, Max Wang, allowed for Helen to fly in the back of the helicopter out of the camera view. Guy was living a dream, but only for a day. Guy went back to his day job selling concrete blocks. Years passed and Guy got a call from his now close friend Max, to star in a TV series. He took off that weekend and excitedly traveled to Dalian to shoot "The Korean War." There he had the honor to work with Hollywood actors Robert Sutton and Frank Novak. He appreciated the opportunity of learning from them however he found it quite depressing because later that Sunday he and his wife would return to Beijing, this time, back to his real estate job. Two years later, in 2002, Guy left his job to study Mandarin Chinese at the Beijing Language and Culture University and immediately afterwards came the arrival his first son, Alexander born on his Chinese wedding anniversary. Guy. At that time, he tried to start a pizza shop and a year later failed, losing face to his wife. He then went back to the real estate industry and in late April 2005, his second son, Augustus, was born. Now, a father of two sons, Guy still had emptiness in his heart with regards to work and was going through depression. With his marriage on the rocks, his close friend Max called to cast him again for yet a larger role given his natural skill and interest for acting. Guy put his heart and passion into it, realizing he was far happier as an actor. Then in 2007, he left a rewarding real estate job behind to focus on his new career as a hungry actor. Guy realizing his happiness and passion for acting honed his talent with the knowledge of veteran Chinese actors Masser and Li Wen Bo and made a smooth transition from a working character actor to a foreign lead actor in China. Living in Beijing with his wife and two sons, Guy teaches his sons acting. In 2010 Guy had a cameo role as a priest in the movie Li Jia Da Yuan in which his eldest son, Alexander, won a lead role as Jerry Li.