James Lew (1952 – 2026)
The great James Lew passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2026. James was Chang Sing #1 in Big Trouble in Little China (and the creator of the iconic Chang Sing hand sign), as well as the film’s associate producer and main fight choreographer. He was an Emmy-award winner for Stunt Coordination on the 2017 series Luke Cage and was nominated for 7 other action awards.
I had a chance to interview James as part of the 5 Minutes of Trouble podcast back in late 2016 (Episode 17, “Chang Sing #1”), and was fortunate enough to meet him again last month for the 40th Anniversary screening of Big Trouble in Little China. You can hear him as part of the Q&A panel in Episode 29 of the podcast.
James was a really nice guy and one of the greats in the stunt world. He will definitely be missed.