Two-puff Lee smoked pot at school

Ang Lee smoked cannabis when he was a student. 'I had two puffs and then fell asleep,' the Oscar-winning director told reporters at the 62nd Cannes film festival this week.

Scenes of teenagers smoking cannabis and taking ecstasy are featured in Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock. The comedy looks at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival that was all about sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. The film stars Demetri Martin and Eugene Levy.

Lee, 54, said he smoked cannabis while studying in the US in the early 1980s, but when he smoked it he was unable to hold a proper conversation in English so kept talking in Putonghua.

But the director (right) said he didn't have to experience every scene first-hand to film it. He said he had never taken ecstasy.

'It's the same when filming a woman, I don't need to change sex. Luckily, people believe in [the part about ecstasy], otherwise I might have to try it,' he said.

Lee's Taking Woodstock is one of 20 films vying for the coveted Palme d'Or award. Others include Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces, Tsai Ming-liang's Visages and Johnnie To Kei-fung's Vengeance. The winner will be announced at the closing awards ceremony tomorrow night.