Brian MacKinnon is the adult man who successfully posed as a teenager Brandon Lee claiming to be 17-year-old from Canada and enrolled as a fifth-year student at Bearsden Academy.
Brian convinced his Scottish high school classmates and teachers that he was just a typical regular pupil for a whole school year during the academic year of 1993. As a result, he gained a five grade-A higher and a place studying medicine at the University of Dundee before his double life was exposed.
A documentary directed by Jono McLeod was released in January this year that depicts the story of MacKinnon’s desperate desire to become a doctor. The movie My Old School shows how Brian deceives his old school teachers and his friends.
MacKinnon, who imposed as Brandon Lee, was 30 when he enrolled as a fifth-year student at his former school in 1993. In the movie, MacKinnon did not want his face to be featured. Hence his testimony is lip-synced by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
The School Imposter Brian MacKinnon – How Old Is He Now?
Brian MacKinnon, the Scotsman known for posing as a teenager Brandon Lee to return to medical school, was born on June 4, 1963. He was a medical student at the Unversity of Glasgow but failed his exams and was eventually taken off the course.
MacKinnon was originally a student at Bearsden Academy between 1974 and 1980 and acquired grades good enough to study medicine at University. However, because of his illness, he failed the exams forcing him to drop the course in 1983.
Determined to become a doctor, he imposed the persona of Canadian teenager Brandon Lee, an orphaned teenager living with his grandmother, to retake his Highers to circumvent his academic records and take a second chance at being a doctor.
Where Is Brian MacKinnon Now?
A dropout medical student at Glasgow Uni, Brian MacKinnon returned to his alum high school in 1993 as a teenage student Brandon Lee. He is now the topic of the new movie My Old School, with Alan Cumming taking the title role.
Now a recluse, Brian, has rarely been seen or spoken in public since his deception made headlines worldwide in 1995. According to reports on Daily Mail UK, McKinnon lives alone in one bedroom flat in Glasgow.
As per the same report, MacKinnon, 58, is unemployed and lives a reclusive life alone but has remained close to Bearsden. He occasionally ventures to the supermarket and the local library.
A few years ago, he worked at a local industrial park but left the job after a gang of men assaulted him. He wrote and published his autobiography online in 1997 and plans to release an updated version coming year.
Brian MacKinnon Family Details
Brian was born to his Scottish parents in 1963. He lived at his family house in Glasgow during his high school year. However, the name and identity of his parents are kept under the hood now.
As per the reports, he lived at his mother’s house in Glasgow when he was imposing as teenager Brandon Lee to get back into medical school. More information about him and his family can be found in his autobiography Rhesus Negative.