Bruce Lee (played by Danny Kwok-kwan Chan) is trained by Ip Man (Donnie Yen) in the final sequel and will be the star of his own franchise of films.
Danny Kwok-kwan Chan previously played Bruce Lee in Ip Man 3, as well a number of other projects–in fact, he was cast in one of his first-ever roles because of his resemblance to the Enter the Dragon star.
Who plays Bruce Lee in Ip Man 4?
Danny Kwok-kwan Chan plays Lee in Ip Man 4 under the name of Kwok-Kwan Chan.
Kung fu movie fans may have seen Danny Kwok-kwan Chan play Bruce Lee in a number of other projects. The Hong Kong-born actor first played the Fist of Fury actor in the 50 episodes of TV series The Legend of Bruce Lee, in which he played Lee from his early career in Hong Kong, his work in Hollywood, his return to Hong Kong and his death at 32 under mysterious conditions.
This means that Ip Man 4 is not the first time Kwok-kwan has been filmed as Lee being trained by Ip Man. In The Legend of Bruce Lee, actor Chenghui Yu played Ip Man in five episodes, where he taught Lee the ropes of fighting.
Chan also played a Lee lookalike in German series VeggieTales FitnessHof and in the previous film in the movie franchise, Ip Man 3.
Other film roles that Chan has had include kung-fu classics Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. In the latter, the actor was cast due to his resemblance to Bruce Lee.
In Shaolin Soccer, Chan plays a goalkeeper character who is an homage to the legendary star of Hong Kong film. The character wears a version of Lee’s Game of Death yellow jumpsuit, for example, and his position when he gets stretchered off of the pitch is the same one that Lee was put in in his coffin.
This portrayal of Lee in Ip Man 4 comes after star Donnie Yen criticized Quentin Tarantino’s portrayal of Lee in his 2019 movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Speaking to the South China Morning Post, he said: “I know Tarantino personally, but I’m very disappointed with how he portrayed Bruce Lee in the movie. I watched most of the movie, but after that scene, I couldn’t continue.”
He later added: “As filmmakers, I feel we should be more respectful towards someone like Lee, who has contributed so much to our industry.”
Ip Man 4 is streaming now on Netflix.
