Where You've Seen Ip Man 4's Bruce Lee Before

This isn't Chan's first run playing Bruce Lee, and neither was his franchise debut in Ip Man 3. Chan has built a bit of a cottage career playing the much-mythologized martial arts master and Hollywood performer. The actor got his first chance to put his hair up in Lee's signature coif in the 2008 TV series The Legend of Bruce Lee. Billed as "The epic true story of a martial arts legend," The Legend of Bruce Lee ran for 50 episodes, and definitely got Chan noticed.

The series was produced by China Central Television, and ran on CCTV-1. Chan was apparently cast after performing a dead-to-rights Bruce Lee impression in his role as the goalkeeper in the comedic film Shaolin Soccer (via South China Morning Post). A brief impression performed for a few laughs is a far cry from inhabiting a character across 50 episodes of dramatic television, but Chan proved he had the chops. The Legend of Bruce Lee only increased Chan's profile as the preeminent Bruce Lee performer in the Hong Kong media scene, a position that shot him to the top of Ip Man director Wilson Yip's casting list when it came time to find his own Lee for Ip Man 3.

Per IMDb, Chan was a huge fan of Bruce Lee growing up, so the opportunity to play his idol in so many projects must continue to be a real honor.