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Geninna Ariton

The embodiment of fierceness, Shannon Emery Lee has never shied away from protecting her father Bruce Lee’s legacy – even when she’s up against outspoken filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
When the director went on the Joe Rogan podcast recently and once again aired his opinion that Bruce “had nothing but disrespect for stuntmen”, Shannon wrote a strongly worded rebuttal in The Hollywood Reporter.
Does Bruce Lee’s legacy have a dark side?

But there is a lot more to know about the actor than just the fact that she is a kung fu legend’s daughter.












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Shannon is a classically trained singer, having completed a degree in vocal performance and music at Tulane University in New Orleans. She even has a few musical credits under her belt.
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Technically her acting debut was when she sang California Dreamin’ in her father’s biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993. A Hong Kong film released in 2000, China Strike Force, directed by Stanley Tong, also featured a cover of I’m in the Mood for Love, sung by Lee. In 2003, the American band Medicine made a comeback with their album “The Mechanical Forces of Love” and featured her on vocals.
Her singing talent shouldn’t be surprising – Shannon is following the footsteps of her grandfather (on father Bruce’s side), Lee Hoi-chuen, a famous Cantonese opera performer.
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Nevertheless, it’s the family skill in martial arts that really runs through her veins.
In an interview, she explained how, “My father used to fool around with us, having us throw punches and kicks. I was much younger, so I didn’t do it to the extent of Brandon” – referring to her older brother, who also went onto be a martial arts film star.
Smashing it: style moves from kung fu master Bruce Lee
But she went on to study martial arts later, although not under Bruce’s tutelage, starting with his Jeet Kune Do technique and going on to secure acting roles in various action films soon after.


She’s also a published author. In October 2020, Flatiron Books published her book, Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee. The book expands on Bruce’s teachings, focusing on his iconic “be water” philosophy. (For those unsure of how water applies to kung fu, just picture how easily water adapts to wherever you put it.)

She says the thing that fuelled her to learn about her father’s teachings in depth was when her brother, Brandon, died after an accident on set.
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A post shared by Shannon Lee (@therealshannonlee)



In an interview with Variety, she said, “I was struggling a lot inwardly and [was] in a lot of pain. His words are timeless, really, and I just feel like when I read his words, I feel soothed. I feel hopeful. I feel energised. Those are all things that we will always need and, in some ways, now more than ever.”
She can also now add “producer” to her list of talents as well. When Bruce was at the height of his Hollywood fame in the early 1970s, he attempted to get a television show known as The Warrior made with himself as the star. It was reportedly rejected by the studio on the basis that Hollywood wasn’t ready for an Asian lead – although it made a film a year later starring a Shaolin monk played by a white man, prompting Lee to return to Hong Kong with the show unmade.
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“In late 2000,” Shannon told The Guardian in an interview, “I agreed to take over looking after my father’s legacy from my mother, and she sent his things to me in LA. There were boxes and boxes of writing. While I was going through them, I came across the treatment for The Warrior. It was this revelatory moment, ‘Wow, it really does exist!’”

And the rest, as they say, is history: Shannon got together with Fast and Furious director Justin Lin and fans can now watch Warrior on HBO.
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How Shannon Emery Lee is carrying forward her father Bruce Lee’s legacy – among other things. Photos: @therealshannonlee/Instagram

Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Emery Lee, wrote a strongly worded response to Quentin Tarantino’s criticism of her father. Photo: @therealshannonlee/Instagram

Just like her father, Shannon Emery Lee is an actor and martial artist. Photo: @therealshannonlee/Instagram

Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Emery wrote a book preserving her father’s teachings after her brother Brandon died. Photo: @therealshannonlee/Instagram

Shannon Emery Lee with her brother Brandon, who died in an accident on a film set in 1993. Photo: @bruceleefan13/ Instagram

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Yvonne Chapman as Zhilan in Kung Fu. Photo: The CW

Yvonne Chapman gets to the point as Zhilan in Kung Fu. Photo: The CW

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Ludi Lin as Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. Photo: Warner Brothers

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Carina Lau. Photo: @carinalau1208/Instagram

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The only daughter of the Enter the Dragon star produced his long lost TV show concept, Warrior, on HBO with F9 director Justin Lin
She was inspired to learn about her dad’s teachings after the death of her brother, Brandon Lee, publishing the book Be Water, My Friend


Teaming up with F9 director Justin Lin to make HBO’s Warrior is just one of the ways the multi hyphenate is continuing her dad’s legacy
