Bruce Lee had a tragically short Hollywood career, but his martial arts work on and off the screen forever changed this niche of action cinema.
Bruce Lee’s career in and out of Hollywood revolutionized the martial arts film genre. Before he emerged as a worldwide star, these sorts of action movies certainly existed, but they were of an entirely different flavor. Lee brought several unique factors to the films he played in that had never been seen before, especially by Western audiences. This ultimately led to a massive shift in how Asian actors were seen in films and how the world thought of martial arts in general.

Lee was born in San Francisco, California, but raised in British Hong Kong, so he was raised in a multicultural and multilingual environment. This had a significant impact on his career and is a major part of why the martial artist was able to connect with a variety of audiences. Still, his early career in Hollywood was full of supporting roles—something that was highly frustrating to Lee. This ultimately led to his return to Hong Kong, where he starred in films like The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and The Way of the Dragon. Surprisingly, these Chinese films officially thrust the actor into Western stardom, and Bruce Lee’s career in martial arts movies changed Hollywood forever.
9Bruce Lee Popularized Martial Arts In Hollywood

Though action movies were nothing new in Hollywood, the Asian style of martial arts that Lee brought to the screen had not developed prominence until The Big Boss became an unlikely hit. Even in The Green Hornet, the 1966 series that Lee had played in nearly a decade before The Big Boss, the actor had been asked to use “American-style” combat—something Lee refused to do. After the success of Lee’s China-produced films, Lee would never be asked to do such a thing again, and a massive wave of martial-arts action films began to roll out of Hollywood.
8Bruce Lee’s Unconventional Martial Arts Style Rewrote The Rules

Lee had been raised under several martial arts styles, and even before his acting career took off in the United States, he had begun to mix them into his own unique style. The actor had determined that any singular style was going to be limited and that to fight without such limitations, flexibility was necessary. This is how Jeet Kune Do was born, the technique invented by Lee which he called the “style of no style.” It is commonly believed that Jeet Kune Do meant the birth of mixed martial arts, and since the less structured “street fighting” style looked much better on film, it set a precedence for martial arts films in Hollywood.
7Bruce Lee Made Choreographed Martial Arts Look More Believable

Before The Big Boss and Lee’s other Hong Kong films, popular Asian films often contained a style of cinema fighting that was over the top and impractical. There was nothing wrong with this—it is a style that has deep roots in Asian cinema and is still iconic today. However, the use of cables for outrageously high jumps or taking a group of enemies down with a single swipe of a sword didn’t grip Western audiences in the same way. Lee took a much more practical approach to choreographed fighting. Every single punch and kick could be seen, making the fighters look like believable badasses.
6Bruce Lee Changed How American Audiences Saw Asian Actors
Lee had basically given up on Hollywood thanks to how Asian actors were often portrayed in Hollywood. The supporting comedic relief—which was often demeaning and full of harmful stereotypes—was typically all that was offered to Chinese actors, but Lee’s Hong Kong films proved that Western audiences could accept actors like him as the serious hero. This opened the doors for decades of Asian actors, such as Jackie Chan, Jet Lee, Michelle Yeoh, Daniel Dae Kim, and hundreds more.
5Bruce Lee Popularized Actors Doing Their Own Stunts
Lee famously detested allowing stunt doubles to step in for him in movies, instead preferring to learn from those hired to perform in his place. This ultimately set a standard for acting in Hollywood and worldwide—an actor who can perform his own stunts is often regarded as superior. This paved the way for action stars like Tom Cruise, who are known for pulling off big stunts. Of course, there are downsides to this as well, and actors’ determination to perform their own stunts has led to innumerable accidents—Lee included.
4Bruce Lee Demonstrated How To Use Tasteful Comedy With Martial Arts
Lee helped shift Asian actors out of the role of comedic relief, but that isn’t to say that his characters were always deadly serious. On the contrary, the fights in his films were often full of comedy. Impressive opponents being hilariously disarmed with a single move, comical taunts from the charismatic hero, and plenty of slap-stick style action sequences—Lee managed to still look plenty impressive while also making audiences laugh. Now, action comedy is a staple of martial arts films, with actors like Jackie Chan leading the pack with films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon.
3Bruce Lee Took Diversification In Hollywood To A New Level
As a mixed-race Asian American, Lee experienced prejudice and racism no matter the country he was in. He was famously barred from certain martial arts practices because of his English ancestry and blocked from Hollywood roles because of his appearance. Ultimately, this impacted how he went about his own Jeet Kune Do practice. His students came from just about every racial background under the sun. Additionally, his movies, especially those released posthumously, like Enter the Dragon, featured a mesh of cultures, races, and experiences.
2Bruce Lee Brought Back The ‘Small Hero’ Character Archetype
Underdog heroes have always been a staple of literature, but the little guys weren’t often the action stars in 20th-century Hollywood. Characters like Superman and stars like John Wayne established the idea of what a strong hero should look like. Of course, this wasn’t who Lee was. The 5-foot-8-inch, 130-pound man proved that size didn’t equate to power. Lee often faced off against larger foes in his films, like in his fight against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death. Even in unscripted fights, Bruce Lee proved that he was truly a powerful fighter, thus opening the doors for Hollywood heroes of all shapes and sizes.
1Bruce Lee Brought Unique Terrain To Martial Arts Scenes
Early Hollywood martial arts films featured scenes filmed in open spaces—a dojo, empty warehouse, etc. However, a feature of Chinese cinema that Lee brought to his films was the use of unique terrain. When everyday scenes, such as the stage at a theater or a supermarket, are used as the setting for a battle, the fighters can take advantage of their surroundings to make the fights more interesting. This is now a staple of any action movie—regardless of whether they are rooted in martial arts—proving just how much Bruce Lee impacted Hollywood with his short but legendary career.

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