When it came to finding the star for his Bruce Lee biopic, Ang Lee decided to keep it in the family.
The Oscar-winning director cast his 32-year-old son Mason Lee to play the late martial arts expert, marking the third time Mason will appear in a feature film directed by his father. The movie—eponymously titled Bruce Lee—is currently in development, with Dan Futterman attached to the project as a screenwriter.
Ang noted that the drama will center around the identity and career of Bruce—known for films such as Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon—who is highly regarded as the pop culture icon that helped popularize martial arts in late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Accepted as neither fully American nor Fully Chinese, Bruce Lee was a bridge between East and West who introduced Chinese Gung Fu to the world, a scientist of combat and an iconic performing artist who revolutionized both the martial arts and action cinema," Ang said in a Nov. 30 press release. "I feel compelled to tell the story of this brilliant, unique human being who yearned for belonging, possessed tremendous power in a 135-pound-frame, and who, through tireless hard work, made impossible dreams into reality."
This isn't the first time Ang will team up with his son, whose first foray into acting began as a toddler in his father's 1993 movie The Wedding Banquet. Mason has since gone on to appear in The Hangover Part II, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (directed by Ang) and Taiwanese romcom Stand by Me.
Reflecting on the growth of his career, he told the South China Morning Post in 2021 how his father initially felt about him becoming an actor.
"He thought doing such a career is harsh, as film crew have to be away from [their] families for long stretches of time," Mason said at the time. "He didn't want his children to have such a life. But he eventually supported me. After seeing my films, he will be frank with me, praising the good performances and damning the bad ones. I look forward to working with him on set again."