After the death of popular actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, Li's acting career began. Hong Kong studios believed that he had the ability to pick up where Lee left off and cast him in similar types of martial arts films. They first cast him in Conspiracy. Afterwards, the producers of Game of Death asked him to finish their movie in Lee's role, but he declined the offer.[4]
After this, he was employed by producer/actor Jimmy Shaw who gave him the name of Bruce Li.[citation needed]
Under the name Bruce Li, some Taiwanese and Hong Kong producers[who?] decided to directly credit him as Bruce Lee, even going so far as to use the real Bruce Lee's picture on posters. Li even appeared in Bruce Lee Against Supermen where he stars as "Carter", a role loosely based on the Green Hornet's Kato depicted by the late Bruce Lee.[5]
In 1975, Dragon Dies Hard became a hit in Japan, where it earned ¥2 billion ($6.7 million) at the box office.[6]
The producers really wanted to show Li as the "official" successor of Bruce Lee. In the 1976 movie Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, Li meets Lee who points to him as the one who shall replace him. The film's title relates to Lee being dubbed the Dragon, and Li being the Tiger. Li appeared in Return of the Tiger, starring Angela Mao. In it, Bruce Li fights Paul L. Smith.[citation needed]
In 1976, Li reprised his role as Bruce Lee in Bruce Lee: The True Story (also known as Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth), a biography film. Li choreographed the combat sequences himself. Being very successful, fans recognise it as one of the best biopics of Bruce Lee.[citation needed]
Li kept shooting martial arts movies until the 1980s. He also directed movies, including the 1981 film The Chinese Stuntman.[citation needed]
Li eventually ran into trouble separating himself from these Bruce Lee roles, along with standing out from other impersonators in the Bruceploitation genre. In the mid-1980s, he become a physical education instructor at Taipei's Ping Chung University. He also has taught martial arts for comedian apprentices. Since then, he has appeared only briefly in martial arts cinema or Bruce Lee documentaries.[citation needed]
In 1990, Li retired from acting at the age of 40 after his wife's sudden passing to raise his children.[citation needed]
Bruce Li's career was the focus of a segment of the 1995 documentary Top Fighter. In the segment, Li had stated that he was unhappy that the studios wanted to turn him into a Bruce Lee marketing gimmick, saying "I could act like him but I could never be him", although at the time, Li did willingly accept the roles. Li elaborated on this further with his appearance in the 2023 documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce, in which he elaborated more on his time in filmmaking and why he left the business.[citation needed]
