Chinese filmmakers cast Hong Kong singer in Bruce Lee biopic

Filmmakers cast Hong Kong singer as Bruce Lee

HONG KONG — Filmmakers have cast a rising star from Hong Kong to play Bruce Lee in an upcoming biopic that focuses on the late kung fu icon’s youth.

Aarif Lee rose to fame by playing a high school track star in the recent hit “Echoes of the Rainbow,” a nostalgic look at 1960s Hong Kong. The 23-year-old was a physics major at London’s Imperial College.

The actor bowed to a statue of Bruce Lee on Hong Kong’s waterfront at a press conference Monday. He said he was preparing by watching Lee’s films and practicing the wing chun fighting style he learned as a teenager in Hong Kong.

“Bruce Lee: My Brother’s Story” is funded by a consortium of studios from Hong Kong and mainland China. It will start shooting in June.