‘Warrior’ is latest proof that Bruce Lee still holds sway
PHOENIX— Even nearly 50 years after his death, Bruce Lee can still make ripples.
Fromthis past summer’s ESPN documentary “Be Water” to Quentin Tarantino’s heavily criticized depiction of him in “Once Upon a Time inHollywood,” the martial arts legend continues to captivate audiences.
That continues with “Warrior,” a Cinemax historical drama inspired by his original idea and which premiered its second season Oct. 2. A screen icon who struggled with racism, Lee is nowinfluencing the careers of the mostly Asian cast asHollywood faces a national reckoning on race and representation.
“I’m more proud of something like ‘Warrior’ than if Iwas putting on a superhero costume and being the token Asian,” said leading man Andrew Koji, who credits the show with helping him land the role of Storm Shadow oppositeHenry Golding in the upcoming “G.I. Joe” movie “Snake Eyes.”
Koji plays the series’s titularwarrior, Chinese immigrant Ah Sahm, who arrives in 1870s San Francisco. “Game of Thrones” level carnage ensues. Instead ofwarring houses, there arewarring Chinatown gangs known as tongs. The crime drama doesn’t shy away fromshowing anti-Chinese racism— painfully relatable 150 years later in theCOVID-19 era.
“They wrote this a year and a half ago,” Koji said. “It’s just scary howrelevant it is becausewe haven’t learned.”
The production came from a treatment Lee offered toWarner Bros. in 1971. But the studio “wouldn’t sign off on having a Chinese man star in an American TV series,” according to daughter Shannon Lee.
The treatment and Lee’s accompanying handwritten notes sat in his family’s garage until 2015, when “The Fast and the Furious” franchise director Justin Lin asked Shannon Lee about it. Lin helped get the concept on the development track and became an executive producer. Jonathan Tropper, cocreator of the show“Banshee” and a Lee fanboy, boarded as showrunner.
Koji, who is of Japanese and British descent, studied martial arts growing up but knew little about Lee. He’s since consumed Lee’s movies, writings and philosophies.
It remains unclear whether“Warrior” will get a third season. Cinemax decided earlier this year to stop producing original programming. Canceling it would especially hurt in a TV landscape with few Asian-led vehicles.
Shannon Lee isn’t giving up on finding a new home for“Warrior,” which will eventually be available on HBOMax. It’s helped reveal another side of her father, she said.
“I think he’s really getting his due as a creative— someone who knows how to story-tell,” Shannon Lee said.“We’re finally getting to see hewasn’t just a flash in the pan.”
DustinNguyen, a star on the original “21 Jump Street” series in the ’80s, plays a menacing tong leader and directed an episode this season. A huge fan who studied under Lee’s old training partner, Nguyen helped sprinkle in nods to his idol.
“It’s just little things that the writers put in there to pay homage to Bruce Lee without being a caricature, which I think is the danger zone whenever you get to the subject of Bruce Lee,” Nguyen said.