Bruce Lee and 12 more Hong Kong action stars who conquered the world

After Bruce Lee’s death, producers tried to position Jackie Chan as his stoic successor. Instead, Chan created his own brand, blending slapstick comedy with death-defying stunts inspired by Buster Keaton and his Peking Opera training. Drunken Master (1978) made him a star, and Police Story (1985) redefined action cinema with humour, physicality and terrifyingly real stunts. In Hong Kong, he was box office gold; in Hollywood, Rush Hour (1998) turned him into a global crossover star. Few actors literally risked their lives for a gag the way Chan did, and in the end he broke many bones but never his connection with audiences.

Raised on Lamma Island, Chow Yun-fat moved from television to film with John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986), which made him the ultimate heroic gangster—cool, loyal and impossibly stylish. The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992) cemented his legend, inspiring endless homages.

Hollywood roles gave him mixed reviews (The Replacement Killers, Anna and the King), but Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) reintroduced him as a wuxia master, expanding his global reach.

Michelle Yeoh grew up in Malaysia, trained as a ballerina in London and entered Hong Kong cinema through a beauty pageant. With no martial arts background, she learned on the job, training alongside stunt teams and earning respect for doing her own stunts. Yes, Madam! (1985) positioned her as a female Jackie Chan, and Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992) sealed that reputation. Now, she’s all grace and glamour, but she got her start performing motorcycle leaps and bus jumps that left even Jackie stunned. Hollywood took notice, casting her in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), where she outshone even James Bond. Her career came full circle with Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), which won her an Oscar. Few outsiders broke into Hong Kong’s fiercely physical industry as completely as Yeoh did.

See more: 15 of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh’s most iconic roles

A Beijing Wushu champion, Jet Li was recruited by Hong Kong filmmakers who were looking to inject new blood into martial arts cinema. His breakout came with Shaolin Temple (1982) in Mainland China, but it was Once Upon a Time in China (1991)—produced in Hong Kong—that turned him into an icon. As Wong Fei-hung, Li embodied discipline, poise and nationalist pride, contrasting with Jackie Chan’s comic persona.

Hollywood roles in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) and Romeo Must Die (2000) showcased his silent intensity, and his part in The Expendables franchise cemented his international appeal.

Born in Guangzhou but raised in Boston, Donnie Yen studied martial arts under his mother before heading to Hong Kong to pursue film. He struggled at first, often overshadowed by Jet Li, but eventually found his stride with Yen-directed choreography in films like Iron Monkey (1993). His career-defining moment came with Ip Man (2008), where he played Bruce Lee’s legendary teacher. The role made him an international name, with later appearances in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). Yen broke through by blending MMA techniques with traditional martial arts, bringing a realism that modernised Hong Kong fight scenes.

Don’t miss: 10 Best Donnie Yen movies to watch before ‘John Wick 4’

Yuen Wah was part of the “Seven Little Fortunes” troupe with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung at the Peking Opera School. Initially, he worked as a stunt double, even stepping in for Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973). Though rarely a leading man, his wiry frame and elastic style made him a reliable villain across dozens of ’80s action flicks. Decades later, he stole scenes in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle (2004), proving his comic and martial versatility. His career is the story of Hong Kong cinema itself, decades of hard labour behind the scenes rewarded with moments of glory.

Unlike the opera school alums or martial arts champions, Louis Koo began as a TVB actor and model. Transitioning into film in the late 1990s, he became the face of Hong Kong’s new wave of crime thrillers. While not known for martial arts, his gravitas in Johnnie To’s Election (2005) and Drug War (2012) gave Hong Kong action a cerebral edge. His career shows how “cool” in Hong Kong cinema wasn’t limited to fists and kicks. Sometimes action stars required icy restraint and psychological warfare.

Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Yukari Oshima trained in martial arts before trying her luck in Hong Kong, where foreign talent was rare. Taking on the name Cynthia Luster for Western audiences, she carved out a niche as one of the toughest screen fighters of the 1980s and ’90s. Unlike Yeoh, who often played leads, Oshima frequently portrayed villains or enforcers. Her fierce performances in Angel (1987), In the Line of Duty III (1988) and countless girls-with-guns flicks made her a cult favourite. She broke through in Hong Kong by embracing typecasting and turning it into raw power, embodying a ferocity that even male co-stars struggled to match.

Andy Lau may not be top of mind when you think of action stars, but he has starred in many of them. One of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop, Lau balanced music superstardom with a film career spanning gangster flicks, romances and action thrillers. In films like Running Out of Time (1999) and Infernal Affairs (2002), Lau proved himself a magnetic screen presence, versatile enough to match bullets with Chow Yun-fat and emotions with Tony Leung.

In case you missed it: From ‘Infernal Affairs’ to ‘House of Flying Daggers’: 5 Andy Lau movies every cinephile should watch

Like Andy Lau, Stephen Chow’s resumé isn’t full of action films. In fact, he didn’t come up through stunt schools or martial arts circuits. His weapon was humour, specifically Hong Kong’s uniquely absurdist mo lei tau (“nonsense”) comedy. Yet Chow redefined what Hong Kong action cinema could look like by fusing slapstick, surrealism and kung fu into something the world had never seen.

With Shaolin Soccer (2001), he turned the football pitch into a kung fu battlefield, and with Kung Fu Hustle (2004), he delivered a CGI-enhanced masterpiece that paid tribute to the golden age of martial arts while winking at its tropes. Both films became global hits. And the Hong Kong action genre? Chow showed that action didn’t need to be just bruises and blood. It could be outrageous, hilarious and wildly inventive.

Often underrated internationally, Sammo Hung was the architect behind Hong Kong’s action comedy boom. A childhood friend of Jackie Chan from the Peking Opera School, Hung’s martial arts skills and directorial vision made him a powerhouse. Similar to other action stars on this list, Hung combined martial arts with supernatural themes and farce, expanded what the action genre could look like. He not only starred in hits like Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) but also choreographed and directed countless classics, helping shape Hong Kong’s cinematic language.

Tony Leung may be best known for smoking cigarettes in slow motion and breaking hearts in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, but don’t let the arthouse mystique fool you. He’s also one of Hong Kong cinema’s stealth action kings. In the 1990s, Leung slipped into John Woo’s bullet ballets (Hard Boiled, Bullet in the Head) and lent them a moral gravitas that fists and firepower alone couldn’t deliver. While Jackie Chan somersaulted off clock towers and Chow Yun-fat skidded across tabletops with twin pistols, Leung was the man who made you feel the weight of a bullet.

His versatility is part of the reason he’s been able to cross into every corner of cinema—from intimate arthouse dramas to heroic bloodshed epics, to finally becoming a global action figure with Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. 

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