NEW BRUCE LEE TV SERIES

The Hong Kong actor who played a Bruce Lee look-alike in the comedy Shaolin Soccer has landed the lead role in a new Chinese television series on the late Kung Fu star, newspapers reported Saturday.

Chan Kwok-kwan got the role because Lee's wife and daughter, who were consulted on the casting for the series, were impressed by his physical likeness to the late star, the Apple Daily said. In the Hong Kong martial arts comedy Shaolin Soccer, Chan played a goalkeeper who sported Lee's signature yellow track suit and had the late star's gestures and expressions.

Chan has also played Lee in television commercials. Chan said he worked out and learned Jeet Kune Do -- or the Way of the Intercepting Fist, a fighting style pioneered by Lee -- to show his determination to get the role in the new TV series, the Ming Pao Daily newspaper said. He has even sent monthly tapes of his kung fu classes and clips of him mimicking Lee to Lee's wife and daughter, the paper said. "I'm really very happy that I got the lead role. This isn't about the money.

I'm really excited to play Bruce Lee," the paper quoted Chan as saying.

The mainland Chinese television series will tell Bruce Lee's story in 40 episodes, and is due to begin filming in February, the Apple Daily said.

Apple Daily, Dec 4, 2006