But there is a lot more to know about the actor than just the fact that she is a kung fu legend’s daughter.

Shannon is a classically trained singer, having completed a degree in vocal performance and music at Tulane University in New Orleans. She even has a few musical credits under her belt.

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Technically her acting debut was when she sang California Dreamin’ in her father’s biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993. A Hong Kong film released in 2000, China Strike Force, directed by Stanley Tong, also featured a cover of I’m in the Mood for Love, sung by Lee. In 2003, the American band Medicine made a comeback with their album “The Mechanical Forces of Love” and featured her on vocals.

Her singing talent shouldn’t be surprising – Shannon is following the footsteps of her grandfather (on father Bruce’s side), Lee Hoi-chuen, a famous Cantonese opera performer.

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Nevertheless, it’s the family skill in martial arts that really runs through her veins.

In an interview, she explained how, “My father used to fool around with us, having us throw punches and kicks. I was much younger, so I didn’t do it to the extent of Brandon” – referring to her older brother, who also went onto be a martial arts film star.

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But she went on to study martial arts later, although not under Bruce’s tutelage, starting with his Jeet Kune Do technique and going on to secure acting roles in various action films soon after.

She’s also a published author. In October 2020, Flatiron Books published her book, Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee. The book expands on Bruce’s teachings, focusing on his iconic “be water” philosophy. (For those unsure of how water applies to kung fu, just picture how easily water adapts to wherever you put it.)

She says the thing that fuelled her to learn about her father’s teachings in depth was when her brother, Brandon, died after an accident on set.

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In an interview with Variety, she said, “I was struggling a lot inwardly and [was] in a lot of pain. His words are timeless, really, and I just feel like when I read his words, I feel soothed. I feel hopeful. I feel energised. Those are all things that we will always need and, in some ways, now more than ever.”

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“In late 2000,” Shannon told The Guardian in an interview, “I agreed to take over looking after my father’s legacy from my mother, and she sent his things to me in LA. There were boxes and boxes of writing. While I was going through them, I came across the treatment for The Warrior. It was this revelatory moment, ‘Wow, it really does exist!’”

And the rest, as they say, is history: Shannon got together with Fast and Furious director Justin Lin and fans can now watch Warrior on HBO.

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