Why Chuck Norris Rejected A Role In Bruce Lee's Final Movie

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Robert Clouse's martial arts classic "Enter the Dragon" was released in Hong Kong on July 26, 1973, only six days after its star, Bruce Lee, died rather suddenly at the age of 32. "Enter the Dragon" would become the most celebrated film in the actor's filmography, and ensure that Bruce Lee, already admired, would be canonized as a legend. Several Bruce Lee projects were released posthumously, including "Game of Death" (which was unfinished when Lee passed), Ti Tang's "Fist of Unicorn" (which Lee only provided the stunt and fight direction for), and Richard Moore's "Circle of Iron" (which Lee co-wrote). But if we're being technical, "Enter the Dragon" was Lee's final complete film. It was notoriously hard to make. 

The story of "Enter the Dragon" is universally well-known, mostly because it was ripped off or reinterpreted for an entire generation's worth of action flicks and video games. Lee plays a character named Lee, who teaches martial arts at a Shaolin temple. He is recruited by the British government to infiltrate the criminal underworld of the evil Han (Shih Kien). Luckily, Han is hosting a martial arts tournament on his secret island, and Lee can sneak in as an entrant. Call me crazy, but I think there's going to be a fracas. 

Han's bodyguard was a dude named O'Hara (Bob Wall), and Lee had a personal connection to him. O'Hara, it seems, is responsible for the death of his sister. Bruce Lee originally wanted the late Chuck Norris for the role, but Norris, who had previously worked with Lee on the 1972 film "The Way of the Dragon," refused. According to Matthew Polly's biography, "Bruce Lee: A Life," Norris turned down the role because he didn't want to be seen losing a fight to Bruce Lee for a second time.

In the movie "The Way of the Dragon," Chuck Norris played a character named Colt. His dialogue was dubbed over by actor Jack Moore. Colt is hired by one of the main villain's underlings to attack Bruce Lee's character, Tang Lung. There is a spectacular fight between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee set in the Colosseum. The fight scene lasts for nearly 10 minutes, although two minutes of that involved Lee and Norris limbering up. The only spectator is a kitten. Lee ends up killing Norris' character after being worn down and bloodied. 

It seems that Norris felt that his appearance with Bruce Lee in "The Way of the Dragon" was a "one time" thing, as "Bruce Lee: A Life" described (as reported by ScreenRant). Norris was at a point in his film career when he wanted to play more leading characters and heroes. Playing another supporting villain like O'Hara in "Enter the Dragon" wasn't something he was keen to try. Norris was done playing henchmen. "The Way of the Dragon" gave Norris a career boost for sure, but it seems that he didn't want to keep on playing second fiddle to another action star. 

Also, it's possible that Norris didn't want to once again appear in a movie where he loses a fight. If he was going to appear in "Enter the Dragon," or any second Bruce Lee movie for that matter, he likely intuited that he would always have to lose to the master; he certainly wouldn't be allowed to best Bruce Lee in combat. No, Chuck Norris would play more central characters from then on. 

Chuck Norris may have missed out on being in "Enter the Dragon" — again, one of the most celebrated martial arts movies of all time — but his career took off in its own right. His follow-up film was 1974's "Yellow-Faced Tiger," a cop movie wherein he played a secret criminal mastermind named Chuck Slaughter. Because he was a villain, however, the film ended again with Norris being bested by another martial arts master, this time played by Don Wong Tao. 

Norris landed his first leading role in the truck-based 1977 action flick "Breaker! Breaker!," playing a tough-as-nails Texan trucker named J.D. who investigates and fights malfeasance in the corrupt world of trucking. In an old Los Angeles Times article, Norris said that "Breaker! Breaker!" was his dad's favorite movie. Norris, looking over his career, made a lot of "dad's favorite movie" movies, so he seems to have found his niche pretty quickly. Throughout the 1980s, Norris became one of the better-known faces of American action, starring in a lot of enjoyable, ultra-masculine schlock. Between "Missing in Action," "Invasion U.S.A.," and "The Delta Force," Norris upheld the banner of enjoyable slumber party movies for years. 

Norris recently passed away at the age of 86, leaving a legacy of fun movies, a hit TV series ("Walker, Texas Ranger"), and some very dubious political opinions. He would become a meme in the mid-2000s, becoming the punchline of various "facts" about his own masculinity. /Film has ranked his films, and the fact that his fight with Bruce Lee isn't on that list is a sign of how long and prolific Chuck Norris' career was.