As of now, the box office performance of "Ip Man 4: The End" in China has exceeded the mark of 1 billion yuan, which marks that the film has become the highest-grossing kung fu film in the history of Chinese cinema, and it is estimated that the next breakthrough of 1.1 billion is not a problem. The biggest attraction of this film is not only zhen Zidan's last appearance in Ip Man, but also Bruce Lee, played by Chen Guokun, which also brought great surprises to the audience.
In the history of film, there are countless actors who have played or imitated Bruce Lee, but the actor who is recognized as "the most like Bruce Lee" is certainly Chen Guokun. Since the film, he is well known for his many interpretations of this legendary figure in the history of kung fu, and today, the author will lead everyone to review Chen Guokun's road to fame.
Chen Guokun was born in 1975, before entering the industry, he worked as a bartender, courier, scoring assistant and so on, at the age of 20, he officially stepped into the film and television circle with the movie "Bad Boy Club", and then made cameo appearances in many bad boy roles in films such as "Ancient Puzzle Boy 3 Hands Covering the Sky" and "Sweet Talk".
Because he liked Bruce Lee since he was a child, Chen Guokun also joined the Bruce Lee Society in Hong Kong, but he also became acquainted with the great benefactor who changed his fate - Stephen Chow. Because his appearance is too similar to Bruce Lee, it is said that even the "number one dragon fan" Xingye was surprised to see Chen Guokun, so later, Xingye's Xinghui Company signed Chen Guokun and signed an 8-year acting contract with him.
In 2002's Shaolin Soccer, Chen Guokun played the role of a fourth master brother who was proficient in "ghost shadow grappling". When he put on the same yellow suit of Bruce Lee in Game of Death and stood in front of the goal, his every movement and charm was like "Bruce Lee reborn", which successfully attracted the attention of fans.
In 2004, he participated in Stephen Chow's self-written and self-directed "Kung Fu", and was firmly remembered by the audience for his fierce axe in the play to help the boss Chen Ge. In Chen Guokun's own words, although he has only made two movies in his 8 years in Xinghui, he is better than shooting 100 films outside, and it is Zhou Xingchi who has taught him how to act and has been given the opportunity to appear in front of the public.
In 2008, CCTV created the Olympic tribute drama "The Legend of Bruce Lee", Chen Guokun, with the advantage of a shape similar to Bruce Lee, finally defeated a number of popular candidates such as Jin Chengwu, Jay Chou and Nie Yuan to successfully stand out, and became the best candidate to play the male number one in the play. The drama not only allowed Chen Guokun to gain a certain degree of popularity overseas, but many mainland audiences started with this "The Legend of Bruce Lee" for the first time.
For Chen Guokun, he not only regards Bruce Lee as his idol, but also enshrines it as a spiritual belief, and the experience of playing Bruce Lee many times has also made his knowledge and understanding of Bruce Lee's spirit more profound than many people, which is why he can interpret this character to life.
Later, when filming "Ip Man 3" and "Ip Man 4", Chen Guokun playing Bruce Lee was already completely handy, mastering it, and then sitting firmly in the position of "Bruce Lee Spokesperson", and Zhen Zidan even used "Chen Guokun is the only person in the world who can play Bruce Lee" to make a high evaluation of it.
After becoming famous by playing Bruce Lee, he did not want to be stereotyped, in fact, he was also actively looking for new attempts and new breakthroughs in his performance style - the officer Qin Guozhong he played in "International Rescue" in 2011, "Ma Yongzhen" in 2012, Nie Long in "New Raptors Across the River" in 2015, and the agent of Yuan Leopard's "Pit Daddy" in "Undercover Superstar" in 2018, etc., all of which chen Guokun took off the role of "Bruce Lee label". In addition, in recent years, he has tried to serve as a film and television producer, accumulating experience behind the scenes of the transformation.
In terms of emotional life, the love road between Chen Guokun and actress Huang Yiwen is also enviable. The two once sparked love because of the cooperation movie "Kung Fu Invincible", and finally entered the palace of marriage hand in hand after falling in love for 7 years, and they are still very affectionate. After marriage, the two had a son and named Chen Zhen, and it seems that this family is inseparable from "Bruce Lee".
Some netizens believe that Bruce Lee's aura is something that Chen Guokun cannot get rid of, which may become a "stumbling block" on his acting path, resulting in his inability to be his true self.
But there are also many netizens said that Chen Guokun, who is now 44 years old, once again played Bruce Lee in his 20s in "Ip Man 4", without any sense of violation, and his skills are still tough and strong, and he hopes that after the "Ip Man" series, the producers can continue to create a "Bruce Lee" series, so that Chen Guokun can pick up the beams of Chinese kung fu films, after all, looking at the entire Chinese showbiz, there is no one more like Bruce Lee than Chen Guokun. In this regard, I don't know what you friends think?