Although born in America and appearing in The Green Hornet, Bruce Lee struggled to secure leading roles in Hollywood due to racial discrimination against Asian actors. He conceived a television series idea centered on martial arts and pitched it to studios, envisioning a character traveling across America. When the 1972 series Kung Fu began production, however, the lead role went to David Carradine, an actor without any martial arts training or background.

Publicly, Lee expressed understanding that casting him as a headliner was considered a commercial gamble in 1971. Yet his widow later shared that this rejection inflicted far greater emotional damage than Lee had let on to the public, describing it as emblematic of Hollywood's systemic racism at the time. The disappointment would remain unresolved; Lee died in July 1973 at thirty-two, having achieved breakthrough fame through Enter the Dragon but unable to build on that success.