Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed what was to be his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the supernatural superhero film The Crow (1994).

He started his career with leading roles in the Hong Kong action film Legacy of Rage (1986), and the straight-to-video Laser Mission (1989), which was a financial success on home video.

Transitioning to Hollywood productions, Lee first starred in the Warner Bros buddy cop film Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), co-starring Dolph Lundgren.

Imada said that when Lee was in his teens, he struggled with his identity, and having to train in dojos which included large photos of his father troubled him.

[4] He was part of the Eric Morris American New Theatre, with them he acted in John Lee Hancock's play Full Fed Beast.

During this period, he was approached by casting director Lynn Stalmaster and successfully auditioned for his first credited acting role in Kung Fu: The Movie.

[19] On June 19, it aired on CBS Summer Playhouse, a program that specialized in rejected pilots and allowed the audience to call in to vote for a show to be picked up as a series.

[21][22] In 1988, Lee had a role in "What's In a Name", an episode of the American television series Ohara, starring Pat Morita,[23] He portrayed the main villain, the son of a yakuza.

[35] Also, producer Raffaella De Laurentiis said he did not look Chinese enough and that she would have refused to work on the project if they had to resort to making Brandon appear more Asian.

[49] Jeff Imada, the film's stunt coordinator, witnessed Lee bringing a book of work by his father to emotionally prepare himself in the scene where the character loses his dad.

[62] In the fall, while doing publicity for Rapid Fire, Lee landed the lead role in Alex Proyas' The Crow, an adaptation of a comic book by the same name.

[63] It tells the story of Eric Draven (Lee), a rock musician raised from the dead by a supernatural crow to avenge his own death as well as the rape and murder of his fiancée by a dangerous gang in his city.

[64] According to producer Jeff Most, Lee had good insight on the character and liked the lyrical lines within the script, but did not want the dialogue to spread aimlessly.

[68] Imada and Lee agreed that the character of Eric Draven would not do conventional martial arts moves; his movements would be unique.

Lee also focused on cardiovascular exercise with a stairmaster, did repetitions on lighter weights to elongate and stretch his muscles, and did aerobics to lose body fat rapidly.

[73] After Lee's death in 1993, his fiancée Eliza Hutton and his mother supported director Proyas' decision to complete The Crow.

To complete the film, stunt doubles Chad Stahelski and Jeff Cadiente served as stand-ins; special effects were used to give them Lee's face.

[76] A month later, it was reported that Lee's previous films Laser Mission, Showdown in Little Tokyo, and Rapid Fire saw a surge in video sales.

[92] Amber McKee of the Park Record considered it a good film but an eerie conclusion to Lee's career, since he had wanted to escape the action genre and move on to dramatic roles.

Although there were no powder charges, the energy from the ignited primer was enough to separate the bullet from the casing and push it part-way into the gun barrel, where it got stuck—a dangerous condition known as a squib load.

During the fatal scene, which called for the revolver to be fired at Lee from a distance of 3.6–4.5 meters (12–15 ft), the dummy cartridges were replaced with blank rounds, which contained a powder charge and the primer, but no solid bullet, allowing the gun to be fired with sound and flash effects without the risk of an actual projectile.

The following day, 200 of Lee's family and business associates attended a memorial service at actress Polly Bergen's house in Los Angeles.

[101][108] In an interview just prior to his death, Lee quoted a passage from Paul Bowles' book The Sheltering Sky[109] which he had chosen for his wedding invitations; it is now inscribed on his tombstone: Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well.

[111] During this time, martial artist Bob Wall, a friend and collaborator of Bruce, observed that Lee hit with power and had good footwork.

[6] According to Jeff Imada who at the time was helping with children's classes at Inosanto's Kali Institute, the fact that he was the son of one of its founders was kept quiet; Lee had difficulty focusing due to seeing his father's photos taking so much space in his studio.

[113] In 1986, Lee said that he was training in Yee Chuan Tao, a relaxation-based martial art, with a trainer named Mike Vendrell.

Lee said that it consisted of exercises such as slow sparring, Chi sao practice; they also worked on a wooden dummy, as well as Vendrell swinging a staff at him while he would duck or jump over.

[4] He would bring a camera to Inosanto's studio, both would choreograph fights for Lee's films and would allow him to see how various moves played out on screen.

[4] During the filming of The Crow, Lee said he did cardiovascular exercises to the point of exhaustion using a jump rope, running, riding a LifeCycle, or using a StairMaster, after which he would train at Inosanto's academy where he took Muay Thai classes.

Lee's father has been said to have "proudly told everyone" about his newborn son Brandon's diverse features, describing him as perhaps the only Chinese person with blond hair and grey eyes.