--- description: A Bruce Lee impersonator is gaining Internet stardom in Afghanistan thanks to his Facebook page and imitations of famous Bruce Lee poses title: Afghanistan's Bruce Lee Impersonator Gains Internet Fame image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9351165188683ae2/69876e528e060180c64592e8/afghan-brue-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Internet](/tag/internet/) ## Internet Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Afghanistan's Bruce Lee Impersonator Gains Internet Fame  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2014 7:18 PM CUT  Abbas Alizada who calls himself the Afghan Bruce Lee poses for the media in front of the destroyed Darul Aman Palace in Kabulon Dec. 9, 2014. Abbas Alizada who calls himself the Afghan Bruce Lee poses for the media in front of the destroyed Darul Aman Palace in Kabulon Dec. 9, 2014.Mohammad Ismail—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2014 7:18 PM CUT A Bruce Lee impersonator is [gaining Internet stardom](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-afghanistan-brucelee-idUSKBN0JN1Z420141209 "undefined") in Afghanistan, thanks to his Facebook page and imitations of famous Bruce Lee moves and poses. “I want to be a champion in my country and a Hollywood star,” Abbas Alizada, or “Bruce Hazara,” as his Facebook page calls him, told Reuters. Alizada trains twice a week to achieve his goal. From a poor family of 10 children, Alizada’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to a martial arts academy, but a trainer mentored him anyway. Now, he wants to make it to the big screen and bring some good press to Afghanistan in the process. “The only news that comes from Afghanistan is about war … I am happy that my story is a positive one,” Alizada said. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-afghanistan-brucelee-idUSKBN0JN1Z420141209 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3629708/afghanistan-bruce-lee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3629708/afghanistan-bruce-lee/"},"headline":"Afghanistan's Bruce Lee Impersonator Gains Internet Fame","datePublished":"2014-12-11T19:18:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:46:18.749Z","description":"He wants to make it to Hollywood","url":"https://time.com/3629708/afghanistan-bruce-lee/","keywords":["Internet","viral","Web"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9351165188683ae2/69876e528e060180c64592e8/afghan-brue-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9351165188683ae2/69876e528e060180c64592e8/afghan-brue-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Abbas Alizada, who calls himself the Afghan Bruce Lee, poses for the media in front of the destroyed Darul Aman Palace in Kabul","caption":"Abbas Alizada, who calls himself the Afghan Bruce Lee, poses for the media in front of the destroyed Darul Aman Palace in Kabul","creditText":"Mohammad Ismail—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/internet/","name":"Internet"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3629708/afghanistan-bruce-lee/","name":"Afghanistan's Bruce Lee Impersonator Gains Internet Fame"}}]}] ```