Actress Brigitte Lin, who retired in 1994 after playing many impressive roles, is set to make a comeback in a new biopic about martial-arts master Yip Man.

Lin has signed on to star in director Wong Kar-Wai's "The Great Master", Chinese media cited Yip Man's son, Yip Chun, as saying.

"The Great Master" is another film about Yip Man (1893-1972), the creator of the Wing Chun style of martial arts and mentor to Bruce Lee. A previous biopic on the martial-arts master, "Ip Man", won the Best Film award at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

Known to audiences for her transgender roles in martial-arts movies, Brigitte Lin is likely to play a female kung-fu master this time, although her exact role is yet to be confirmed.

Born in Taiwan in 1954, Lin had been a frequent face in Hong Kong films. She had starred in more than 100 movies over 21 years.

In 1994, Lin married businessman Michael Ying and announced her retirement soon after.

Lin's best-known characters include Dong Fang Bu Bai in Stanley Tong and Siu-Tung Ching's cooperation "Swordsman II" (1991), and Mu-Rong Yin in Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes of Time" (1994).

Last year, Lin made a rare public appearance in New York, promoting a re-edited version of "Ashes of Time". She told reporters that many of her friends, including Wong Kar-Wai, had been persuading her to return. She said she was waiting for a good play.

The Yip Man biopic is not going to be the sole project on Lin's agenda. Rumors suggest that director Tsui Hark has invited Lin to star in his action thriller "Di Renjie". Tsui Hark is also planning a biopic about Lin herself.

(CRI May 20, 2009)