Shannon Lee, daughter of the iconic Bruce Lee, has criticised the portrayal of her father in Quentin Tarantino’s new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, stating that she found the experience of watching the movie “uncomfortable”.
“He comes across as an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air, and not someone who had to fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others,” said Lee. “It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theatre and listen to people laugh at my father. Here, he’s the one with all the puffery and he’s the one challenging Brad Pitt. Which is not how he was”
“I can understand all the reasoning behind what is portrayed in the movie,” she continued. “I understand that the two characters are antiheroes and this is sort of like a rage fantasy of what would happen… and they’re portraying a period of time that clearly had a lot of racism and exclusion. I understand they want to make the Brad Pitt character this super bad-ass who could beat up Bruce Lee. But they didn’t need to treat him in the way that white Hollywood did when he was alive.”
Lee did state that she has no issue however with actor Mike Moh, saying that she felt he delivered a good performance with regards to Bruce’s mannerisms and voice, but that “I think he was directed to be a caricature.”
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood here
What are your thoughts on the way that Bruce Lee is portrayed in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Let us know in the comments or on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The two lead characters are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbour… Sharon Tate.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained), Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet), Al Pacino (The Godfather), Damien Lewis (Billions), Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs), Dakota Fanning (Ocean’s 8), Luke Perry (Riverdale), Emile Hirsch (The Autopsy of Jane Doe), James Marsden (Westworld), Clifton Collins Jr. (Westworld), Julia Butters (American Housewife), Keith Jefferson (The Hateful Eight), Nicholas Hammond (The Sound of Music), Scoot McNairy (Halt and Catch Fire), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Spencer Garrett (The Magicians), Martin Kove (Cobra Kai), James Remar (Django Unchained), Brenda Vaccaro (Once Is Not Enough), Nichole Galicia (Django Unchained), Bruce Dern (The Hateful Eight), Mike Moh (Inhumans), Craig Stark (The Hateful Eight), Marco Rodriguez (Inhumans), Ramon Franco (Tour of Duty), Raul Cardona (Where the Sky Is Born), Lena Dunham (Girls), Maya Hawke (Stranger Things), Austin Butler (The Shannara Chronicles), Lorenza Izzo (Knock, Knock), Rumer Willis (Empire), Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl), Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers), Costa Ronin (The Americans), Victoria Pedretti (The Haunting of Hill House), Madisen Beaty (The Master), Danny Strong (Billions), Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale), Rafal Zawierucha (The Pact), Damon Herriman (Justified), and Palm Dog award-winner Brandy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN8PJcdO-JM
Originally published August 1, 2019. Updated August 3, 2019.
