TARANTINO DEFENDS ‘BAD’ PORTRAYAL OF BRUCE LEE IN “ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD”

August 13, 2019

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Quentin Tarantino responded to criticisms of the “arrogant” portrayal of Bruce Lee in his latest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” claiming that it isn’t so inaccurate after all.

“Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy,” Tarantino said at a recent press junket in Moscow. The film depicts Lee (played by Mike Moh) swaggering around the set of “Green Hornet,” denigrating boxer Muhammad Ali and picking a street fight with the evenly matched stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt).

“The way he was talking, I didn’t just make a lot of that up. I heard him say things like that, to that effect. If people are saying, ‘Well he never said he could beat up Muhammad Ali,’ well yeah, he did. Not only did he say that, but his wife, Linda Lee, said that in her first biography I ever read. She absolutely said that,” the director continued.

Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, and his protégé and training partner Dan Inosanto aired their grievances with the scene to Variety in July. Inosanto said, “He was never, in my opinion, cocky. Maybe he was cocky in as far as martial arts because he was very sure of himself. He was worlds ahead of everyone else. But on a set, he’s not gonna show off.” He added, “Bruce Lee would have never said anything derogatory about Muhammad Ali because he worshiped the ground Muhammad Ali walked on.”

Variety