KUALA LUMPUR: Kung-fu action legend Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee is unhappy with the way filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has portrayed her late father in new film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Hong Kong entertainment portal JayneStars reported yesterday that Shannon described the portrayal of Bruce who died in 1973, as “disheartening” and “uncomfortable.”
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, set in 1969, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, a Western television star who is struggling to deal with his faltering Hollywood career.
Brad Pitt stars as Cliff Booth, his close friend and longtime stunt double.
In the film, Dalton and Booth encounter Bruce Lee (portrayed by Mike Moh), who at the time was filming the television series The Green Hornet.
They have a sparring match after Booth and Lee exchange cocky insults at each other.
Shannon said she found it “disheartening” to see her father being portrayed as “arrogant.”
Even though she understood that the film was a fictional comedy, she felt “uncomfortable” with the way her father was portrayed — a cocky man who enjoyed picking up fights with others.
“It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theatre and listen to people laugh at my father,” she said.
As an Asian American actor in 1960s Hollywood, Lee had to work much harder than his Caucasian American counterparts.
He was often challenged for fights, but would always avoid them as this was against his philosophy.
Tarantino’s film, however, depicted another screen legend, Western actor Steve McQueen positively.
Nonetheless, Shannon praised Mike Moh’s portrayal of her father, saying that he did a good job with Lee’s mannerisms and voice.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood was released on July 26 in the United States.
Shannon, 50, is a businesswoman, actress and television producer, who has starred in seven films including the 1993 biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story where she played a party singer.