Bruce Lee’s daughter is upset Quentin Tarantino didn’t consult her for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
- ‘To have not been included in any kind of way … there’s a level of annoyance,’ Shannon Lee says
- ‘People want to capitalise on the name Bruce Lee … but they don’t want to get involved with me’
Shannon Lee, daughter of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, has criticised Quentin Tarantino for not consulting her about using her father in his new film.
Asian-American actor Mike Moh plays the Hong Kong fighting legend in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is set for release in August.
But Shannon Lee, who in charge of her father’s estate, says the Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs filmmaker didn’t consult her or reach out to her about the character.
“With Tarantino’s film, to not have been included in any kind of way, when I know that he reached out to other people but did not reach out to me, there’s a level of annoyance – and there’s part of me that says this is not worth my time and my energy,” she told Deadline. “Let’s just see how the universe deals with this one.”
Tarantino has said he got the blessing of Sharon Tate’s sister to include the late model and actress in his new film.
However, Romain Polanski’s wife, the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, was critical that her husband was not consulted about his likeness being used, especially because he remains a pariah in Hollywood after his 1977 rape trial.
“In these instances, there are a lot of different ways you can go,” said Lee, executive producer of the new HBO television series Warrior, which is based on writings by her father.
“If they contacted me, I could be completely unreasonable and a pain in the a** and make all kinds of ridiculous demands – but they don’t know that I’m not going to do that.
“A lot of times, the best practice is ‘we’ll just stay away from that so we don’t have to even open that can of worms’.”
Moh’s Lee features prominently in the first Hollywood trailer, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, with Lee taking on Brad Pitt’s character in a fight.
Shannon Lee said told Deadline it was interesting to see the Bruce Lee character given such a big showing in the trailer, though she does not know what his role in the movie will be. She said she hoped the finished product was good, and has no ill will towards Moh.
“People know the name Bruce Lee and it’s exciting and they want to capitalise on that,” she said. “They want to get involved with that, but they don’t want to get involved with me.”
“I really, really need to be involved in this process – and not because I’m trying to be overly controlling or I have this specific vision,” she added, discussing projects about her father. “I just need to make sure it gets made the right way.
“It has to be in alignment with my father’s legacy and with my family and with my family’s legacy. We can be as creative and as free and as awesome as we want to be, but if, at the end, if come to me and say ‘I want to make a buddy cop movie where Bruce Lee goes around giving people the death touch and scaling walls like Spider-Man,’ I’m going to say no.”
