Whenever you use a fictitious version of a real person in a film, there are going to be those that disagree with the depiction. That’s just a fact. But in the case of Quentin Tarantino’s use of Bruce Lee in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the late actor’s daughter isn’t saddened by the portrayal of her father, but instead, is upset with how the filmmaker used Bruce Lee in a way that would have never happened in real life.
Speaking to The Wrap, Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, spoke about a scene in ‘Once Upon a Time’ where her father and Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth character come to blows. **Spoilers** if you haven’t seen the film, but honestly, if you’ve seen the trailer, you can basically get the idea about what happens.
In the scene, Lee and Booth agree to have an informal three-round fight on the set of “Green Hornet” to prove who is the toughest person. The first round clearly goes to Lee, while Booth takes the second one after slamming Lee into a car. The fight is ended before a third round can happen. Shannon Lee knows why the scene is included in the film, showing that Cliff Booth is a badass, but she doesn’t agree with the use of her father.
READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Explains Why Tom Cruise Wasn’t Cast In ‘Once Upon A Time’
“I can understand all the reasoning behind what is portrayed in the movie,” Lee said. “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.”
She added, “I understand they want to make the Brad Pitt character this super badass 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 continues to explain that the depiction of her father as some sort of “arrogant asshole who was full of hot air” is the antithesis of who Bruce Lee actually was. She said that her father had to “fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others.”
Ultimately, Shannon Lee said that when she saw the film in the theater, that’s when the use of her father was proven to be problematic.
“It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theater and listen to people laugh at my father,” she said.
Shannon Lee isn’t the first person to have a problem with Tarantino’s use of real Hollywood figures in ‘Once Upon a Time.’ Roman Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner had already voiced concerns about her husband’s use in the film. And early on in the production of the film, Sharon Tate’s sister was upset that the film could be used to capitalize on the death of her sibling.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is in theaters now.