ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Actor Mike Moh Responds to Criticism of His Portrayal of Bruce Lee

While Once Upon a Time in Hollywood came out to mixed reviews (most of us here at GeekTyrant loved it), I’d say most of the criticism came from people that were unhappy about some of the portrayals. While most people liked Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the actress Sharon Tate, some thought she didn’t have a big enough part in the film. To that, I say people just didn’t get the film. Quentin Tarantino was weaving a story that was perfectly crafted, and he gave her a beautiful spotlight, in my opinion. But the criticism of Mike Moh’s portrayal of the great Bruce Lee is a little more complicated.

While Moh looked and sounded exactly like the martial artist, some say his portrayal was pompous, and even weak in the fight against Brad Pitt’s stuntman character, Cliff Booth. One of the most outraged critics of the scene was Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, who said her father was portrayed as an “arrogant asshole.” And after the scene where Lee knocked Booth on his ass, and was then met by being thrown into the door of a car, many fans scoffed at the idea that there was anyone who could have taken Lee in a fight, especially not an aging stuntman. But in an interview with Birth.Movies.Death. (via heroichollywood), Moh responded to both issues, by saying:

“Number one: it’s a Tarantino film. He’s not going to do the thing that everybody expects anybody else to do. You’ve got to expect the unexpected. And number two, I knew from the jump, Tarantino loves Bruce Lee; he reveres him. So let me be clear; in the film it was a challenge – ‘best two out of three.’ I got the first point – I knocked him on his ass first… It’s a hugely important scene – what better way to show how dangerous Cliff is than for him to show up and even match him for a little bit with Bruce?”

I’m a Tarantino fan, and I love that you never know what to expect in his movies. That’s what makes them exciting. And as for what the result of that fight would have been if Booth hadn’t been kicked off the set, Moh added:

“I can see how people might think Bruce got beat because of the impact with the car, but you give me five more seconds and Bruce would have won. So I know people are going to be up in arms about it, but when I went into my deep dive of studying Bruce, he more than anybody wanted people to know he’s human. And I think I respect him more knowing that he had these challenges, these obstacles, just like everybody. I don’t know any actor out there that doesn’t have some sense of wanting to be more – and I think that’s the sign of somebody that wants greatness, and will achieve greatness, always wanting more.”

I totally agree. I think both guys were just getting a feel for what the other was capable of, strengths and weaknesses. But in the end, Bruce Lee was a master and would have taken Booth down. What did you think about the scene? How would you have liked to see it end?