Bruce Lee's daughter slams dad's 'caricature' portrayal in 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood'

Erin Jensen

While the box office numbers for "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" resulted in director Quentin Tarantino's biggest opening to date, not everyone is wild about the drama set in Los Angeles in 1969.

Shannon Lee, the 50-year-old daughter of Bruce Lee portrayed in the film, ripped the depiction of her father in an interview with The Wrap published online Monday. The "Enter the Dragon" star, played in the film by Mike Moh, appears cocky and boastful.

“He comes across as an arrogant (expletive) who was full of hot air,” Shannon told the outlet. “And not someone who had to fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others.”

Shannon also said her father aimed to dodge scuffles. “Here, he’s the one with all the puffery and he’s the one challenging Brad Pitt," she said. "Which is not how he was.”

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Shannon Lee, daughter of late Bruce Lee, poses at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 17, 2012.
Shannon Lee, daughter of late Bruce Lee, poses at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 17, 2012.

Viewing the movie was distressing for Shannon. “It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theater and listen to people laugh at my father.”

She believes Moh was “directed to be a caricature” and that this part diminishes her efforts to keep her dad's memory alive, which The Wrap reports she does via a website, podcast and through the Bruce Lee Foundation.

“What I’m interested in is raising the consciousness of who Bruce Lee was as a human being and how he lived his life,” she told outlet. “All of that was flushed down the toilet in this portrayal, and made my father into this arrogant punching bag.”

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Matthew Polly, author of the biography "Bruce Lee: A Life," agrees "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" goes too far.

"Bruce Lee was often a cocky, strutting braggart, but Tarantino took those traits and exaggerated them to the point of caricature," says Polly, who takes exception with Lee boasting about beating boxing champ Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) in a fight.

"Bruce revered Cassius Clay; he never claimed he could beat the champ," says Polly.

USA TODAY has reached out to Tarantino for comment.

Contributing: Bryan Alexander

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood': Quentin Tarantino's Bruce Lee ripped