Donnie Yen’s role in the John Wick 4 has been highly praised and his action sequences have especially been adored. The movie has somewhat changed the entire course of what an action movie really is. The actor has played an unafraid character in many movies from Ip Man to Mulan. The range has been never-ending and his not being a man to fear his opinion has made him even more dynamic as an actor.
He recently opened up about his views on Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the impression Quentin Tarantino had of Bruce Lee. Many fans were clearly not big fans of it and neither was the late actor’s family. However, another actor who did not find the portrayal to be okay was Yen.
Donnie Yen Did Not Like Quentin Tarantino’s Portrayal Of Bruce Lee In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Donnie Yen opened up about how he was not very fond of Quentin Tarantino’s portrayal of Bruce Lee in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. The scene, in particular, had Mike Moh play the legendary actor. He had gotten beaten up by a fictional stuntman who was played by Brad Pitt.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinions. Quentin Tarantino is a very renowned filmmaker, and he’s entitled to his status – and I’m entitled to state my own view. Obviously, he was making fun of Bruce. It was cartoonish.”
He claimed that it had been more than obvious of the director to be making fun of the actor and he was not okay with it. Tarantino had further confirmed beforehand that this was his intention in the first place and he did not care much about what anyone said. Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee had stated previously that she did not find this portrayal good either and had politely gone to the director to question him about it.
Quentin Tarantino Did Not Think Of Bruce Lee As A Good Person
Quentin Tarantino understood why Shannon Lee would be upset by it, but he still stood by his decision of showing Bruce Lee in a bad and mocking light. According to him, Lee hated American stuntmen and he would even hit them with his feet as a sign of disrespect.
“Bruce had nothing but disrespect for stuntmen. That’s why Gene Labelle was brought in, to teach Bruce respect for American stuntmen. Bruce had no respect for American stuntmen, he was always hitting them with his feet. It’s called tagging when you hit a stuntman for real. He was always tagging them with his feet and his fist and it got to the point where they would refuse to work with Bruce. He had nothing but disrespect for American stuntmen.”
This had gone to an extent where stuntmen did not want to work with him anymore despite his skills in Martial Arts. He wanted to show Lee what he believed to be the true lighting of the actor and not the image that was made of him by the people. He even thought of Shannon Lee’s book of him to be more of her defending him than honoring him.
John Wick 4 is now available to watch in theatres.
Source: Variety
