Bruce Lee: how his Chinese race counted against him in Hollywood with its history of negative Asian stereotypes in films
The American film industry had long been racist. Lee thought he could change that, but studio bosses doubted US audiences would accept a non-American hero. The worldwide success of Enter the Dragon came too late
In a special series commemorating the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death on July 20, 1973, we aim to set the facts straight – as well as exploring some little known trivia – about the life of the martial arts legend.
Asians have suffered from racial discrimination in Hollywood since the early days of the movies.
As recently as 2016, the Bruce Lee drama Birth of the Dragon was criticised for making Lee a supporting character in his own story, which was told from the perspective of a Caucasian character. The film was subsequently recut to feature Lee as the lead character.
Off screen, an internet storm has been raging about racist attitudes leading to the omission of Daniel Wu’s martial arts action show Into the Badlands from the outstanding stunt coordination category of the Emmys.
So did Bruce Lee’s Hollywood career suffer because he was Chinese?
According to the martial arts superstar himself, it did. In a Canadian television interview, which took place just after Lee had lost the starring role in the US television series Kung Fu to the Caucasian actor David Carradine, and after his projected US series The Warrior had been written off by the studio, Lee said he had been denied opportunities because he was Chinese.
Asked a question about whether industry executives had discussed whether the US audience would accept a non-American hero, Lee responded: “Such [a] question has been raised, and it is being discussed. And that is why The Warrior is not going to be on. Unfortunately, such [a] thing [as racism] does exist in this world, in certain parts of the country … where they think, business-wise, it’s a risk.”