That is *beep* If you've read or seen any of his books or interviews, Bruce himself explains that they passed him over because marketting an asian lead to mainstream U.S back in those times weren't going to work. So while he was disappointed, he also clearly understood that the studio would be taking great risks casting him as the lead.
You can see the interview i'm referring to on Youtube. Here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXOtmhA6Nvw
I'm 100% sure he was talking about what eventually was Kung Fu. He also talks about prejudice and his hollywood career and his roles on longstreet and green hornet. It's a great, timeless interview.
Now, you can say that you don't believe Bruce, but personally, i believe what he said. He has no reason to lie and make that up, he was a superstar already at the time and he was telling it how it was. Nothing more, nothing less. If it wasn't true, i'm sure someone would have said something by now, especially the real creator or the cast/crew. Carradine and the studio might of wanted to associate the series with Bruce posthumously, but Bruce has nothing to gain by saying he got rejected because he was too 'exotic'. You can see it in his eye in the interview that he was actually hurt and disappointed by that decision.
As for them passing him over because Bruce's english wouldn't be understood by the average American.. that's even more *beep* Bruce was born and raised in the US, and he also went to school there. Watch the interview, and then tell me he isn't more well versed than the average American in english. It's 100% perfectly understandable. It's nothing like Jet Li or Jackie Chan. He is actually articulate and fluent. Like really really articulate and fluent. He would put Obama to shame even imo, because unlike Obama, he isn't a politician and the *beep* he spits is cold hard truth. He was ahead of his time, even now.
As for the differences had Lee been picked, i'm sure he would have wanted creative control over the show, and would have done it with his own philosophy and JKD in the roll. Just look at Enter The Dragon, you can already see him adding philosophical overtones to it.. "Don't think, feel!", "It's like a finger pointing to the moon, don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!", "Be like water my friend" "I do the art of fighting, without fighting!" and so on..
So yeah, i believe that he would have done something that would have been realistic and more true to himself, rather than something like fight X bad guy every show.
Bruce could have written, directed, and fought himself. He is a one man wrecking machine, and thoughtful philosopher too. He is/was the real deal. Think about it.. Bruce Lee's own TV show where he has total control. That would have been legendary. I can not think of anyone from all of history who i would rather see have a regular show.
Just watching his interview, you can tell the man had so much to say and share with the world. I could just listen to him talk for hours, or even if he's completely silent, that would have also been fine to just watch him move.
It's a real shame that he died, because with him died the best chance that an asian american had of becoming the biggest star in hollywood/the west. Even these days, there is STILL no show that has a asian american as a leading man and which focuses on asian themes/philosophy. Or they might have 'asian americans', but they look half cast or something or are in derogatory roles(nothing serious, no romance etc). We've still got a long way to go unfortunately.
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chongajuly
14 years ago
Like David Carradine, Bruce Lee was only considered by the KUNG FU producers as an actor, not in any other capacity. When Carradine began shooting the pilot, Lee was busy shooting his second film in Hong Kong, already a legend in his native China, having done film work there since he was a child. His concept for a TV series was set on a global scale, not just the Old West like Ed Spielman's. Bruce Lee's widow is entitled to protect her late husband's legacy, but if she wants to claim that he wanted to star in a Western series, I'd have to believe otherwise. Why try to present a case for racism pitting one actor over another, especially now that both are no longer with us. I'm proud to have the entire series, and Lee's Hong Kong starring features. They are truly among the stars now.
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