Why Bruce Lee Almost Didn’t Accept His First Kung Fu Movie Role

Despite it being his first kung fu movie, Bruce Lee almost passed on The Big Boss. Directed by Lo Wei, The Big Boss is best remembered as the movie that made Lee a star. His performance in the movie was followed up with even more starring roles.

Prior to the movie, Lee attempted to become a Hollywood star through his other projects. But unfortunately for the actor, co-starring in ABC’s The Green Hornet show wasn’t enough to get him the attention he wanted. For years, most of Lee’s work in the entertainment industry came from guest appearances in TV shows like Ironside and Longstreet. During this time, Lee spent time trying to develop his own material, such as The Warrior TV series and The Silent Flute movie, but neither ever saw the light of day. Lee’s suffering career took a turn for the best in 1971 when Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest cast him in The Big Boss.

With The Big Boss being his first opportunity to star in a kung fu movie, this may have seemed like an easy decision for the actor. However, Lee strongly considering passing on Golden Harvest’s offer of a $15,000 two-picture contract. According to Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, Lee had plenty of reasons not to do the movie. At the time, he had yet to completely give up making The Silent Flute, which had long been a passion project for the actor. Not only that, but people in his inner circle had cautioned against signing the contract. Hollywood screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, who was one of Lee’s celebrity students, was among those who argued that going to Hong Kong would be a bad career move.

There was a concern that Golden Harvest had an uncertain future. Admittedly, the studio was fairly new and wasn’t on the level of its competitor, Shaw Brothers. It was possible that if Golden Harvest went under, The Big Boss could go unfinished and his contract would go unfulfilled. Furthermore, it didn’t help that because he didn’t like Hong Kong kung fu movies, Lee didn’t have high expectations of its quality or impact on his career. In addition to that, not being the original lead may have factored into his reservations as well. Bruce Lee didn’t replace James Tien as the star until later.

In need of acting work, Lee overcame his trepidations and signed the contract. James Coburn, a major movie star and a longtime friend of Lee’s, had advised him to take the risk, believing that The Big Boss was his chance to finally get noticed by Hollywood [via Google Arts and Culture]. The level of popularity Bruce Lee ultimately acquired from starring in the movie and what came next made it abundantly clear that going to Hong Kong was indeed the career-saving move the actor needed.

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