Quentin Tarantino Finds His Bruce Lee for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood': How Mike Moh Honored Lee

Quentin Tarantino has found his Bruce Lee for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” TheWrap has learned. Mike Moh, who has repeatedly paid tribute to Lee online, will play the kung-fu master in Tarantino’s film set in the era of the Manson murders.

Moh was named as a member of the cast last month, but his role was not officially released. Individuals with knowledge of the project told to TheWrap this week that Moh will play Lee. That’s fitting, because Moh has honored Lee in YouTube videos (see below) and a tweet last month on the 45th anniversary of Lee’s death.

“It’s been 45 years since this man passed,” tweeted Moh, who is best known for playing Triton on Marvel’s “The Inhumans.” “#brucelee has inspired me in so many ways… Martial arts, acting, his philosophies on life. But look at the loving way he looked at his children. I know the exact feeling he felt RIP Bruce. Walk on”

Also Read: How Bruce Lee Fits Into Quentin Tarantino's New Movie (Podcast)

The question of who would play Lee has interested his fans since news broke that Lee would appear in the film — though his appearance is likely to be brief.

For a brief time after the murders of his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, and some of their closest friends, director Roman Polanski very wrongly believed that Bruce Lee may have killed them.

It’s a strange chapter in the dark saga of the Manson murders, and Matthew Polly, the author of “Bruce Lee: A Life,” explained it in a recent episode of our “Shoot This Now” podcast. You can listen on iTunes or right here:

Moh’s hiring also adds racial diversity to a film packed with white actors. The story of the Manson murders is largely one of white killers and white victims — though the film will not focus strictly on the Manson family crimes. Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, who will play the neighbors of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), are fictional characters.

Also Read: How Quentin Tarantino Can Diversify the Very White Cast of 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

Tarantino and Moh will likely have a lot of Lee love to discuss, as Lee’s influence on the filmmaker can’t be overstated.

For example, the yellow suit he wore to battle Kareem Abdul Jabbar in “Game of Death” inspired the one Uma Thurman’s Beatrix Kiddo (aka The Bride) wore as she took out the Crazy 88, Gogo Yubari and O-Ren in “Kill Bill Vol. 1.” As Polly told us on the podcast, Lee picked up the yellow suit during a trip with Polanski to Gstaad, Switzerland.

Here are two videos in which Moh plays homage to Lee:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwnOvX68qYE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3SkoKk4Ezs

Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood': How the Stars Compare to Real-Life Characters (Photos)

Quentin Taratino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is set on 1969 around the time of the notorious 1969 Manson Family murders -- and features a mix of both real-life and fictional characters.
Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, play a (fictitious) washed-up Western actor who lives next door to actress (and true-life murder victim) Sharon Tate; Brad Pitt plays his longtime stunt double. Here's how the cast matches up with their real-life counterparts.
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Margot Robbie ("I, Tonya") plays actress Sharon Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered by the Charles Manson Family. (Her husband, director Roman Polanski, was in Europe shooting a movie at the time.)
Australian actor Damon Herriman ("Justified") plays the notorious Charles Manson.
Bruce Dern plays George Spahn, the aged California rancher who was persuaded to allow the Manson Family to live on his property. (Dern stepped in after the September 2018 death of Burt Reynolds, who was originally cast in the role.)
Dakota Fanning ("The Alienist") portrays Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a Charles Manson disciple who later attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild") plays celebrity hair stylist and Manson Family murder victim Jay Sebring (né Thomas Kummer).
Polish actor Rafal Zawierucha ("Warsaw 44") plays the young Roman Polanski, who was filming a movie in Europe when his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was killed.
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"Empire" and "Inhumans" actor Mike Moh plays kung-fu master Bruce Lee, who had trained Tate for her fight scenes in one of her movies.
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Wayne Maunder was a star of CBS' late-1960s Western series "Lancer" -- and in the film a co-star of Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Rick Dalton. He's played by the late "Beverly Hills 90210" actor Luke Perry.
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James Stacy was an actor who starred in the '60s TV Western "Lancer" as the brother of Maunder's character. (He was also briefly married to Connie Stevens.) In "Once Upon a Time," he's played by former "Justified" star Timothy Olyphant.
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Popular 1960s actress and singer Connie Stevens -- and the wife of James Stacy at the time -- is played by "Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23" alum Dreama Walker.
Damian Lewis ("Billions") plays actor Steve McQueen.
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Rebecca Rittenhouse ("The Mindy Project") plays the Mamas and the Papas singer Michelle Phillips.
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Rumer Willis ("Empire") plays Joanna Pettet, a British actress who appeared in movies like "The Group" -- and who also lunched with Sharon Tate on the day of her murder.
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Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich in "The Sound of Music," plays actor turned TV director Sam Wanamaker.
Austin Butler ("The Carrie Diaries," "The Shanarra Chronicles") plays Charles "Tex" Watson, a central member of Manson's Family who committed multiple murders and was later convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder.
Susan Atkins, who was convicted for her participation in eight of the nine killings linked to Manson Family, is played by "Better Things" star Mikey Madison.
Madisen Beaty ("The Fosters," "Aquarius") appears as Katie, the nickname for Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel, who was convicted of murder for her role in the slaying of Sharon Tate and four others on Cielo Drive.
Newcomer Dallas Jay Hunter plays Linda Kasabian, a former member of the Manson Family who accompanied Watson, Atkins and Krenwinkel to the murders at Polanski's home -- and later became a star witness in their subsequent murder trials.
Archives; Sony
Lena Dunham ("Girls") portrays Catherine "Gypsy" Share, a follower of Manson who did not participate in the Sharon Tate murders.
Archives; Getty Images
Voytek Frykowski (a.k.a. Wojciech Frykowski), the Polish actor who was killed along with others in Roman Polanski's home on L.A.'s Cielo Drive, is played by Russian-born actor Costa Ronin ("The Americans").
Abigail Folger, a Manson Family victim who was heiress to the Folger coffee fortune and girlfriend of Frykowski, is played by "The Love Witch" actress Samantha Robinson.
"The Leftovers" star Margaret Qualley plays Kitty Kat, based on Manson Family member Kathryn "Kitty" Lutesinger, the girlfriend of convicted murderer Bobby Beausoleil.
Newcomer Victoria Pedretti plays Lulu, the nickname for Manson Family member and convicted murderer Leslie Van Houten -- who was 19 at the time of the slayings.
James Landry Hébert ("Stranger Things") plays Steve "Clem" Grogan, a member of the Manson Family who was convicted of the August 1969 killing of Spahn ranch hand Donald Shea -- which occurred weeks after the Sharon Tate murders.

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Many stars in Tarantino’s 2019 movie play actual people in 1969 Los Angeles, from Steve McQueen to Sharon Tate

Quentin Taratino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is set on 1969 around the time of the notorious 1969 Manson Family murders -- and features a mix of both real-life and fictional characters.

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Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood': How the Stars Compare to Real-Life Characters (Photos)

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