?All That Pigtail and Hopping Around Jazz?: Bruce Lee Was Against Playing a Historical Role for American Audience Once

Bruce Lee?struggled big time in Hollywood in the 1960s until he was offered an important role in the hit television show, The Green Hornet. Although the show left a remarkable impression on his acting career, Lee said yes to his character Kato after demanding serious changes in his role. The tweaks that the master made on his part reflected how much the master detested wearing the Chinese pigtail on-screen.

Lee?s biography,?Bruce Lee: A Life, revealed how the Little Phoenix was roped into the show, The Green Hornet, by the persuasion of producer William Dozier in 1966. Moreover, it also highlights Lee?s high self-esteem that oozed through his character choices.?

Bruce Lee turned down Kato?s role at the beginning

Bruce Lee met William Dozier in a martial arts competition in 1964. Lee?s charisma and martial arts skills convinced the producer to sign him for the lead role in the show, Number One Son. This would have been Lee?s spotlight to shine. However, the project was turned down by ABC Network in 1966. Immediately, 20th Century Fox announced The Green Hornet which gained Dozier’s attention.

When the producer was discussing the new project with George W. Trendle (creator of The Green Hornet 1933), he recommended Bruce Lee for the role of Kato. After the cancellation of Lee?s lead role show, Dozier was skeptical if the master would agree to do a role that was a second male lead. Although, Lee said yes to the role of Kato, he demanded certain conditions for it. In an interview with the Washington Post, Lee told,??I tell Dozier, ?Look if you sign me up with all that pigtail and hopping around jazz, forget it.”

Lee was against wearing a pigtail which was a sign of submission in Chinese history. Moreover, he also said that he would not play a role of a typical houseboy like the original Kato in The Green Hornet (1933). Listening to Lee?s conditions, Dozier assured that the master was playing Kato, not as a servant but as a partner to the male lead.

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Bruce Lee?s repugnance for the Chinese pigtail or queue was so deep that he discarded many roles in Hollywood at a juncture, even when he needed to feed his family.?

What did Bruce Lee think of the Chinese pigtail?

For the unversed, the Chinese pigtail dates back to 1644, when the Manchu dynasty forced the Han Chinese men to wear the pigtail as a sign of submission.?During a conversation with director Peter Baldwin, Lee expressed why he was rejecting roles that demanded him to wear the pigtail. He told, ?Most of those shows want me to wear a queue and I won?t do that. I don?t give a damn how much they pay me. Wearing those queues is real degrading.??He added, ?They forced the Chinese natives to wear those damn pigtails to mark them as women.??

Most American shows used pigtails to stereotype Chinese men. However, for Lee, his self-esteem was more important to him than the paychecks that were being offered.

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Despite saying no to pigtails, Lee eventually made it big in Hollywood with his acting talent and martial arts skills.