“Are You Trying To Make Me Look Bad?”: Bruce Lee’s Infamous Spat Once Ended Hong Kong’s Most Successful Actor-Director Partnership

Bruce Lee breezed through an array of side gigs; be it trying his hand at dubbing or establishing and running a karate school business. He even taught Kung Fu in college. However, his final attempt to expand his boundaries was his mission to be a director. Even though he shined as an esteemed actor, he still wanted to dabble in directing. This once got him into serious trouble. 

As per his autobiography, the actor was signed for the movie, Yellow Faced Tiger directed by the famous Lo Wei. However, Lee’s desire to make a film burned their glamorous partnership to ashes. In addition, he was also publicly humiliated at the instance. So what really went down?

Bruce Lee and Lo Wei’s final deal turned ugly

According to Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, the martial arts legend was once replaced by a renowned director in his upcoming movie. Surprisingly, the replacement was Lee’s rival Jimmy Wang Yu. The news had gone public, with the press and the fans being aware of the happenings behind the scenes. Given his status as a top-notch film star, Lee felt utterly embarrassed. Days after the mishap, he contacted Lo Wei to enquire about the abrupt change. “I never said I didn’t want to do the film… Are you trying to make me look bad?” he said. 

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Apparently, the icon had been too nosy about Lo Wei’s movie script and called for a few changes. This, in turn, led to a tumultuous scenario a month later. Lee ghosted Lo Wei for a month, after which the latter avenged his misbehavior by signing on his competitor, Jimmy Wang Yu. Furious, Lee tried convincing Lo Wei to change his plans once again, but in vain. “I think you switching me out for Wang means you’re a ‘low gamble,’ he said. 

“This won’t do. You think you can just ignore me for weeks. I have already promised someone else. I can’t just switch again now. How does that make me look?” snapped Lo Wei. Evidently, Lee didn’t want to risk the chances of Wang Yu’s film being a hit beside his Way of The Dragon, which was set to release eventually. However, the million-dollar alliance took a drastic turn and finally ended on an unfortunate note. Post that, Lee and Lo Wei never faced each other again ever. Furthermore, the Hong Kong director once made bizarre revelations about Lee’s combat skills. 

Lo Wei’s odd declarations against Bruce Lee

As per his book, the ongoing Lee-Wei dispute flamed up after the latter once claimed in front of the press that he taught Bruce Lee how to fight in a 1988 interview. “Lee didn’t know how to fight in front of the camera… I told him how he needed to fight,” Wei declared. Enraged by his statement, Lee yelled, “You called yourself ‘The Dragon’s mentor.”

Evidently scared to the bone, Wei took a step back on the instance and attempted to re-establish his sentence. Surprisingly, Jackie Chan was also present at the scene and felt uneasy. After that, despite Lee’s warnings, Lo Wei paid no heed. 

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Were you aware of the infamous controversy between the two? Let us know in the comments.