Uma Thurman: Read About the Sword-Wielding Starlet
The actress has range!
You most likely know her as the sword-wielding blonde from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill film series, or perhaps recognize her with her short raven-colored bob in Pulp Fiction, but these characters are just a few that fill the resume of Uma Thurman, her list of movies endless and roles vast.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the 54-year-old actress has built a wildly successful career for herself, getting her start in front of the camera, but not in the movies. A young Uma would make a name for herself first as a fashion model before making her big-screen debut in 1987’s Kiss Daddy Goodnight.
Before her fame, a young Uma was like any other adolescent: “I didn’t completely belong at any of the schools I went to. I had a funny name, a funny face, big nose, and people told me I was more ugly than pretty,” she said in a 1989 interview with PEOPLE.
Her classmates’ commentary would prove to be irrelevant in the end, as she went on to star in a number of films throughout the 80s and 90s alongside some of Hollywood’s greatest: Johnny Be Good (1988), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and in the same year, Dangerous Liaisons, alongside John Malkovich and Glenn Close.
In Dangerous Liaisons, Thurman is an object of seduction in a scheme orchestrated by Close and Malkovich’s characters.
“I haven’t met anyone like her at that age,” Malkovich said to PEOPLE in 1989. “Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there’s something else. She’s more than a little haunted.”
Uma Thurman movies — 90s breakthrough and beyond
The turn of the decade would bring Thurman some of the most notable roles of her career. In 1994, she could be seen alongside Robert De Niro and Bill Murray in Mad Dog and Glory. De Niro played a detective who, after saving the life of a crime boss, is given a “thank you” in the form of Glory (Uma Thurman).
By 1994, she took on perhaps her most famous role as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Her work with the famed filmmaker didn’t end there. In 2003, she led Kill Bill: Volume 1 opposite Lucy Liu as The Bride, a woman who wakes from a four year coma after a failed murder attempt by her would-be husband carried out on her wedding day. From that point forward, she sets forth on a path of vengeance.
“Uma has this thing about her that makes you want to find out her mysteries,” Tarantino explained to British Vogue in 1994. “She’s both standoffish and very revealing at the same time. She’s this 23-year-old with the soul of a 40-year-old woman. I don’t think of her as a great beauty, but she could show up after a seven-day bender, falling down, and still look great.”
He continued, “I ran into her at this Hollywood party and asked her to dance and her eyes turned into headlights and she said in horror, ‘Someone might take our picture.’ But then she took over the dance floor and everybody just stopped in their tracks to watch her. She was terrific.”
Uma Thurman notable movies
In the midst of her Tarantino era, Thurman could be seen in films like Beautiful Girls (1996), The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996), Batman & Robin (1997), Les Misérables (1998) and more.
Uma’s latest work
In recent years, Uma has kept busy with both film and television work. Series like The Slap, Imposters, Chambers, Suspicion and Super Pumped, as well as films like The Kill Room (2023), Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) and Hollywood Stargirl (2022) have lined her resume.
Today, we can’t wait to see what’s in store next!
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