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Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29 1970) is an American Oscar-nominated film actress. She performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action thrillers. She is best known for her films directed by Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), Gattaca (1997), and the two Kill Bill movies (2003–04).
Early life and education Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Nena von Schlebrügge (b. 1941), was a Swedish fashion model, who was briefly married in 1964 to LSD guru Timothy Leary after the two were introduced by Salvador Dalí. She married Uma's father, Robert Thurman, in 1967. Robert Thurman, a recognized scholar and professor at Columbia University of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies, was the first westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He gave his children a Buddhist upbringing: Uma is named after an Uma Chenpo (in Tibetan; Mahamadhyamaka in Sanskrit, meaning “Great Middle Way”). She has three brothers, Ganden (b. 1971), Dechen (b. 1973) and Mipam (b. 1978), and a half-sister named Taya (b. 1960) from her father's previous marriage. She and her siblings spent extended amounts of time in India as children, and the Dalai Lama would sometimes visit their home. Early works, 1987–1989 Thurman began her career as a fashion model at the age of 16, when she was discovered at a Stockholm playground. She signed with the agency Elite Model Management. Uma followed in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, who were also fashion models. Standing six feet tall with a naturally lanky frame, Thurman was an immediate success, and her modeling credits included Glamour Magazine and Vogue. In 1989, she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, for the annual “Hot issue”. Thurman made her movie debut in 1988, appearing in a total of four films that year. Her first two were the high school comedy Johnny Be Good and the teen thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight at the age of seventeen, but both films were only marginally successful and failed to gain her notice. Thurman’s next role was in the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing the goddess Venus alongside Oliver Reed’s Vulcan. During her entrance Thurman briefly appears nude in an homage to Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus. With a budget of $46 million USD and box office receipts of only $8 million, the film was a commercial failure, although it has since gained an enthusiastic cult following. Her fourth role, as Cecile de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons, was her breakthrough role, which brought Thurman to the attention of the film industry and the general public. Actresses Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer earned Oscar nominations for their performances, and Thurman drew an inordinate amount of attention for a topless scene in which she appeared. Garnering the lion’s share of attention proved too much for the shy, insecure 19-year-old who thought she was funny-looking, and she fled to London for almost a year, during which she wore only loose, baggy clothing. Soon after the release of Dangerous Liaisons, magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the actress. Thurman received praise for her professionalism from her co-star John Malkovich, who said of her, “There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her, I haven’t met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there’s something else. She’s more than a little haunted”. Major works, 1990–1993 In 1990, the 19-year-old Thurman co-starred with Fred Ward in the sexually provocative drama film Henry & June, the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. Due to the film’s restrictive rating, it never played in a wide release but would attract more attention to Thurman’s career. Critics embraced her in her first leading role, The New York Times wrote, “Thurman, as the Brooklyn-accented June, takes a larger-than-life character and makes her even bigger, though the performance is often as curious as it is commanding”. Thurman’s first starring role in a major production was 1993’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (directed by Gus Van Sant), although the film was a misstep for her being a critical and financial disappointment (Thurman was even nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie). The Washington Post described her acting as shallow, writing that, “Thurman’s strangely passive characterization doesn’t go much deeper than drawling and flexing her prosthetic thumbs”. Thurman also starred opposite Robert DeNiro in the crime drama Mad Dog and Glory, another box office disappointment. Later that year, she auditioned for Stanley Kubrick while he was casting a movie to be called Wartime Lies, which was never produced. She described working with him as a “really bad experience”. 1994–1998 After Mad Dog and Glory, Thurman auditioned for Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Tarantino originally had no intention of casting her, after seeing her performance in Glory, but ultimately decided to cast her after having dinner with her: “And Uma and I were doing that scene. We were living the movie, all right? I left thinking… God, she could be Mia!” Pulp Fiction would become one of the most successful cult hits of all time when it grossed over $107 million on a budget of only $8 million USD.''Pulp Fiction'' box office information. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 April 2006. The Washington Post wrote that Thurman was “serenely unrecognizable in a black wig, Films of varying quality and success followed Pulp Fiction. She starred opposite Janeane Garofalo in the moderately successful 1996 romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs as a ditzy blonde supermodel. In 1998, she starred opposite her future husband Ethan Hawke in the dystopian science fiction film Gattaca. Although Gattaca was not a major success at the box office, it drew many positive reviews and became successful on the home video market.''Gattaca''. Crazy for Cinema. Retrieved 6 April 2006. Some critics were not as impressed with Thurman, such as the Los Angeles Times which stated she was “as emotionally uninvolved as ever”.Jack Mathews. Cautionary Tale in Genetically Pure “Gattaca”. The Los Angeles Times. 24 October 1997. Retrieved 8 April 2006. The two biggest film flops of Thurman’s career came in 1997 and 1998. She played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin, the fourth film of the popular franchise. Batman & Robin was a large failure at the box office and became one of the largest critical flops in history. Thurman’s performance in the campy film received mainly mixed reviews, and critics made comparisons between her and actress Mae West. The New York Times wrote, “like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen”.Janet Maslin. New York Times review, ''Batman and Robin''. 20 June 1997. Retrieved 7 February 2006. A similar comparison was made by the Houston Chronicle: “Thurman, to arrive at a ’40s femme fatale, sometimes seems to be doing Mae West by way of Jessica Rabbit”.Jeff Millar. If you like them busy, this “Batman” is for you. Houston Chronicle. 19 June 1997. Retrieved 6 April 2006. The next year brought The Avengers, another major financial and critical flop. CNN described Thurman as, “so distanced you feel like you’re watching her through the wrong end of a telescope”.Paul Tatara. CNN. “Review: ‘The Avengers’ is retro-boring” 21 August 1998. Retrieved 20 February 2006. She received Razzie Award nominations for both films. She closed out 1998 with the powerful tale Les Misérables, a film version of Victor Hugo’s classic novel of the same name, directed by Bille August, in which she played the role of Fantine. Hiatus, 1998–2002 After the birth of her first child in 1998, Thurman took a rest from major roles to concentrate on motherhood. Her next roles were in low-budget and television films, including Sweet and Lowdown, Tape, Vatel, and Hysterical Blindness. In 2000 she narrated a theatrical work by composer John Moran titled, "Book of the Dead (2nd Avenue)" at The Public Theater. She won a Golden Globe award for Hysterical Blindness, a film for which she also served as executive producer. In the film she played an excitable New Jersey woman in the 1980s searching for romance. The San Francisco Chronicle review wrote, “Thurman so commits herself to the role, eyes blazing and body akimbo, that you start to believe that such a creature could exist — an exquisite looking woman so spastic and needy that she repulses regular Joes. Thurman has bent the role to her will”. 2003–present After a five-year hiatus from any major film roles, Thurman returned in 2003 in John Woo's film Paycheck, followed by her next collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill. Paycheck was only moderately successful with critics and at the box office, but Kill Bill relaunched her career. In Kill Bill she played one of the world's top assassins, out on a revenge quest against her former lover. She was offered the role on her 30th birthday from Tarantino, who wrote the part specifically for her. He also cited Thurman as his muse while writing the film, and also gave her a formal joint credit for the character of Beatrix Kiddo, whom the two conceived on the set of Pulp Fiction from the sole image of a bride covered in blood. Production was delayed for several months after Thurman became pregnant as Tarantino refused to recast the part. By 2005, Thurman had become one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses, commanding a salary of $12.5 million USD per film. Her first film of the year was Be Cool, the sequel to 1995's Get Shorty, which reunited her with her Pulp Fiction castmate John Travolta. In the film she played the widow of a deceased music business executive. Later in 2005 she starred in the film Prime with Meryl Streep, playing a woman in her late thirties romancing a man in his early twenties. Thurman's last film of the year was a remake of The Producers in which she played Ulla, a Swedish stage actress hoping to win a part in a new Broadway musical. Originally, the producers of the film planned to have another singer dub in Thurman's musical numbers, but she was eager to do her own vocals, however it has not been confirmed if she performs all of the vocals in the film. She is credited for her songs in the credits. With a successful film career, Thurman once again became a desired model. Cosmetics company Lancôme selected her as their spokeswoman, and named several shades of lipstick after her (these were only sold in Asia). In 2005, she became a spokeswoman for the French fashion house Louis Vuitton. On February 7,2006, Thurman was named a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France for outstanding achievement in the field of art and literature. In May 2006 Thurman bought the film rights to the Frank Schätzing novel "The Swarm", which is now in development and due for release in 2008. *. Her most recent movie, co-starring Luke Wilson, is My Super Ex-Girlfriend which was released on July 20, 2006 in Australia, and on July 21 in the United States. Thurman stars as a super-heroine named "G-Girl" who is dumped by her boyfriend and then takes her revenge upon him. Relationships and family
Politics and opinions Thurman also dedicates herself to a variety of political and social causes. Thurman is a supporter of the United States Democratic Party, and has made donations to the campaigns of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Joseph Driscoll. She is a strong supporter of gun control laws, and in 2000, she participated in Marie Claire’s “End Gun Violence Now” campaign. She also participated in Planned Parenthood’s “March for Women’s Lives” to support the legality of abortion. On June 21 2006 she attended the Conference of Nobel Laureates, Petra II: A World in Danger in the Jordanian town of Petra. The conference was the second organized jointly by the King Abdullah II Development Fund and Wiesel’s Foundation for Humanity. Some 25 Nobel laureates and 30 celebrities, including the Dalai Lama, attended. It was also the setting for the first “informal” meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Trivia Filmography Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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