Why we’re crushing hard on Uma Thurman
I have to admit I didn’t see my favorite movie, Pulp Fiction, until I was in college in the early- to mid-2000s. The most I knew about it was that it was long, dirty, and it had a super-cool-looking VHS box that sat on a shelf in my parents’ ’90s living room, collecting dust.
So by the time I’d seen Oscar-nominated Uma Thurman – who, in fact, was named after the Hindu goddess of love and fertility – in Pulp Fiction, I’d already seen her in movies like Batman & Robin, Les Misérables (the 1998 version, costarring Claire Danes), and of course, the Kill Bill franchise. It didn’t take me long to want to imbibe everything she’d ever acted in, due to her commanding onscreen presence and unique beauty that I would’ve given anything to replicate.
And as it turns out, she’s also a really fantastic person even outside of her movie work. Here are a just a few of the reasons, film-related and not, that Uma Thurman is my #WCW this week.
She starred in the best Tarantino movies
Fun fact: Quentin Tarantino wrote the Kill Bill films just for Thurman, because he loved working with her so much and they came up with the protagonist, Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride, together. He even listed in the closing credits of Kill Bill, “Based on the character of ‘The Bride’ created by Q and U” – the letters, of course, corresponding to “Quentin” and “Uma.”
And who can forget Pulp Fiction, the best (in my humble but totally right opinion) Tarantino film? Mrs. Mia Wallace and, by extension, Thurman herself, became instant style icons – and of course gave us all the coolest dance moves to tuck into our back pockets and save for a rainy day. Oh, and she taught us all the importance of staying away from drugs.
She laughs in the face of societal beauty expectations
Thurman is obviously stunning, but she has the same insecurities we all do – and some of hers, like many of ours, stemmed from her past. Like how she was teased about her height in school, or the time when her mom’s friend suggested she get a nose job. Or when, according to a 2015 interview with HELLO! Magazine, some idiot told her she had an ugly smile. Perhaps the worst part of these latter two incidents? Both happened when she was just 10 years old.
“I spent the whole of my younger years feeling embarrassed and never smiling with my mouth open,” Thurman told HELLO! Magazine. “But what are you going to do?” She also told the TODAY show of a makeup look she had that many voiced disapproval of, “People say things nice and they say things mean and it’s like whatever. You take the good with the bad.”
Amen, sister. Wish we could say we’re surprised even one of the most beautiful women in the world has to deal with this kind of crap, but it’s so nice to know someone amazing like Uma Thurman has learned to brush it off. It definitely inspires us to do the same.
She’s not afraid to explore different genres
Uma Thurman has played characters in many different types of films over the years. She’s obviously nailed action via Kill Bill, but she is equally amazing in comedy, drama, thriller, fantasy, and more. One of my personal favorite films of hers is Batman & Robin, and I’m not even sorry. She will always be my Poison Ivy, and I agree 100% with Roger Ebert when he said in his (overall negative) review of this movie that, “Thurman plays [Poison Ivy] with a languid drawl that suggests plants *can* have multiple orgasms.” I mean, that says it all. Queen, IMO.
She has a really rad song named after her
When I first heard Fall Out Boy’s “Uma Thurman” on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio), I was like, “Did Fall Out Boy just sample The Munsters? WHAT IS HAPPENING?” I also thought the “Uma Thurman” part of the song was saying, “She wants to dance like ‘Ooh, what fun’” and was a little confused, but I just went with it because that’s what the cool kids do. They go with it.
Then I bought the album and realized the song was called “Uma Thurman.” And after I got over my embarrassment, I became just a little bit obsessed with the song. When you can kick so much ass as a human being that you get a super-fun song by not only a relevant band, but a good relevant band named after you, I think you’re doing more than OK.
She is dedicated to the most wonderful causes
Thurman is hugely into philanthropic work and political activism. She has lobbied for more gun control, is on the Honorary Chair Committee of Tibet House (which was co-founded by her father, Robert), and works with Room to Grow, an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development.”
As if that’s not enough, Thurman is also a big supporter of the ethical treatment of animals, having recently put herself in a physical revolutionary situation to help save rhinoceroses from poachers. In a chase vehicle. That is serious dedication that we respect wholeheartedly.
Thanks for being such an awesome onscreen and off-screen icon, Uma Thurman. We can’t wait to see what you have in store in the future, although we won’t lie: we’re all still crossing our fingers for Kill Bill: Volume 3 to become a reality. Maybe 2016 is The Bride’s year to return?
