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Uma Thurman is a famous American actress and model, well known for her role as The Bride in “Kill Bill” series. Here are 50 interesting facts about the actress.
- She was named one among the #100 Sexiest Stars in Film History by Empire magazine.
- She began her modeling career at the age of 15, with the agency Click Models, following the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.
- She had been of the covers of Glamour and Vogue, even during her early days at modeling.
- Born as Uma Karuna Thurman on April 29, 1970 in Boston Massachusetts, USA.
- She was named Uma, after the Hindu goddess of light and beauty, Parvati, in Indian Mythology. According to Polynesian, her name means “Kiss.”
- Her father Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman was an Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies’ professor and one of the nation's foremost Buddhist scholars.
- Her mother Nena Thurman was a fashion model and socialite, who now runs a mountain retreat.
- Her uncle, John Thurman, is a professional concert cellist who performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
- She has three bothers - Ganden Thurman, Dechen Thurman and Mipam Thurman, along with a half-sister Taya.
- She attended Amherst Regional Middle School, as she grew up mostly in Amherst.
- She went to Northfield Mount Hermon School, before she dropped out for her career in acting.
- As a kid, she is described to have been an awkward and introverted girl and that she was often teased for her tall frame, unusual name, angular bone structure and enormous feet.
- During her childhood days, she had suffered bouts of body dysmorphic disorder.
- She discovered her love for acting, when she was in her eighth grade.
- In 1987, she auditioned for the role of Buttercup in the movie “The Princess Bride,” which went to Robin Wright.
- Her first movie debut was when she was 18 years. She appeared in a total of four films in the year 1988, a high school comedy – “Johnny Be Good,” a teen thriller “Kiss Daddy Goodnight,” an adventure fantasy comedy “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” and an Oscar-winning drama “Dangerous Liaisons.”
- She even briefly appeared nude in “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” in which she played the role of goddess Venus.
- She often wore loose, baggy clothing at that time, due to her insecurity about her appearance.
- Her performance in the sexually proactive drama “Henry & June,” with Fred and Maria de Medeiros, earned her some good notices, though it did not get a wide release in the U.S.
- 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."
- She met actor Gary Oldman on the set of State of Grace. The couple got married in the year 1990. However the relationship did not last long and the duo filed for divorce in 2 years.
- For the Brian De Palma’s movie “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” she was the first choice for the role of Maria, but it was Melanie Griffith who bagged it, as actor Tom Hanks dismissed Thurman’s acting as “high school.”
- She played the lead role in Gus Van Sant's 1993 adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” The film was a critical and financial disappointment and she received a Worst Actress Razzie nomination.
- She was cast as Mia Wallace in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Pulp Fiction,” of an $8 million budget, which grossed over $107 million in total, in the year 1994.
- Her performance earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the Academy Awards. She also became of the Tarantino's favorite actresses to cast as he once said that she was “up there with Garbo and Dietrich in goddess territory."
- She was ranked 99 in the Empire magazine’s list of “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.”
- In the year 199, she was cast opposite Ethan Hawke in the science fiction film “Gattaca,” which was not successful at box office. While some critics were not impressed with Thurman’s performance, the movie drew some positive reviews as well.
- She started dating Hawke, whom she met for the first time in the “Gattaca” movie set. The duo tied the knot on May 1, 1998, when Thurman was around 7 months pregnant.
- She acknowledged that she married Hawke because she was pregnant. They have 2 children together - daughter Maya Ray, born in 1998, and son Levon, born in 2002.
- In the year 2000, she became the spokes model for the French cosmetics firm Lancome. There are even shades of Lancome lipsticks, named after her, which are available only in Asia.
- She starred as Poison Ivy in the movie “Batman & Robin,” which received universal critical and fan acclaim. It was reported that people regarded Thurman as the only reason to watch the movie.
- She was awarded with a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for 'Best Actress - Sci-Fi' and a nomination for Favorite Movie Actress in the Kids' Choice Awards.
- In 2000, Thurman narrated the John Moran opera “Book of the Dead” (2nd Avenue) at New York's Public Theater.
- She was considered for the title role in the 2001’s movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” which she turned down. The role went to Angelina Jolie.
- She was initially cast for the part of Eowyn in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” in 2002.
- Thurman and Hawke filed for divorce in the year 2003, which was finalized in August 2005.
- Tarantino’s two-part martial arts film “Kill Bill,” released in late 2003 and early 2004, re-launched her career. It was reported that Tarantino wrote the part of The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo, specifically for Thurman.
- The production of the movie was delayed by several months, due to Thurman’s pregnancy with her son Levon. However, Tarantino refused to recast her part. The entire movie was shot in nine months and in 5 different countries.
- Tarantino offered the script of “Kill Bill,” to Thurman, along with the offer to play the role as "The Bride", as her 30th Birthday present.
- In order to prepare for the movie, Tarantino asked Thurman to watch 3 movies - John Woo's “The Killer” (1989), “Coffy” (1973) and Sergio Leone's “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964).
- It is reported that Tarantino and Thurman got the idea for doing “Kill Bill” during the filming of “Pulp Fiction,” when they were discussing the kinds of movies that they would like to do. It is in fact Thurman who came up with the movie’s opening shot of her beaten up and wearing a wedding gown.
- She was ranked #21 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 list in the year 2005.
- The same year, she was also named as one among the "100 Sexiest Women in the World" by FHM magazine.
- She was considered for the role of Katherine Heigl in “Knocked Up” in 2007, as well as the role of Giselle in “Enchanted” which went to Amy Adams.
- She met London-based French financier Arpad Busson and began dating him in 2007.
- The duo has a daughter together - Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson born on July 15, 2012.
- It was reported that due to some problems with her blood vessels, there was a big potential for complications with child birth. But still, she gave birth to 3 children.
- She was one of the choices for Geneva Backman in “The Dilemma” in the year 2011, which was bagged by Winona Ryder.
- In the year 2012, she played the role of Paqu, Blake Lively's character mother in Savages, but all her scenes were deleted from the final film.
- She played the role of Simone in the movie "Burnt" in 2015, directed by John Wells. She also has a comedy film "The Brits Are Coming," slated to be released next year.
