Wednesday January 11, 2006
Feisty goddess Uma Thurman
By ALISTAIR TAN
"No, I don’t have an Aerosmith tattoo on my back."
Uma Thurman flashes a stare of the variety which sent shivers down the spine of audiences who watched Kill Bill.
It’s a where-are-you-coming-from look which says she finds the question either naughty or unexpected. The question being: is that tattoo on her bikini-clad body, as she laid on the sun bed in her opening scene in Be Cool with John Travolta, for real?
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Fans saw it in the Quentin Tarantino two-volume box-office hit, where she played a pregnant bride betrayed by assassin bullets in the chapel and re-invents herself as an avenging angel.
It was a part that transformed her from It girl into icon of Girl Power as she made sashimi slices of her former friends-turned-enemies in the Tarantino bloodfest.
If Glenn Close’s role as a jilted woman-gone-ballistic in Fatal Attraction was a wake up call to straying husbands in the 1980s, Thurman’s no-holds-barred killer (she guns down an enemy in front of her daughter, and that’s for starters) was a reminder that hell still hath no fury like a woman scorned, even in the 21st century.
Something of that movie image as revanchist diva must linger on. There is a moment of silence at the main table, called Diamond Fiction, as Tarantino’s muse draws the line at where not to go.
We are gathered for an exclusive lunch, hosted by upscale watch brand Tag Heuer at the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Paris.
The occasion is the launch of the diamond-laden designs (Haute Couture and Pret-a-Porter) from Swiss brand Tag Heuer. The Hollywood star is the new Global Brand ambassador for the range and the new campaign, ‘‘What are you made of?’’
Well, all fans of the Black Mamba – her Kill Bill character – know what makes her tick. (Or so we think). For sure, the samurai siren is not the skin-and-bones wraith that is the standard of Hollywood beauty these days.
Limpid-eyed (usually) Uma is really drawn from something … tough. Those of us who have followed her travails – on and off screen – rooted for her as she despatched of faithless reel-life friend and real-life husband Ethan Hawke.
Applause breaks out when the strapping actress strides purposefully into the dining room. Her flaxen hair is artfully tousled and her beige sheath dress – a challenge for any other pale-skinned blonde – bares taut, toned limbs that must be a gift of God and/or personal trainer.
Pale and interesting would be a quaint term to sum her up, except that we know she is more of a lethal blonde, movie-wise.
By a stroke of luck – reason unknown – I am seated, with motley other editors, at Diamond Fiction with the host, Jean-Christophe Babin, the brand’s president and chief executive officer, and the guest-of-honour.
This is a coup of sorts, since breaking bread with Uma Thurman is not your usual to-do on most people’s daily list. Even seasoned scribes have, overcome by twittering anticipation, been changed into drippy fans at her arrival.
A guest at the next table later said her eyes kept being drawn to Thurman’s hands. ‘‘They are rather large,’’ she noted. (Perfect for the diamond-studded Diamond Fiction watch with 879 stones and red satin band that Babin clasps on the star’s wrist.)
The observation recalls the late Ingrid Bergman, a Swedish beauty who lamented her gangly feet.
Thurman also has a Scandinavian lineage. Her Boston roots go back to a small Swedish town where her maternal grandfather had a manufacturing concern.
Her late father Robert Thurman was a respected Buddhist scholar and her mother was a teacher, she says. ‘‘What does that make one?’’ she asks.
Uma was named for the Hindu goddess of beauty. Her parents were foresighted or psychic; the only girl in a brood of four became a movie diva at 18, with her breakout role in Dangerous Liaisons.
In Brazilian, a chatty editor at the table announced, Uma means Number One. The girl was destined to be something special, but she wasn’t always so sure and rock-steady.
‘‘I was very shy and nervous,’’ she told an interviewer (see story on page 4). ‘‘I was the odd one out among my three brothers. I didn’t like having my picture taken and was conscious of my size.’’
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Uma Thurman plays Ulla in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Producers, and stars alongside Nathan Lane (left) and Matthew Broderick. |
She prefers to spin an image of herself as a working woman with her feet grounded by two young children. Uma makes movies to put bread on the table, and not every choice is an inspired one.
‘‘Sometimes, I wonder what made me do it,’’ she admits candidly. ‘‘There are millions of reasons (for doing a movie).’’
Roles like Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin and Mrs Peel in The Avengers remake were certainly not her finest hour, but she came out unscathed by these outings.
‘‘There are times when I’m drawn to heavier roles. Right now, I’m doing comedies.’’
There’s a song and dance inside the Oscar nominee (for Pulp Fiction) as well, to be seen – and heard – in her first musical, The Producers, with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.
She becomes flesh-and-blood fan herself, raving about her favourite actress Meryl Streep, whom she stars with in the new romantic comedy, Prime. ‘‘It’s wonderful when you meet your heroes and they are real,’’ she says. ‘‘She’s delicious, real. Watching her work is gorgeous.’’
Her musical debut is a long time coming for a girl who grew up on classics such as Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan.
Unlike Kill Bill, where she underwent three body-racking months of training to become a killing machine, she did not go through singing lessons for The Producers.
‘‘You have to become your worst, and train your voice from the bottom,’’ she says.
The single mother warms up to the subject of child-raising, as she goes on Everywoman’s guilt trip about time (or lack of) with the brood.
Maya, her first-born, has turned seven and no longer a Velcro kid, and “you feel that little bit less guilty”, she says, with a gesture of two fingers pressed together.
The demands of stardom and motherhood are like being caught between a rock and a hard place. But she works off the aggro the physical way.
‘‘Relaxation is very important,’’ she says, becoming very animated.
‘‘It’s great, the way everyone is into exercise these days. I love Pilates, yoga, and should be getting back into them since I haven’t been doing my work-outs.
‘‘Running is great, it helps to clear your mind, make good decisions.’’
At one point, a grey-haired lady table-hops over and asks Thurman for her autograph. This prompts a melee of sorts, as others join the beeline. A Filipino editor aces the lot as she poses herself next to the star with her magazine.
Tag Heuer’s president gallantly comes to the rescue. ‘‘Uma has to leave now for other matters,’’ Babin says, as he ushers her away from the baddies.
There are moments when even an actionista becomes damsel in distress, and needs to be rescued.
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Time with Uma
Black Mamba – the character you played in Kill Bill – has both strength of character and real determination, but is also extremely sensitive.Uma: You know, when you are faced with challenges, even if you deal with them in a feminine way, you need to be disciplined, not just in a psychological way but mentally too.
That experience helped me enormously. I realised that I was stronger than I thought and was capable of achieving things ... would otherwise have thought impossible.
You have two children, Maya and Levon. How do you find time to be a mother?
Oh, you know, it’s quite a challenge. I spend all my time with the children except when I have to work. Before it was easy, because they could come with me no matter what, but now with school, I have to be a supermum. You know, it’s not quite as simple because they no longer can travel with me all the time. Our day-to-day life is a bit of an adventure, but it’s adventure that we’re in together as a family.
What were you like as a child?
I was very shy and nervous. I was the odd one out among my three brothers. I didn’t like having my picture taken and was conscious of my size. Then I grew all of a sudden and became more self-confident.
Tell us a bit about your life.
I am not a morning person, except when I am jet-lagged, when I find I wake up at dawn. Usually, I’d much rather get up between noon and two, just in time for tea ... just joking!
I am very proud of my life these days ... it’s full of positive changes, but you know nothing will ever change your responsibility as a parent except if you have a satisfying relationship. My work has been my salvation throughout my life.
Can you imagine doing anything else, like carrying on with your writing for example?
Definiltely. A bit of producing. And I have another idea up my sleeve, but I can’t tell you any more today.
You’ve been in the business for 20 years. When you look back, do you think ‘I’ve come a long way’?
I’m certainly not disappointed. The fact that I’m an actress has enabled me to meet so many people. It’s been a privilege to become someone ... and to have a dynamic and active career in my 30s. Do you know, I was sacred about being 25, then 35, but now I am afraid of hitting 55!
The fact that my father was an academic and deeply into Buddhist philosophy provided me with a good counterpoint to the American culture I grew up with. We did a lot of travelling in Asia when I was younger ... I’m very much at ease with the Asian community.
I’ve learnt a lot from Buddhism and it still enables me to find the balance and the serenity that I need to make my way through life.
During your holidays, can you forget about time, or is everything scheduled?
I try to relax and get the most out of each moment, especially with friends and children.
What does Tag Heuer offer you that you’ve never found elsewhere?
I like the image of the Tag Heuer woman: she’s strong and feminine, determined and seductive. That’s the kind of person I try to be in real life, not only in my films. I’m a woman, an actress and a mother and I try to fulfill these three roles.
To be chosen alongside celebrities like Brad Pitt, Maria Sharapova and Juan Pablo Montoya was a real honour for me. Brad is a motor racing and design fan, so maybe all three of us will feature in and advert for the watch one of these days.
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