|
UMA
THURMAN has always been a standout. Her name, the whole
six-foot-tall thing, those arresting, angular features,
all guaranteed she’d get noticed. And she was—first by
agents at age 15, then by director Terry Gilliam, who
cast her as Venus, her first splashy film role, in
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Other films
followed, some acclaimed (Les Liaisons Dangereuses),
some not (Mad Dog and Glory). Then came Quentin
Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction—she played a sexy mob
wife doing that dance with John Travolta, and earned
herself an Oscar nomination. Since then she’s done her
share of action flicks (Batman & Robin, The Avengers,
Kill Bill Vols. I and II).
In her
latest film The Life Before Her Eyes, directed by
Vadim Perelman, she and Evan Rachel Wood both play
Diana. Wood is the wild-child high schooler whose life
changes when a student opens fire at school, confronting
Diana and her best friend, forcing them to make an
impossible, split-second decision. Thurman is Diana 15
years later: an introspective suburban mom, still
struggling with the tragedy.
Do you
worry that people might think the film is exploitative?
A school shooting—giving kids ideas.
I know
what you mean—but the movie doesn’t really examine child
violence. I don’t think any of us have a bleeding clue
about that. It’s in the story, but what moved me was the
friendship of the two girls. The way the writer
articulated the often-painful experience of becoming a
woman. The meanness toward young girls, older guys
picking on them—pretty, easy targets. These stories are
shared by many women. My character didn’t just survive
an act of violence—she had to survive coming of age.
You have
children...
A girl
[Maya] who’s nine, a boy [Levon] who’s six.
So you’ve got some time before the scary teen years.
I don’t
look forward to it. I never liked myself or anyone else
as a teenager. Puberty is a scary thing, a painful
time.
This
film was shot in
Connecticut—was
that almost like going home?
Kind of.
I grew up mainly in
Amherst,
Massachusetts,
and upstate New York. My father’s a professor, so
sabbaticals [took us away]. We went to India for a year.
But I have sort of a fantasy of living in the suburbs.
[She pauses] I used to want to live in the country, but
I think that’s unrealistic now.
Why?
Well, I
have kids, and their dad [actor Ethan Hawke] lives here
[in Manhattan] and...a lot of issues. So my dream of
doing that probably has been diminished.
You’ve
been busy—you shot The Accidental Husband, a
romantic comedy with Colin Firth. And The Zinc Bed,
a drug addiction drama by David Hare. And there’s
Eloise in Paris—no drugs or painful adolescence
there, I hope.
Noooo.
Eloise is a bona fide, straight-up, delightful
children’s movie. We shoot that this summer. But I’m
about to start shooting Motherhood, a small movie I’m
incredibly excited about. Anthony Edwards plays my
husband. It’s a hellish day in the life of a
New York
mom, a woman with dreams and aspirations, not enough
money, trying to raise kids in a fourth-floor walk-up.
I
remember living in a fourth-floor walk-up, convincing
myself it was great for fitness. Couldn’t wait for the
day I moved into a building with an elevator.
When I
was a teenager, I lived in walk-ups. The worst was
always the suitcase moment. I was traveling all the
time. I’d come home, get out of a taxicab—this is in the
early days, coming back from France filming Les
Liaisons Dangereuses, or something—and there I am
with three suitcases, trying to figure out how to get me
and the bags up to the fourth floor. At midnight. And
you’re exhausted. Uhhh! That’s a walk-up moment.
I
understand your dad is a renowned Buddhist scholar, and
on occasion the Dalai Lama has visited your family.
What’s he like? Do you sense...greatness?
You
sense the incredible beauty and serenity and
intelligence. And a seriousness.
It
sounds like a special opportunity...to hang with the
Dalai Lama.
Well,
you don’t really “hang” with the Dalai Lama. I, I
certainly don’t. He’s very busy. The hardest part
meeting him is when he looks you right in the eye and
says, “Well, why have you come. What can I do for you?”
And your mind goes completely blank. You’re suddenly
thinking, “Oh, uh, I don’t know.”
You’re
thinking, “What’s my Big Question?”
Right.
Then, you think, “What can he do for me?” I should do
for him. [She laughs]
I
suppose my big question is the one you likely dread.
Your name—I’ve read all kinds of things. That you’re
named after a Hindu goddess. Or it means “kiss” in
Polynesian. You’re probably sick of it all. Can you set
the record straight?
Ohhh.
That’s been lingering for yeeears. I’m what my name
means. It’s me. I think I’ve become it. |
