Uma Thurman

Thurman was married to English actor Gary Oldman from 1990 to 1992. She married her Gattaca co-star Ethan Hawke in 1998, and they had two children, Maya and Levon, before separating in 2003 and divorcing in 2005. Thurman later had a daughter, Luna, with French financier Arpad Busson. Their engagement ended in 2014, and Thurman received primary physical custody of Luna after custody negotiations in 2017.

In 2017, Thurman joined the Me Too movement. In a 2018 interview, she described sexual assaults by Harvey Weinstein and by an older actor when she was 16. She also discussed a 2003 car crash on the set of Kill Bill, saying the accident caused lasting injuries to her neck and knees. Quentin Tarantino later called his decision to have her drive for the scene one of the biggest regrets of his life.

Uma Karuna Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Robert Thurman, a professor and author specializing in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies, and Nena von Schlebrügge, a fashion model. She spent part of her childhood in India and grew up mainly in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Woodstock, New York. She discovered acting through school performances and attended Northfield Mount Hermon School before leaving to pursue professional work.

Thurman began modeling at 15 and appeared on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of British Vogue. Her film debut came in the thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight in 1987. She gained early attention in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons, in which she played Cécile de Volanges opposite Glenn Close and John Malkovich. She followed those roles with Henry & June, the first film released with an NC-17 rating in the United States.

Thurman's breakthrough came with Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in 1994. She played Mia Wallace, the wife of a Los Angeles mobster, opposite John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Christopher Walken. Her performance earned nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, while Mia's black-bobbed appearance and dance scene became closely associated with the film.

During the rest of the 1990s, Thurman moved between independent films, comedies, period dramas, and large studio productions. Her credits included Beautiful Girls, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Gattaca, Batman & Robin, Les Misérables, The Avengers, and Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. She also appeared in Richard Linklater's Tape and earned a Golden Globe nomination for the performance.

Thurman reunited with Tarantino for Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2, released in 2003 and 2004. She played Beatrix Kiddo, also known as the Bride, Black Mamba, and Mommy, an assassin seeking revenge against people who tried to kill her. Thurman and Tarantino co-wrote the screenplays, and Tarantino developed the character with her after their work on Pulp Fiction.

The role required months of martial arts, swordsmanship, and Japanese-language training. The two films brought Thurman further Golden Globe nominations and nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress. They also established her as an action performer and developed a strong following among audiences.

After Kill Bill, Thurman's film roles included Be Cool, Prime, The Producers, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Motherhood, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Nymphomaniac, The House That Jack Built, Hollywood Stargirl, The Kill Room, and Red, White & Royal Blue. She played Ulla in The Producers alongside Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and portrayed Medusa in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Thurman won the Golden Globe for her performance in the HBO film Hysterical Blindness in 2002. Her television work includes Smash, The Slap, Imposters, Chambers, Suspicion, and Super Pumped. Her recurring role as Rebecca Duvall in Smash earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination. In 2017, she made her Broadway debut in Beau Willimon's play The Parisian Woman, for which she won a Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Leading Actress in a Play.

In 2006, Thurman was made a knight of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She has also received a career honorary award at Italy's David di Donatello Film Awards. Her fashion profile includes the lavender Prada dress she wore at the 1995 Academy Awards and a crimson Alberta Ferretti gown worn at the 2000 ceremony. She has represented Lancôme, TAG Heuer, Louis Vuitton, and Parfums Givenchy.

Thurman has served on the boards of Room to Grow and Tibet House US. She has supported gun control, LGBT civil rights, human-rights causes, and wildlife conservation. In 2015, she joined the Rhino Rescue Project and traveled to Southern Africa to help relocate threatened black rhinoceroses. A fringe-toed lizard species from southwestern Arizona was named Uma thurmanae in her honor in 2020.