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Uma Thurman has performed in a variety of films in her illustrious 30-year-career. From romantic comedies, dramas, science fiction and action movies – the 52-year-old made her mark on the entertainment industry. Her striking good looks led to appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of British Vogue.
Thurman rose to international fame after her unforgettable performance as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Thurman was nominated for the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. Often referred to as Tarantino’s muse, she reunited with the director to play “the Bride” in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 (2003, 2004), which brought her two additional Golden Globe Award nominations.
Thurman made her Broadway debut in The Parisian Woman (2017–2018). She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Film for her performance in the made-for-HBO film Hysterical Blindness (2002) and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her five-episode role in the NBC musical series Smash (2012).
But what was the role in a franchise worth over $4 billion dollars that Uma Thurman (regrettably) turned down?
Uma Thurman Was Cast In Her Role In ‘Pulp Fiction’ After One Meeting
Uma Thurman began her career as a fashion model at age 15. She later transitioned into acting, notably the Oscar-winning drama Dangerous Liaisons (1988). The film starred Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Thurman took on the role of a naive teenager, who is abused and manipulated by an older man. The film earned Thurman recognition from critics and audiences.
In 1994, she was cast in Quentin Tarantino’s neo-noir black comedy Pulp Fiction. Thurman played Mia Wallace, the wife of a Los Angeles mobster. Several actresses were considered for the role, but Tarantino cast Thurman after their first meeting. The film grossed $213.9 million worldwide and received widespread acclaim. Mia is considered one of the most iconic female film characters of the 1990s.
For her performance, Thurman was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and launched her into the celebrity A-list. In a 2003 interview with Time magazine, Tarantino remarked that Thurman was “up there with Garbo and Dietrich in goddess territory”.
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Uma Thurman Turned Down A Role In ‘Lord of the Rings’
Despite her success, Thurman revealed a huge career regret in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The actress revealed that she passed on the role of Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings. She told Colbert, “It was a very long time ago, and I do consider it to be one of the worst decisions ever made. But I had just had my first child and, I don’t know, I was a little housebound. … It’s really definitely a regret.” Eowyn, a character which debuted in The Twin Towers, is one of the few female characters from the franchise.
The Lord of the Rings is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film series ever made. It was a major financial success and is among the highest-grossing film series of all time. The movie is said to have grossed over $4 billion in worldwide receipts.
All three films received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. The series won 17 Academy Awards including Best Picture for The Return of the King. In 2021, The Fellowship of the Ring was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Uma Thurman Got A Fall Out Tribute Instead…
Uma Thurman is one of a select number of stars immortalized in music. Fall Out Boy named their song after the iconic actress in 2015.
Bassist Pete Wentz explained to Billboard: “The thing that I like about a lot of the characters Uma Thurman has played is that she picks these quirky, yet powerful roles. When we were writing the song, I’d play it for people and a lot of them immediately thought ‘Pulp Fiction’. But to me, I felt like it was more her character in Kill Bill. It’s iconic [and] vengeful; that’s the character I thought of when we were writing the song. If you grew up at all in the ’90s, it’s hard not to crush on a woman like Uma Thurman.”
Wentz elaborated: “The Uma Thurman melody idea came up, and we were like, ‘okay, now we’ll reach out to Uma and see if she’s down with us doing this because otherwise, we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure it out.’ I don’t know how she really feels about the song, but she’s okay about naming it ‘Uma Thurman’, which is cool.”
Thurman herself appeared to be charmed by the fact the Fall Out Boys decided to name their track after her. She said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m so flattered; it’s so nice. On the nice list! It’s incredibly chivalrous; no one ever asks permission for anything anymore; you don’t even expect it.”
