The one thing Uma Thurman “hated” about Quentin Tarantino movie ‘Kill Bill’
One of Uma Thurman‘s greatest and most iconic performances came in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill two-parter. Thurman played the role of The Bride, a former assassin who vows to take revenge on her previous employer and colleagues when her wish to live a peaceful life outside of the assassin industry is thrown into jeopardy when they murder her fiancée and their guests during her wedding ceremony.
However, there is one thing that Thurman truly “hated” about the movie and her character. One of the most iconic things about The Bride is the flashy yellow tracksuit that she wears during the famous showdown at the House of the Blue Leaves, in which she dispatches of O-Ren Ishii’s Crazy 88 henchmen.
In an interview with ReelBlend, Tarantino explained that Thurman was less than impressed with her costume. Tarantino said: “Uma hated the yellow tracksuit. Hated it. Didn’t get it. Thought she looked like a Popsicle — a banana Popsicle. She was just not into it.”
Tarantino continued: “She had no idea [of] Bruce Lee, practically. I finally had to show her Game of Death. She sorta kind of got it. Now, since then it’s become this totally iconic thing. And she probably doesn’t even remember it, But she was like, ‘You’re trying to make me look like a clown!'”
It was in the 1978 martial arts film Game of Death, starring and directed by Bruce Lee, that the legendary Hong Kong actor wore a yellow and black jumpsuit. So Thurman thought she looked like a banana when she first tried on her costume, and it wasn’t until Tarantino showed her Lee’s film that she began to understand its significance.
While the tracksuit was the thing that she hated about Kill Bill, Thurman can’t have been too happy about nearly dying on the film’s set either. During production, Tarantino requested that Thurman drive a stunt car down a treacherous road herself without the help of a stuntperson. The director had ensured Thurman that the car and the road were safe – but it was far from.
Thurman suffered a horrific car crash that left her severely injured. She told The New York Times, “The steering wheel was at my belly, and my legs were jammed under me. I felt this searing pain and thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to walk again.’ When I came back from the hospital in a neck brace with my knees damaged and a large massive egg on my head and a concussion, I wanted to see the car, and I was very upset.”
It was not just Thurman’s physical body that was damaged, though, as it created a huge rift between her and Tarantino. The actor felt that her director had not taken care of her properly and put the film’s production over her safety. “Quentin and I had an enormous fight, and I accused him of trying to kill me,” she added. “And he was very angry at that, I guess, understandably, because he didn’t feel he had tried to kill me.”
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