‘The Lord of the Rings’: Uma Thurman discusses her biggest career regret
Uma Thurman, with a handful of unforgettable titles to her name, has enjoyed an illustrious career like very few in the realm of Hollywood. Perhaps best known for her performance as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and as The Bride in the Kill Bill movies, the daughter of one of America’s most celebrated academics has also starred in controversial projects by Lars von Trier in the shape of Nymphomaniac and The House That Jack Built.
However, if chance and circumstance had been a little different, Thurman’s filmography would also have boasted one of the most iconic film franchises of all time. The series in question is The Lord of the Rings, the trio of movies Peter Jackson released at the dawn of the new millennium. Bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth to the masses, the project arrived as one of the biggest and most ambitious cinematic undertakings in movie history, becoming a major critical and commercial success in the process.
Now classed among the best film series of all time, The Lord of the Rings is also among the highest-grossing, earning in excess of $3 billion worldwide. The franchise is so eminent that even the detractors of the fantasy genre cannot deny its lofty status in popular culture. Understandably, given its impact, Uma Thurman regrets passing up on the opportunity. However, at the time, there was very little she could do about it.
The actor discussed the matter when appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2017. Welcoming her to the show, Colbert said: “Now I’m a big fan of yours, and I just have to ask you one question before we get started because I’m also a massive fan of Lord of the Rings, which is no secret.”
He continued: “I found out right before the show, is this true, that you turned down the opportunity to play Eowyn in Lord of the Rings?” Looking regretful, Thurman replied, “Er, yes”.
Responding to why she turned down the chance to star in a part of cinematic history, Thurman explained: “It was a very long time ago, and I do consider it 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.”
She concluded: “I think I was a little bit, it was a little unknown for me, but it’s really definitely a regret.”
Elsewhere, during a 2008 interview with MTV, the Pulp Fiction star again admitted her disappointment: “Oh, I truly wish I could’ve been able to take that plunge, and maybe I should’ve, but I just couldn’t at the time,” she said.
Miranda Otto was cast instead, with Eowyn introduced as part of the trio’s second film, The Two Towers. Despite Uma Thurman passing up on the opportunity to be in The Lord of the Rings, she would get some respite in 2003, the same year that the final chapter of Jackson’s series was released. That October, and six months later, Thurman delivered what might be her defining role in the Kill Bill duology. However, this would come with its own problems.
