Uma Thurman Biography Quotes 18 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Uma Karuna Thurman was born on April 29, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, into a household steeped in ideas, culture, and global perspectives. Her father, Robert A. F. Thurman, is a prominent Buddhist scholar, author, and professor who was once ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk by the 14th Dalai Lama before returning to academic life in the United States. Her mother, Nena von Schlebrugge, was a celebrated fashion model with European roots who later built a career in wellness and non-profit work. Her given names reflect her parents' interests in South Asian traditions: Uma, a name associated with the Hindu goddess, and Karuna, the Sanskrit word for compassion. Raised in Massachusetts and New York, she grew up amid books, Buddhist teachings, and frequent encounters with artists and thinkers who crossed her parents' orbit, experiences that would shape her poise and curiosity.

From Modeling to the Screen
Tall, striking, and precociously self-possessed, Thurman was drawn into modeling as a teenager, a path that quickly led to magazine covers and the attention of casting directors. Acting proved the deeper calling. After early roles that included the thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1987), she gained international notice in two 1988 films: Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, in which she appeared as a Botticelli-inspired Venus, and Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons, playing Cécile opposite formidable talents like Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The juxtaposition of innocence and intelligence she brought to the screen marked her as a distinctive presence and pushed her firmly into Hollywood's view.

Breakthrough and Collaboration with Quentin Tarantino
Thurman's defining breakthrough came with Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). As Mia Wallace opposite John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, she delivered a coolly enigmatic performance that became iconic, earning her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and reintroducing the world to the magnetic force of classic movie star charisma filtered through 1990s postmodern wit. Tarantino and Thurman formed one of contemporary cinema's most storied collaborations, culminating in the two-part saga Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004). As the Bride, she embodied vulnerability, ferocity, and precision, working with Tarantino to shape a character who paid homage to martial arts and exploitation cinema while feeling unmistakably modern. The films amplified her international profile and garnered further awards recognition.

Range and Resilience
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Thurman moved fluidly across genres. She headlined the sensual literary drama Henry & June (1990), the offbeat road movie Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), and the ensemble romance Beautiful Girls (1996). She showed deft comic timing in The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), stepped into blockbuster mode as Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997), and played a quietly powerful role in Andrew Niccol's Gattaca (1997) opposite Ethan Hawke and Jude Law. Her turn as Fantine in Les Miserables (1998) revealed a capacity for classic tragedy, while later projects like Be Cool (2005), Prime (2005) with Meryl Streep, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) showcased her lightness and wit. She returned to darker, auteur-driven territory with Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac (2013) and appeared in The House That Jack Built (2018), affirming her taste for risk.

Television, Stage, and Awards
Thurman's career also flourished on television and on stage. She earned a Golden Globe for her lead performance in the HBO film Hysterical Blindness (2002), directed by Mira Nair and co-starring Gena Rowlands and Juliette Lewis. A decade later, she received an Emmy nomination for a guest-starring arc on the series Smash, playing a mercurial movie star drawn to Broadway. On stage, she made her Broadway debut with The Parisian Woman (2017), a contemporary political drama by Beau Willimon. She has continued to explore long-form storytelling through series such as the Netflix thriller Chambers (2019) and Apple TV+'s Suspicion (2022). Her versatility across platforms has kept her central to shifting currents in film and television.

Personal Life and Collaborators
In 1998, Thurman married Ethan Hawke, her Gattaca co-star. Their partnership brought two children into the world, including Maya Hawke, who has followed her parents into acting and music, and Levon. After Thurman and Hawke divorced in 2005, she later had a daughter in 2012 with French financier Arpad Busson. Balancing motherhood with an ambitious career, she has remained an active figure onscreen while navigating the scrutiny that attends public family life.

Professionally, she has been shaped by fruitful collaborations with directors including Quentin Tarantino, Terry Gilliam, Andrew Niccol, and Lars von Trier, and by memorable pairings with actors such as John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Working for Miramax in the 1990s put her in the orbit of producer Harvey Weinstein; in 2018, she spoke publicly about his misconduct and also discussed a stunt-related car crash during the making of Kill Bill. Her account helped drive ongoing conversations about safety, accountability, and respect within the industry. The footage of the crash was later shared, and both Thurman and Tarantino addressed the incident publicly, bringing a difficult chapter into the open.

Later Work and Public Voice
Thurman has continued to balance independent films, studio fare, and streaming projects. She brought a comic-regal presence to The Producers (2005) and displayed action-comedy agility in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010). She appeared in The War With Grandpa (2020) and reached new audiences as the U.S. President in the romantic comedy Red, White & Royal Blue (2023). Offscreen, she has used her platform to support causes connected to her family's long-standing interests in cultural exchange and human rights, including support for initiatives linked to Tibet House US founded by her father. In 2021, responding to changing reproductive laws, she wrote a widely read op-ed sharing personal experiences to advocate for reproductive rights, adding moral clarity and empathy to a charged debate.

Legacy
Uma Thurman's career has been defined by audacity, range, and a refusal to be confined by type. From the poised vulnerability of Dangerous Liaisons and the pop-cultural lightning strike of Pulp Fiction to the iconic, self-possessed vengeance of the Bride in Kill Bill, she has created images that persist in the cultural imagination. She remains closely associated with Quentin Tarantino's cinema while also standing firmly on her own as a performer who can modulate between arthouse rigor and mainstream charm. Guided by an upbringing that prized inquiry and compassion, and supported by collaborators, family, and an audience that has grown with her, Thurman has crafted a body of work that underscores the power of reinvention and the value of artistic risk.

Our collection contains 18 quotes who is written by Uma, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Funny - Overcoming Obstacles - Faith - Movie.

Other people realated to Uma: David Carradine (Actor), Tom Robbins (Author), Bille August (Director), Daryl Hannah (Actress), Lucy Liu (Actress)

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