‘Dehumanization to the point of death’: New book revisits Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino’s toxic relationship after 'Kill Bill' car crash
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino have a long history as friends and collaborators. Thurman, who appeared in three of Tarantino’s biggest blockbusters, ‘Pulp Fiction', and ‘Kill Bill’ Volumes 1 and 2, was even considered the director’s muse with Tarantino himself comparing their relationship with that of Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren. Despite their professional and personal camaraderie, Thurman and Tarantino hit a rough patch after an on-set controversy.
More recently, author Claire Dederer touched upon the tension between the actor-director in her book titled, ‘Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma'. The book, which explores the question, “If artists stand accused of doing or saying something awful, are we allowed to carry on enjoying their art?” noted that Thurman once said Tarantino was a “bully” and his treatment of her on the set of ‘Kill Bill’ resembled "dehumanization to the point of death." The director eventually admitted to the allegation and even apologized for his behavior.
What happened between Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino?
In 2018, the public first learned that the unspoken tensions between Thurman and Tarantino stemmed from the filming of a car crash scene for ‘Kill Bill: Volume 2.’ In an interview with The New York Times, Thurman revealed that she suffered permanent neck damage, a concussion, and damage to her knees after crashing a car into a tree while filming a stunt as her character, Beatrix Kiddo.
Thurman claimed that Tarantino strongly encouraged her to perform the stunt herself even though she expressed doubts about safety concerns. After Thurman’s serious injuries, the actor-director duo never worked together again. During the interview, Thurman also explained that she fought to access the footage of the incident for several years but was denied by Tarantino and the Weinstein Company.
Eventually, she had a major fight with Tarantino over the situation in 2004. “We had a fateful fight at Soho House in New York in 2004,” Thurman recalled. “We were shouting at each other because he wouldn’t let me see the footage, and he told me that was what they had all decided,” she shared. The actress also revealed that Ethan Hawke, at the time, also told Tarantino “that he had let Uma down as a director and as a friend.” “She is a great actress, not a stunt driver, and you know that,” Hawke reportedly told the filmmaker. Hawke later said that the confrontation made Tarantino “very upset with himself, and [he] asked for my forgiveness.”
‘Biggest regret of my life’
Back in 2017, in the middle of the #MeToo movement, Tarantino finally admitted that Thurman deserved to see the footage of the accident. The ‘Paycheck’ star took to Instagram on February 6, 2018, to share the clip with a caption that read, “Quentin Tarantino, was deeply regretful and remains remorseful about this sorry event.” The actress continued, “[He] gave me the footage years later so I could expose it and let it see the light of day.” She further added, “He also did so with full knowledge it could cause him personal harm, and I am proud of him for doing the right thing and for his courage.”
Despite being forgiven by Thurman, Tarantino struggled to forgive himself for the incident. During a 2018 interview with Deadline, Tarantino said the crash footage was “just horrible… it was heart-breaking.” He admitted that encouraging Thurman to perform the stunt was “the biggest regret of my life.” The filmmaker added, “It affected me and Uma for the next two to three years. It wasn’t like we didn’t talk. But trust was broken.”
The role of Harvey Weinstein
During her interview with The New York Times, Thurman also revealed that Harvey Weinstein, who produced all three of her films with Tarantino, not only negatively impacted her life at one point but also played a role in straining her relationship with Tarantino. The actress shared that she was one among Weinstein’s countless victims and accused the producer of sexually attacking her at The Savoy Hotel in 1994.
Thurman said she told Tarantino about the incident in 2001 and he even confronted Weinstein but the latter denied much of the allegation. As Tarantino continued his working relationship with Weinstein in the following years, it caused further unspoken tensions between the director and Thurman. After the revelation of Weinstein’s history of abuse, Tarantino told the publication that he often felt guilty about the situation.
“I knew enough to do more than I did,” Tarantino said about the allegations against Weinstein. “There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t second-hand. I knew he did a couple of these things,” he admitted. In her 2018 Instagram post, Thurman also accused “the notorious Harvey Weinstein” of covering up her car crash incident. “They lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress,” the actress wrote at the time.
Will Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino work together again?
Despite years of tension, Thurman once said she would consider working with Tarantino again. During a 2019 appearance on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, Tarantino added that he had discussed working together on a potential third installment of ‘Kill Bill’ with Thurman.
“Me and Uma have been actually talked about it recently,” he said. “If any of my movies would be taken — me and Uma were literally talking about it last week — so if any of my movies were going to spring from one of my other movies, it would be the third Kill Bill,” Tarantino mentioned. That same year, Thurman also shared a photo of herself with Tarantino on the set of ‘Kill Bill’ to congratulate the director for ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood'.