Uma Thurman is known to many as Quentin Tarantino's muse, the star of his bloody Kill Bill franchise and Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. As iconic as her roles in those movies are to us, the experience is much more traumatizing to her. It's now almost ironic that what we look back so fondly at for the Oscar-nominated actress is such a painful memory for her.
When the allegations against executive producer Harvey Weinstein came to the forefront last October, Thurman told reporters on the red carpet for her Broadway play, The Parisian Woman, she couldn't comment yet because she was too angry.
Now, Thurman sat down with Maureen Dowd of the New York Times and discussed her experience with Weinstein and Tarantino, both of whom she had working relationships with for many years.
In the detailed interview, Thurman chronicles the journey of her career that led her to assaults by Weinstein and a near-death experience on set at the hands of Tarantino.
Thurman met Weinstein as a young actress and had a creative partnership with the producer for many years. But, in her statement, Thurman details multiple situations where Weinstein assaulted her including a situation in a hotel room where he thrust himself on top of her and tried to expose himself.
Weinstein responded to these allegations today by releasing a series of photos that show what he thinks is a strong and positive relationship with Thurman over the years, per Deadline.
Thurman's relationship with Tarantino took a turn for the worse over the years beyond disputes about Weinstein's assaults.
At the end of a long nine-month shoot for Kill Bill Vol. 1, Tarantino pressured Thurman into driving a car on set for one scene. Thurman had reservations about the car and she felt unsafe. They got into multiple arguments into Thurman relented and drove the car for the film.
In a video released with the op-ed, Thurman loses control of the car and crashes into a palm tree on set. The less than two-minute video shows the crash and shows her pinned under the steering wheel. It took 15 years for Thurman and her lawyers to get a hold of the video.
Thurman told Dowd that throughout her career she hadn't felt unempowered, not until the crash.
The article ends describing Thurman's revelation that love and cruelty are not synonymous. The ending note is to put an end to the societal perception of this myth. Men who treat women cruelty don't do it out of love, but out of the innate power they feel over them. Time's up on this practice.