Uma Thurman is not one to open up about any aspect of her personal life.
Ferociously guarded, Thurman skirts around discussing love and family, yet
while promoting Be Cool, the sequel to the 90s comedy "Get Shorty", Thurman
smiles sheepishly when asked about her Valentine Day plans. "Now that is a
really sticky question. I don't know if I can share." Rarely talking about
life post-marriage, Thurman does admit that somewhere, in the recesses of
her mind, lurks a hopeful romantic. "I don't know. No, no, no, hopefully,
we'll see," she says, laughingly.
The frequently busy actress, currently
in rehearsals for The Producers, is trying to juggle her busy film career
with motherhood. "It is really impossible. Actually my ex-husband said to me
the other day, that I clearly was someone who wanted to be a full time
mother and still wanted to be an actress and I kept insisting I could do it,
but I couldn't," Thurman admits. "I really try to give all of myself. I mean
things this year I have been really lucky, and I refuse to read a script
that didn't shoot in New York City, because I just needed to be home. It is
a very difficult balance, and I have even thought about quitting, but then I
think I can't quit, because I love what I do so much and it is the wrong
signal and now I am a single mother so I really can't quit. But I don't want
to because I love what I do. I find it very tumultuous and difficult but I
wouldn't want to give up, so it is just something I am fighting for, to try
to find a way to be in a satisfactory state, keep my foot in the business
satisfactorily and still be creatively stimulated and take care of my
children."
For that reason she was drawn to Be Cool, Elmore Leonard's self-deprecating
satire of the Hollywood music industry, in which John Travolta returns as
Chili Palmer, with Thurman cast as Edie, a woman trying to make it in the
independent music scene. "In general I really like Elmore's characters,
because I think they are incredibly defined and they make acting a little
easier, usually because they are very well filled out, very distinct, very
potent kind of reduced characters and it sort of gives you a lot to start
with in general." Asked whether she sees parallels between Edie and the
actress, Thurman sidesteps the question. "I think I identify with all my
characters, so the idea of there being a parallel never even occurred to me.
But I guess there is a certain kind of vulnerability mixed with a degree of
toughness and her swagger which I guess I could relate to which tries to
keep it hidden that she is actually a softie. But I don't really think about
characters in any way of them being parallel to me."
While Thurman dances once again in Be Cool, we'll be seeing more of Thurman
dancing the lights fantastic in The Producers, opening later this year. For
the actress, dancing in a movie musical is a different ballgame. "I am doing
Ulla and so I dance every day now so I am beyond overjoyed and totally
excited, I can't tell you. At the moment I am part of a dance team which is
a little bit more pleasant then being part of the fight team only because
there is no fake blood involved. But the guys who did the Broadway musical
and the director directed the Broadway musical, so the people I am working
with right now are all basically the blood and flesh of Broadway. I am
discovering that their discipline and their attention to detail in their
work ethic is so unlike anybody in the movies, that I really look at them
and go: 'boy, you do realize you work very hard. People who make films don't
work this hard.' That is really hard to say because people do work hard in
the film, but these people put that to rest, but their heart and their
passion for what they do is just extraordinary. it has been so much fun for
me." As for Thurman's singing, she admits it's OK. "I would say I made a
poor but hopefully passable singer. They haven't suggested anyone sing for
me yet, so I feel like, phew! And when I signed on they said they would have
someone if I needed it, but no one has mentioned it so I feel I must be
passing, with some tiny check box in the corner of my vocal chart," she
adds, laughingly.
While there are rumours that a new Kill Bill is underway, Thurman says it's
unlikely with her participation, but she will next be seen in Prime, with Meryl
Streep, "a romantic comedy and it is coming out in the fall."







