Actress Uma Thurman has broken her silence as to why she is so “angry” after the New York Times exposed Harvey Weinstein in what many have called a watershed moment in Hollywood. The article has since created a new culture of speaking out against sexual assault, and Uma Thurman is ready to tell her own story.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Uma spoke with reporter Maureen Dowd about the complicated feelings she had after news broke out about Weinstein’s scandals. The actress said to Dowd that, “The complicated feeling I have about Harvey is how bad I feel about all the women that were attacked after I was.”
The actress went on with Dowd, explaining her reasoning for using the word “anger” on the red carpet premiere of her Broadway play The Parisian Woman, saying, “I used the word ‘anger’ but I was more worried about crying, to tell you the truth. I was not a groundbreaker on a story I knew to be true. So what you really saw was a person buying time.” Thurman describes a meeting she had with the Hollywood mogul, where Weinstein reportedly approached her in a bathrobe, then insisted she follows him to a steam room where Thurman says “I was standing there in my full black leather outfit — boots, pants, jacket. And it was so hot and I said, ‘This is ridiculous, what are you doing?’ And he was getting very flustered and mad and he jumped up and ran out.”
Not long after this incident, Thurman says that this is when the first “attack” occurred in Weinstein’s hotel room at the Savoy Hotel in London. Thurman describes a situation that is disturbing, recounting that, “He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things.” An official representative of Harvey Weinstein went on record with the New York Times, stating, “Mr. Weinstein acknowledges making a pass at Ms. Thurman in England after misreading her signals in Paris. He immediately apologized.” After the incident, Thurman confronted Weinstein threatening to take down his career. Weinstein’s advances toward Thurman would also prove to become an issue in her working relationship with director Quentin Tarantino, recounting a situation on the set of Kill Bill which nearly cost Thurman her life.
During the filming of a scene where Thurman’s character was required to drive an old blue convertible, Tarantino demanded that Thurman do the driving herself. Even after objections to the safety of the vehicle and asking for a stunt double, Thurman was coerced into doing the stunt. The director was allegedly angry with Thurman for costing the company money by delaying the shoot, saying “I promise you the car is fine. It’s a straight piece of road.” and “Hit 40 miles per hour or your hair won’t blow the right way and I’ll make you do it again.”
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Shortly after getting behind the wheel, which reportedly sat directly against her waist, and sitting in a chair that wasn’t properly screwed into the floor, Thurman crashed the vehicle into a tree, injuring her knees and gaining a concussion. Footage from the car crash was withheld from the actress unless she agreed to sign a form relieving Miramax from any future pain she might hold against them. Thurman refused to sign. Now, 15 years later, that footage has been made available.
After the accident, Thurman describes how her relationship with Tarantino and Weinstein played out, saying, “They turned on me after the accident, and I went from being a creative contributor and performer to being like a broken tool.” In the interview with the New York Times, Thurman describes an environment in Hollywood both misogynistic and discriminatory. Perhaps it’s clear now why Thurman described her emotions as “angry.”
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