Uma Thurman's Anxieties About Her Daughter's Acting Career — Industry Is 'So Much Tougher' On Women

Mar 22, 2022 by apost team

American actress Uma Thurman has not been tied down by one specific genre throughout her impressive career in Hollywood. The star has appeared in romantic comedies and action films, as well as dramas and science fiction. She has put a lot of effort into not being typecast, and her career has flourished because of it. 

The one exception may be Thurman’s starring role in Quentin Tarantino's “Pulp Fiction” and his “Kill Bill” franchise. She has been referred to as the director’s muse and undeniably shines in his films. For “Pulp Fiction,” Thurman was nominated for the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, and the Golden Globe Award. After “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and “Kill Bill Vol. 2” were released, Thurman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award two more times. 

Some of the leading actress’s other films include “Henry & June,” “The Truth About Cats & Dogs,” “Batman & Robin,” “Gattaca” and “Les Misérables.” In more recent years she has appeared in popular TV series like “Smash,” “Imposters,” “Chambers” and “Suspicion.” Some may think the star has taken a step back from acting but she has been slated to appear in three projects in 2022, with another in pre-production.

In 1998, Thurman married actor Ethan Hawke and they had two children together. Their daughter is named Maya Hawke and she was born in 1998 while her brother Levon Hawke was born in 2002. Thurman and Ethan separated in 2003 and their divorce was finalized in 2005. Now, Maya is grown up and pursuing her own career as an actress. Read on to find out how Thurman feels about her daughter following in her footsteps.

Thurman was born in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up mainly in Amherst. As a child, she spent a total of two years in the Northern-Indian state of Uttarakhand. Thurman looks back on her childhood fondly. She shared: 

“One is the product of one’s childhood, and I feel that is a great thing for me because I have a lot of equipment mentally and emotionally and culturally. I was given the right education. And I also got to see the world and become familiar with great books from a very young age – you know, everything from, like, Pippi Longstocking to Dickens.”

According to the star’s mother, Thurman always followed her own path. “Uma came into the world knowing what she wanted to do. She was always independent. When she was 3-years-old, we had just moved to Amherst from India, and I left Uma alone for a moment with her baby brother. When I returned, she was missing along with some money. I ran down to the main street and saw Uma happily sitting in a police car. She had gone into a store to buy a pair of red shoes she had seen the day before,” Thurman’s mom shared.

Thurman was discovered at age 15 and has pursued diverse roles since the beginning of her career. She said, “For me, there is a certain desire not to be conventional. Not just to take roles where I would have to be somebody’s girlfriend. There was a desire to play around with and push that thing of, well, if you are a woman and you look a certain way, then you are supposed to go into such and such a mold. I felt a very loud voice cry out in me, saying ‘No!’”

apost.com

All parents want to protect their children, and no one knows more about the ups and downs of a career in entertainment better than someone who has been working in the industry for decades.  "It's a complicated career," Thurman said. Especially the "public-facing" element to the job, she added.

Naturally, Thurman had some reservations about her daughter Maya becoming an actress. The mom of three said, "She's a sensitive person. Any protective parent would be anxious for their child to go into the public arena, not because they want to be in the public arena, but because they're so creative. You just wish they'd find any other way to be creative."

Thurman eventually came around to the idea when she saw how much potential Maya has. "She's, in the end, such a brilliant actress. Obviously, there's nothing else that she would have ever done," Thurman said with pride. "Her talent was so big. It's what she had to do."

Maya understood her mom’s fears about her acting and all of the baggage that comes along with it. She shared: "Because this industry is so much tougher on women, my mom had reservations about me not becoming an actor, but becoming a public figure.”

The young star knows that her mom knows what she is going through and that she can always count on Thurman to support her. Maya said, "My mom understands in a different way from my dad how difficult that is. Because the voices are not as strong, the whispers are not as strong in men's ears."

Are you a fan of Uma Thurman? What do you think about her daughter also becoming an actress? Let us know and feel free to send this on to your friends and family.