The Massachusetts-born actor got her start as a teenager after being spotted in a school play.
She quickly rose to fame with roles in films like “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Robin Hood.”
Then, with “Pulp Fiction,” she became an international star.
Thurman’s career and personal life has been filled with ups and downs.
It’s safe to say that things have changed a lot for her throughout the years.
As one of his students toldVogue, his work had a clear influence on his household.
“I remember the family as appropriately bohemian and free-spirited,” the student said.
“We used to call her father ‘Guru Bob.'”
While the family was certainly bohemian, they also championed education.
“I was given the right education.
As a child, Thurman was a self-proclaimed tomboy with a real sense of independence.
According toEmpire, she even developed body dysmorphia after being teased for her looks.
However awkward she might have felt in real life, on stage, Thurman’s self-consciousness fell away.
In eighth grade, she developed a passion for acting, when she began appearing in school plays.
A few years later, a 15-year-old Thurman starred in a school production of “The Crucible.”
she toldBroadway.comof the production.
Her one brief topless scene, Thurman recalled toVogue"made a very strong impression on people.”
As a newcomer to Hollywood, the experience wasn’t easy for Thurman.
“I was shocked,” she said of the response.
After the film’s release, Thurman was touted as Hollywood’s next big star.
Instead of riding on the success of “Dangerous Liaisons,” Thurman “withdrew.”
Oldman left his wife for Thurman and they wed shortly after in 1990.
In 1992, less than two years after marrying, the pair split.
Thurman later confessed toVanity Fairthat their marriage had been “a mistake.”
“We met when I was 18,” she said.
“He was 12 years older.
It was a crazy love affair that ended, as it needed to.
He was my first love.
I had no prior experience.”
“Teenage weddings are among the things that don’t count,” she once said (viaAnOther).
After all, who doesn’t rememberthatdancing scene Thurman has with John Travolta?
At first, Thurman was unsure about taking the role.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the movie,” she later toldVanity Fair.
She was nervous about the rape scenes.
“We had very memorable, long discussions about male rape versus female rape,” she recalled.
“No one could believe I even hesitated in any way.
Neither can I, in hindsight.”
The role led to Thurman’s first and, as of 2023, only Oscar nomination.
AsGlamournoted, it also led to a series of high-profile roles and A-lister success.
The pair first met on the set of the 1997 sci-fi film “Gattaca.”
They married in 1998 and had two children.
However, just five years later, they separated as rumors of infidelity spread in the press.
Their divorce was finalized in 2003.
“The world felt out of control.
And I wanted to stop it from spinning so fast,” he said.
“I thought marriage would decrease my variables or something.
As for Thurman, the failed relationship was “excruciating.”
While the couple tried to work together to co-parent, it wasn’t initially easy.
She later had another daughter, Luna, with Arpad Busson.
When Thurman became a mother, everything changed.
All they’re doing is yakking on about their kids.
It’s such a bore,'” she told People.
“And then you have kids and you just want to do all the same things.”
“You feel much more conflicted,” she said.
Thurman ended up slowing down and taking on fewer roles so you can spend more time with her children.
However, as time went on, Thurman enjoyed getting back into her work.
Apparently, Tarantino wrote the film with Thurman in mind.
As Thurman explained, she and Tarantino came up with the plot and characterization together.
While she continued acting, she had fewer big hits in these years.
Why the sudden decline in her star power?
Well, it could have been down to a number of reasons.
And, asLoopernoted, she was at the helm of a few major box office flops.
In 2017, Thurman made her Broadway debut in Beau Willimon’s “The Parisian Woman.”
Her last stage role had been back in 1999.
It’s no great surprise that Thurman sought out more stage work after enjoying Broadway so much.
“I couldn’t wait forever, like I did before.”
First, she claimed, she was raped by an older actor when she was just 16.
Then, after making “Pulp Fiction,” she became friends with Weinstein.
“It possibly made me overlook warning signs.
This was my champion.”
However, later on, he tried to force himself on her.
“He pushed me down.
He tried to shove himself on me,” she said.
“He tried to expose himself.
He did all kinds of unpleasant things.”
“But that was a deathbox that I was in,” added Thurman.
The car ended up crashing and Thurman briefly thought she had been paralyzed.
As Maya toldNylon, she ended up moving in with Thurman during lockdown.
“I moved out and got my whole life together and became a person,” she said.
“And this disease is like, ‘Ha ha ha, just kidding!
You’re a kid, and you live with your parents.'”
Thurman even posted a picture onInstagramof her cutting her daughter’s hair.
Thurman also got to spend some quality time with her son.
As the actor recalled, she had felt “something akin to horror” when the law was passed.
As the actor told “ET Canada,” making the transition to TV was an exciting change.
While the show itselfreceivedmixedreviews, Thurman’s performance received critical acclaim.
It’s clear that the actor has many more thrilling performances in her future.
