I spat in Uma’s face to get the shot right.. and she told me to really choke her
Tarantino defends claims of ‘sadism’ during filming of Kill Bill
KILL Bill director Quentin Tarantino has defended choking Uma Thurman with a chain and spitting on her.
The 54-year-old wanted to make his movie feel real, saying a technical assistant would be “intimidated” by spitting in Uma’s face and he did not trust actor Michael Madsen to “nail” it.
And he says the actress asked him to choke her, claiming she said: “I can act all strangle-ey, but if you want my face to get red and the tears to come to my eye, then you kind of need to choke me.”
Tarantino was speaking out after Uma, 47, told of a car crash during filming when he had directed her to drive, despite her wanting a stunt double.
She hurt her legs and came out of hospital in a neck brace. She posted footage of the 2003 accident on Instagram – after Tarantino gave it to her. They had fallen out over it at the time but the actress appears to have forgiven him, reserving her venom for Kill Bill producer Harvey Weinstein – who she accuses of an attempted sexual assault. Thurman raged of an “unforgivable” cover-up and Tarantino said: “She feels it’s very possible the car was destroyed, at Weinstein’s insistence.” Tarantino has no regrets of the spitting and the choking. He said: “I talked to Uma and I said I’ve got to kind of commit to doing this to you. I’ll only do it [spit] twice, at the most, three times.
“But I can’t have you getting spit on, again and again and again, because somebody else is messing it up by missing. It is hard to spit on people, as it turns out.”
He claims Uma even suggested a fourth take after the first three.
Of the choking, he added: “We kind of only did it for the close-ups. And we pulled it off.
“If it’s just a guy with his hands on your neck...you’re not going to get the blood vessels bulging, or the eyes filling it with tears, and you’re not going to get the sense of panic that happens when your air is cut off.”
He also said he choked actress Diane Kruger for 30 seconds, with her consent, on Inglourious Basterds in 2009.
But Tarantino said he regretted forcing Uma to drive the car in Kill Bill, and called it “the biggest mistake of his life”.
He was branded sadistic online after his admissions about the ultra-violent martial arts movie.
And actress Jessica Chastain said: “Directors inserting themselves into a scene depicting abuse is crossing a boundary.
“How can you feel safe if your director is strangling you?”
Weinstein’s office said: “He gave no instructions to destroy the vehicle or orchestrate a cover-up. He’s remorseful and regrets making a pass at her [Uma].”