‘I was angry ... because I get protective’
I should have been there for Uma, says Kiwi stuntwoman Zoe Bell after star’s car crash ordeal.
STUNTWOMAN extraordinaire Zoe Bell wishes she could have protected Uma Thurman from a car crash on the set of Kill Bill.
Thurman recently spoke out about being pressured by Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino to drive a dodgy car on a dangerous road while filming a scene from Kill Bill in 2003.
The actress crashed into a palm tree, suffered a concussion and injured her knees – and still suffers the effects of the injuries she sustained. She’s now posted a clip online of the accident, which she said had been ‘‘covered up’’ by producers.
Bell said she had been injured about three months before Thurman’s crash, so wasn’t on set to drive the car, and a series of ‘‘miscommunications’’ meant the stunt people who should have been on hand that day were not.
‘‘I was angry I wasn’t on set, because I get protective of the people I’m doubling,’’ Bell, 39, said. ‘‘There was no one person to blame. For me, I should’ve been there.’’
Asked if she thought Tarantino was generally too pushy, Bell said he wasn’t the person she was angry with.
‘‘Quentin is a really important person to me on a personal level. I feel like that’s a testament to the type of person he is. I don’t surround myself with a lower quality of human.’’
Thurman tried for years to have the footage of the crash released.
In an interview with the New York Times this month, Thurman said she been inspired by the ‘‘reckoning on violence against women’’ to ramp up the pressure to force Tarantino to release footage of her crash.
Tarantino later said the Kill Bill car crash was one of the ‘‘biggest regrets of my life’’.
Bell said she understands Tarantino’s passion to make the best film possible that probably led to the accident.
‘‘Quentin wants Uma to do as much as possible. That’s one of the reasons his movies are so authentic.’’
Bell added she ‘‘respects and admires’’ Thurman.
Thurman is one of many Hollywood actresses who have spoken out about producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexually predatory behaviour.
Bell was ‘‘shocked’’ to hear the testimony of Weinstein’s victims, but not ‘‘surprised’’.
‘‘I never had a moment with Harvey when I was like ‘I like this guy’.
‘‘But he was never sexually predatory with me.’’
The stuntwoman suspects Weinstein would not have felt comfortable trying his tricks of sexual coercion on her.
‘‘I’m a loudmouth and a tomboy and fresh out of New Zealand.
‘‘I was potentially a threat – I’m stoked about that,’’ she said.
Bell was also thrilled to volunteer her time to talk to a crowd of Wonderful Waiheke Women at Batch Winery last night.
She described her journey from being a staunch stuntwoman to an actress who needs to show her emotional vulnerability.
‘‘I’ve physically kicked so many men’s asses and I can totally feel proud of that.
‘‘But what I’m recognising with age is my vulnerability is a source of strength, which seems so ironic,’’ she said.