Tarantino’s car stunt for Uma a ‘big regret’

FILM director Quentin Tarantino called his decision to have Uma Thurman perform a stunt in his 2003 film Kill Bill “the biggest regret of my life”, after the actress accused him of forcing her to work in unsafe conditions on the set, the Guardian reported.

Thurman, often called Tarantino’s muse, said the director bullied her into driving an unsafe car that crashed, calling the incident “dehumanisation to the point of death”.

“I am guilty, for putting her in that car, but not the way that people are saying I am guilty of it,” Tarantino was quoted by Deadline Hollywood as saying.

In an interview with the New York Times, Thurman said the director told her, “I promise you the car is fine. It’s a straight piece of road. Hit 40 miles per hour or your hair won’t blow the right way and I’ll make you do it again.”

Tarantino agreed with Thurman’s version but said no one else in the crew considered the drive a stunt. However, the direction of the drive was reversed at the last minute as the light changed, and the road was not tested in that direction, he told Deadline Hollywood.

He admitted he didn’t allow Thurman access to footage of the crash to prevent her from suing. However, he gave it to her in advance of the New York Times interview to “make this right”.

Thurman, who gained global fame with her performance in Pulp Fiction (1994), also directed by Tarantino, mentioned the crash when talking to the New York Times about disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assaults.

Tarantino is known for his ultra-violent films, usually with non-linear storylines, including Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction, Death Proof (2007) and the Kill Bill series. – Xinhua

Quentin Tarantino

Uma Thurman in action as the female assassin, The Bride, in Kill Bill: Vol 1.