Uma Thurman said she does not "particularly like violence," despite her history with action films, in a recent interview with InStyle
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She revealed she avoided the genre for nearly two decades, returning only for projects that meet her creative standards
Thurman also discussed her roles in Pretty Lethal and Red, White & Royal Blue, as well as her evolving interests beyond acting
Uma Thurmanis giving a candid reassessment of her relationship with on-screen violence, a hallmark of some of her most iconic roles.
Despite her enduring association with the stylized brutality ofKill Bill: Volume 1andKill Bill: Volume 2, the actress is making it clear that her personal sensibilities diverge from the genre she helped define.
"I actually don't particularly like violence. Some people really like it; I don't like it," she said in a recent interview withInStyle, adding, "When I see artful movement, I can enjoy violence and action because I'm blown away by it the way I would be if I saw an extraordinary dance performance."
That perspective informed her decision to largely avoid action roles for nearly two decades. As she told the outlet, she developed a personal framework for evaluating such projects, asking whether the violence is "motivated," "beautiful," and "genuinely executed." It was only when a script met those criteria that she felt compelled to return.
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One such project isPretty Lethal, a stylized thriller that blends ballet and horror. The film, which also stars Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, and Iris Apatow, follows ballerinas stranded in a remote inn after their bus breaks down on the way to an elite dance competition. The baroque motel turns out to be a house of horrors, with Thurman's character out for revenge as a former ballerina herself with what she describes only as "a unique physical disability."
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Thurman described the film as tonally unconventional. "Not your everyday streaming Amazon premiere movie. I looked at it, and I was like, How are they going to market this? It's girly, and then it's wild. It's gruesome, funny, and powerful. It's so over the top, it's above the top."
Related:Uma Thurman Opens Up About Her Decision to Step Away from Action Films AfterKill Bill
Thurman said she was drawn to the project immediately, though she noted she had not anticipated how meaningful it would be to work alongside a younger generation of performers. "It really moved me to see them," she said, praising her co-stars' "commitment and passion."
Her return to action has not been limited toPretty Lethal. In 2025, Thurman appeared inThe Old Guard 2alongside Charlize Theron, marking her first major step back into the genre sinceKill Bill. During a June 17 appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Thurman explained that she had stepped away from action films in part to preserve the legacy of her earlier work, avoiding what she described as a string of lesser projects in the genre.
"I never really followedKill Billup with action because I didn't kind of want to be in a whole bunch of 'B' action movies," she said, adding, "When you doKill Bill, you never stop hearing about, you know, it's like, 'Oh, got to be very careful about what I do next.' So I did other stuff."
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