NY Daily News – April 13, 2008

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All ‘Eyes’ again on Uma Thurman

By Marshall Fine
Source: NY Daily News

Sharing a character with Evan Rachel Wood in the movie “Life Before Her Eyes” was a snap, says Uma Thurman.

If only she could have had someone else to live her early teen years for her, life would have been a lot easier.

“Everything different about me made my life hard,” says Thurman of her awkward preadolescent years.

“I was tall really young. I had a funny name. I had not grown into my features. I was just trying to make it from history class to English class and still feel good.”

That may seem hard to absorb for fans accustomed to the willowy, exotic Thurman, who has become a movie star, sex symbol and the face of Lancome and Louis Vuitton, among others.

But the swanlike Thurman is unashamed now of her days as the ugly duckling. The idea of not fitting in, she adds, is at the heart of “Life Before Her Eyes,” opening Friday.

“There were two compelling elements that drew me to this film,” she says. “One was the idea of violence and American youth, although that’s a side issue to the story, really. The other was the idea of surviving your own coming of age.

“It’s a powerful journey, the journey to womanhood. Even though I was playing the adult half of the character, I wanted to see it on the screen – that it hurts to be a young girl like that.”

Directed by Vadim Perelman, “Life Before Her Eyes” moves back and forth in time between the young Diana (Wood), a hell-raising high-school student, and her adult self (Thurman), who is married, a parent and a teacher.

The older Diana finds herself increasingly anxious at the approaching anniversary of the date when, as a teen, a classmate came to her high school with an automatic weapon, killing students and teachers alike.

Wood actually was cast first, Perelman notes, “and so Uma was a natural choice,” he says. “I’ve always thought she had a wonderful sense of poignancy, which is something I saw in the ‘Kill Bill‘ movies, under all the theatrics. I thought she could bring that to this film.”

The role marks a return of sorts for Thurman, who took some time off after “The Producers” before shooting “Life” and “The Accidental Husband,” coming in August. Partly it was a lack of interesting material; partly it was the urge to spend time with her children, daughter Maya, 9, and son Levon, 6.

“Those are delicious ages – it wasn’t something I wanted to miss,” says Thurman.

Her marital history is another story. Marriages to actors Gary Oldman and Ethan Hawke ended in divorce: Oldman after two years, Hawke after six. Her divorce from Hawke was particularly public, with charges of infidelity hurled in both directions. Thurman won’t discuss specifics, other than to call media attention “very destructive” to an already faltering relationship.

“It was nightmarish,” she says. “I never expect things to be easy, but I’m always surprised at how much harder they can be than you expect. I still have to answer questions about it, but I hope for the day when those questions don’t have to be asked. It’s something I want to let go of.”

Thurman shields her children from showbiz glitz. Whether they’re dealing with paparazzi or stories about a stalker arrested last year for harassing the actress, the key to keeping it real with her kids is communication.

“If you can talk and put it in the right perspective, everybody stays human,” she says. “I don’t want them wrapped up in the cult of my career.”

At 37, Thurman long ago grew into looks she spent years hating. Early on, she learned to apply herself in other ways.

“I had baby fat and a big nose and big lips and big eyes that looked like they were taped to the side of my head,” she says. “I didn’t feel doors were going to fly open for me for being cute, so I worked hard at everything else. I applied myself to learning and work, and that was very beneficial.”

An actress for more than 20 years, Thurman wants to keep working “faster, deeper, funnier, longer.”

“I just want to keep it interesting and stay at the table, to be asked back,” she says. “That’s always the big fear: Gee, I’m not 18 anymore – are they still going to want me? Gee, I’m in my mid-20s and I had a baby – are they still going to want me?

“Now people ask me about aging. But the world is changing and so are we. We’re constantly evolving. The more life plays with you, the more you understand and the more you have to share.”