Wired – December 2003

Last Update:

Reality Check

By Frank Rose

Uma Thurman on the surreal world of Dick, karmic paybacks, and working with mind-bending auteurs.

She means Philip K. Dick, of course. Her father, Columbia University professor Robert Thurman, is a leading Buddhist scholar and a good friend of the Dalai Lama, so she’s no stranger to discussions of memory and reality. “Reality is an illusion – that’s the principle of ancient Buddhist thought,” she continues. “And the basic idea of being reborn is that you erase the memory. Everybody is interconnected, and you’re working out your karma with people – so you get erased, but all work left undone has to be completed.”

So Thurman is a fan. Blade Runner was one of her favorite movies growing up – the plight of the replicants was so affecting it made her cry – and after seeing it she read Dick’s novel. “There’s something very earthly in his imaginings,” she says. “You don’t have to set them on Mars – they’re projections from here on Earth. There’s class struggle, there’s government deceit. And these nightmarish fantasies about corporations owning the world – I mean, obviously there’s a reason people relate to that.”

Thurman was coming off a grueling 11-month shoot in China for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill when she received the offer to costar in Paycheck. “I never get asked to be ‘the girl,’” she says, “so I was sort of thrilled to just be the sidekick in a romantic context, instead of the man/woman/fighter/stunt-double/ you-name-it. I thought that would be nice – to not be the one covered in blood.” She also wanted the chance to work with John Woo, whose Hong Kong films Tarantino had reverentially screened for her.

“I was completely blown away,” she says. “I’ve always been drawn to directors who have a real voice.” She was 17 when Terry Gilliam cast her in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. After that came, among others, Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons, Gus Van Sant’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca, and James Ivory’s The Golden Bowl. “It’s special, being in front of those cameras. It doesn’t mean the movie’s going to work, but I’d rather err with that kind of director. They’ve each created their own world, many times over.”