Uma Thurman’s 10 Best Movies & TV Shows

Uma Thurman has had a long career in movies and television across a variety of genres, and she’s ended up becoming one of the most dependable actresses currently working. Born in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts, Uma Thurman began her career as a fashion model and wound up in Glamour and Vogue before making her transition into acting and finding success almost immediately after one minor speedbump in her debut Kiss Daddy Goodnight in 1987. After that teen thriller, Thurman immediately jumped into more impressive roles, working with notable directors and actors.

For many, it was Thurman’s role in Pulp Fiction that was their introduction to her smirking, charming, and deadly acting persona, but she had a handful of roles beforehand that indicated she would soon be having a massive career. After the mid-2000s, Thurman’s career reached a bit of a coasting period, but in the mid-2010’s it started chugging right back along, with some notable TV roles helping her get back into the acting groove. Since then, Thurman has found her way back to the limelight, and she’s once again placed herself in the middle of Hollywood.

10

Smash (2012-2013)

Rebecca Duvall (5 Episodes, 2012)

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Smash (2012)

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Smash

TV-14

Drama

Musical

Release Date

2012 – 2012

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Jack Davenport

    Jack Davenport

    Derek Wills

  • Headshot Of Megan Hilty

    Megan Hilty

    Ivy Lynn

  • Headshot Of Katharine McPhee

    Katharine McPhee

    Karen Cartwright

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Christian Borle

    Tom Levitt

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Smash is an American musical drama television series by Theresa Rebeck that revolves around a New York City theater community and the production of their new Broadway musical. Featuring a large ensemble including Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Katharine McPhee, and more, Smash investigates the cast’s personal lives as much as their professional ones. Uma Thurman earned an Emmy nomination for Guest Actress for her five-episode run as film star Rebecca Duvall in season 1.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer, The Walk, and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

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When the team decides to make a musical based on Marilyn Monroe’s life, Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) is blindsided when the famous Rebecca announces she wants to play the role over her. The cast and staff quickly grow tired with Rebecca’s celebrity and unprofessional behavior. Thurman is clearly having a ball playing the arrogant Rebecca. It’s a funny and bold performance that also includes some impressive singing and dancing sequences by the actress.

9

Mad Dog And Glory (1993)

Glory

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Mad Dog and Glory

R

Comedy

Crime

Romance

Drama

Release Date

March 5, 1993

Runtime

96 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

    Wayne “Mad Dog” Dobie

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

    Glory

  • Headshot Of Bill Murray In The 65th BFI London Film Festival: 'The French Dispatch' premiere

    Bill Murray

    Frank Milo

  • Headshot Of David Caruso

    David Caruso

    Mike

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Mad Dog and Glory sees Uma Thurman starring as the titular Glory, a bartender who works at Frank Milo’s (Bill Murray) club. Frank is a mob boss who has his life saved by Chicago Police Department crime scene photographer Wayne “Mad Dog” Dobie (Robert De Niro) and in return, he lets Wayne take out Glory for a week, despite his own feelings for her. Wayne and Glory quickly fall in love, and they must find a way to get out from under Frank’s thumb.

The casting in Mad Dog and Glory is one of the best parts of the film, with both Murray and De Niro playing against type to great success. It’s filled with charm and humor, but the jokes aren’t so broad as to overwhelm. Thurman is at her sweetest and smartest in this role, and while her chemistry is fantastic with De Niro, she also shares an edgy, and easy, rapport with Murray, flipping between the two men throughout the film.

8

Les Misérables (1998)

Fantine

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Les Misérables

PG-13

Crime

Drama

History

Romance

Release Date

May 1, 1998

Runtime

134 minutes

Cast

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The 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name, Les Misérables, stars an ensemble of award-winning actors, including Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean, Geoffrey Rush as Javert, Claire Danes as Cosette, and Uma Thurman as Fantine. For the most part, Les Misérables is a faithful adaptation of Hugo’s work with only some secondary character names and locations changed to make things easier for English-speaking audiences.

As Fantine, Thurman is tragic and heartbreaking in her sadness and fear.

This was one of the first major roles for Thurman after Pulp Fiction, and she portrays a completely different kind of character here. As Fantine, Thurman is tragic and heartbreaking in her sadness and fear. Watching her beg in front of Javert is as moving as his refusal to listen is disgusting. It’s not an easy role and Thurman brings some incredible dramatic gravitas to the performance, showcasing a side of her acting she doesn’t always get to tap into.

7

Oh, Canada (2024)

Emma

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Oh, Canada

Drama

ScreenRant logo

6/10

9/10

Release Date

May 17, 2024

Runtime

95 Minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot of Richard Gere

    Richard Gere

    Leonard Fife

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

    Emma

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In Oh, Canada, a dying filmmaker named Leonard “Leo” Fife is played by Richard Gere in the present and Jacob Elordi in flashback sequences. In the film, Leo sits for a final interview retrospective on his career. Throughout the interview, he slowly reveals that his status as a progressive icon is a total sham, and has resulted in discarded family members and broken friendships. Uma Thurman co-stars as Emma, Leo’s third and current wife and his former student.

Uma Thurman also plays Gloria, the wife of Leo’s painter friend, Stanley (Jake Weary).

It’s a difficult and complicated film that walks a delicate line, occasionally stumbling, but bringing home the story in the end. Thurman has to play a character dealing with her husband’s worsening senility and who also is not interested in hearing about the sins of the past after having spent so many years ignoring them. It’s a mature performance by Thurman, who is tired and quietly frustrated, but still strong enough to stand up for herself and her husband.

6

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)

Noelle Sluarsky

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The Truth About Cats & Dogs

PG-13

Comedy

Romance

Release Date

April 26, 1996

Runtime

93 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Janeane Garofalo

    Janeane Garofalo

    Abby

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

    Noelle

  • Headshot Of Ben Chaplin

    Ben Chaplin

    Brian

  • Headshot Of Jamie Foxx In The European premiere of 'Creed III'

    Jamie Foxx

    Ed

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In The Truth About Cats & Dogs by director Michael Lehmann, a modern reinterpretation of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac story, Abby Barnes (Janeane Garofalo) is a vet and talk show host insecure about her looks. When a handsome photographer named Brian (Ben Chaplin) shows interest in her, the worried Abby asks her model neighbor Noelle Slusarsky (Uma Thurman) to impersonate her. So begins a funny and sweet story of love and acceptance.

Unlike the original 1897 Edmund Rostand play, this gender-swapped adaptation puts a lot of emphasis on the relationship between the two women angling for Brian’s attention. It’s a beautiful friendship that’s equally important as the one between Brian and Abby, and Thurman fills her character with humanity, making the ending hard to guess. She’s not just some shield for Abby, she has her own desires and dreams and even begins to fall for Brian herself a bit, creating a complicated relationship web.

5

Gattaca (1997)

Irene Cassini

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Gattaca

PG-13

Thriller

Science Fiction

Mystery

Romance

Release Date

September 7, 1997

Runtime

106 Minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Ethan Hawke In The Screening of Raymond And Ray During The 47th TIFF

    Ethan Hawke

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

  • Headshot Of Jude Law

    Jude Law

  • Headshot Of Alan Arkin In The Premiere of Spenser Confidential

    Alan Arkin

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The enduring science fiction film Gattaca is set in a not-so-distant future where eugenics is the norm and children are conceived through genetic selection to ensure they have the best hereditary traits. Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) is one of the few human children to be conceived naturally and thus has a high probability of genetic disorder in his future. Uma. Thurman co-stars as Irene Cassini, a genetically altered woman working at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation with Vincent.

Irene is supposed to be perfectly designed and yet, she appears to have a high risk for heart failure, which bars her from ever pursuing her dream of a deep space mission. Vincent and Irene begin a romance despite their different backgrounds. Absorbing and thought-provoking, Gattaca feels ahead of its time. Thurman is perfect as the confident, but secretly unsure Irene, and her chemistry is excellent with Hawke.

4

Hysterical Blindness (2002)

Debby Miller

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Hysterical Blindness

Drama

TV Movie

Release Date

January 16, 2002

Runtime

99 minutes

Cast

  • Headshot Of Gena Rowlands In The 88th Annual Academy Awards

    Gena Rowlands

    Virginia Miller

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

    Debby Miller

  • Headshot Of Juliette Lewis

    Juliette Lewis

    Beth

  • Headshot Of Justin Chambers

    Justin Chambers

    Rick

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Hysterical Blindness is a 2002 TV movie that premiered on HBO. The film stars Uma Thurman as Debby Miller, a New Jersey woman who is searching for romance. Diagnosed with hysterical blindness where her sight completely fades in and out, Debby and her friends Virginia (Gena Rowlands) and Beth (Juliette Lewis) go from bar to bar looking for Mister Right. With thick New Jersey accents and fantastic costumes, Hysterical Blindness is Jersey Shore meets Bad Moms.

Thurman was nominated for a SAG for her role and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. It’s an incredibly real feeling movie despite the zaniness of the characters and the situations they find themselves in. Thurman has never been so empathetic in a role, and it’s a sweetly funny performance that is criminally underseen.

3

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Cécile de Volanges

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Dangerous Liaisons

R

Drama

Romance

9/10

Release Date

December 21, 1988

Runtime

119 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Glenn Close

    Glenn Close

  • John Malkovich Profile Picture

    John Malkovich

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Dangerous Liaisons was one of Thurman earliest roles, and while it may not be considered a breakout, it was an announcement that she was an up-and-coming star and people began paying attention. In the period romantic drama based on the 1985 play Les Liaisons Dangereuses, itself adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclo’s 1782 novel, the Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) plans to take revenge on her former lover for discarding her for his new young fiancée, Cécile de Volanges (Thurman).

It’s an anxious, witty, and incisive look at sex, politics, and relationships, all set in beautifully staged Paris locations. It’s a fantastic performance from an actor as young as Thurman was, and it’s an incredibly difficult role that requires her to play naive but not make her so unaware as to be frustrating. She’s sweet and alluring, but also tragically pitiful as Merteuil’s machinations begin to wind their way around her.

2

Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2 (2003, 2004)

Beatrix Kiddo

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Movie Poster

Kill Bill

Created by

Quentin Tarantino

First Film

Kill Bill

Latest Film

Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Summary

The Kill Bill series, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is a two-part martial arts action saga that follows the journey of Beatrix “The Bride” Kiddo as she seeks vengeance against her former assassination squad and their leader, Bill, after they attempt to murder her and her unborn child.

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Uma Thurman’s second (and third) outing with Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2 is actually one four-hour film split in half and released six months apart. Thurman stars as Beatrix Kiddo, codename: the Bride, who is betrayed by her former assassination squad, the Deadly Vipers, led by Bill (David Carradine). Beatrix slices and dices her way through BIll’s legions of assassins, ninjas, hitmen, and hitwomen to finally get her revenge.

The Bride’s other codenames include “Black Mamba”, “Arlene Machiavelli”, and “Mommy”.

If not for Pulp Fiction, Beatrix Kiddo might be Thurman’s most recognizable role. Her stunt work is fantastic, seeming totally capable of pulling off all the incredible sword fighting and high-flying kung fu action. It’s not just action though, and Beatrix has a touching melancholy throughout the two-part film as she closes in on a vengeance that she’s not really sure she wants to dole out.

1

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Mia Wallace

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Pulp Fiction

R

Drama

Crime

ScreenRant logo

10/10

79

8.8/10

Release Date

October 14, 1994

Runtime

154 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of John Travolta In The TCM Classic Film Festival Opening Night

    John Travolta

  • Headshot Of Bruce Willis In The Premiere of Motherless Brooklyn

    Bruce Willis

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Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction may not have won the Best Picture award at the 67th Oscars, but it has lasted as one of the crowning achievements of Tarantino’s career and 90s movies. Taking place in Los Angeles across multiple interweaving stories that are told out of chronological order, it’s a film only one man could have directed. Uma Thurman co-stars in the ensemble cast as Mia Wallace, Marsellus Wallace’s (Ving Rhames) wife.

When Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is ordered to keep Marsellus’ wife busy while he’s out, he and the audience come to know the sexy, smart, and playful Mia, who is as happy eating a massive burger as she is winning a twist competition. It’s a career-defining role for Uma Thurman, who is funny, charming, and alluring, but also hard to read and willing to go all out physically for the performance. She earned an Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG nomination for her part.