“ANDI was very nervous at the idea of meeting Paul Schrader, a somewhat macho director of legendary films. Then I saw a tweet in which he revealed that he was a fan of Taylor Swift: I relaxed…”. And so Uma Thurman joined the cast of Oh, Canada – The Betrayalswhich will arrive in our theaters on January 9th. And which marks a double reunion: that of Schrader with Richard Gere – 44 years later American Gigolo – and Uma’s with Richard – 32 from Final analysis.
But don’t be fooled by the seventy-eight-year-old director’s enthusiasm for a pop star who is the idol of young people: it is not an indication of youthful attitudes. The movieinspired by the novel by his friend Russell Banks, it is a reflection on the ultimate questions of life. An existential balance sheet. The protagonist is a documentary filmmaker (Gere) who, now terminally ill, accepts the proposal of two former students and tells his story in front of their camera (“I’ve made a career out of convincing people to confess the truth to me, now it’s my turn” he observes). Revealing, under the overprotective eyes of his second wife (Thurman), episodes of the past that there is nothing to boast about, recalled through flashbacks in which the new star Jacob Elordi impersonates him.
Oh, Canada – The Betrayals: Uma Thurman and love
«Oh, Canada it is the story of a marriage very interesting because, in addition to the emotional-sentimental bond, there is a strong creative union. Leonard was the teacher, Emma the student: so he is mentor, partner and husband at the same time. It’s as if they have a shared mission. Certain, we meet them in a delicate and sad phase” explains the statuesque Uma, 1.81 meters tall and of icy class.
«In fact, the conclusion of the story is that – ultimately – it only matters the love you had, the love you lost, the hearts you broke, the relationship with your children… It’s the only aspect that truly resonates with those at the end of their days. I found it to be a very powerful message. And there is another underlying theme, it concerns complexity: there are truths that remain true even if some details contradict them. When my Emma says “I know everything I need to know”, she actually means: “Yes, my husband presents many contradictions, however I know that I am loved, that I love and that I have been loved”. And that’s what matters.”
The film also lends itself to considerations of success, summarized by a line given to Gere’s nurse: “Celebrities have to give interviews.” «The scene is funny! “Why am I letting myself be interviewed?”. “Because you’re popular!”» smiles Thurman. «I find myself in this irony. But I don’t know what to add about fame. It is misleading, illusory, it is not what it seems…».
Uma Thurman and Richard Gere in “Oh, Canada” by Paul Schrader, which will arrive in theaters on January 9th, distributed by Be Water Film.
A childhood marked by Buddhism
We couldn’t expect anything different daughter of Robert Thurman, highly esteemed American professor of Buddhist studiesdirect student of the Dalai Lama, activist against the occupation of Tibet by China and co-founder of Tibet House in New York. «Many admire his work. I have great respect. Nevertheless I am unable to evaluate how much Buddhism has influenced me.
Richard would be more qualified to answer the question (Gere approached this religious philosophy as an adult, ed.)” cut her shortleaving the suspicion that she has the downside of her “Zen” childhood very well in mind: the name for which she was teased at school (“Uma” in Sanskrit means “tranquility”, “splendour”, also accompanied by her second name “Karuna”, “compassion”) or perhaps those periods in which, together with the three brothers, he had to give up the bedroom to the delegations of monks arriving from India…
At the beginning she was a model (like her mother). Now, for fashion, he is above all a style icon. Here in 2024 at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles in a Fendi dress (Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images).
My beginnings as a model (like my mother)
The DNA on the mother’s side is radically different: Nena von Schlebrügge is a former Swedish modeldaughter of a model (Birgit Holmquist posed for the statue of Axel Ebbe which marks, in Smygehuk, the southernmost point of Sweden). «When I did something she didn’t like, he scolded me: “You’re acting like an American!”. Only at 15 did I realize that I was American…”. And 15 is precisely the age at which he started with fashion photos, winning the cover of the magazine after a few months. Vogue British. A “shortcut” to his true passion.
«I discovered my love for acting as a child. I was dyslexicso I wasn’t in tune with many situations, I didn’t enter into relationships easily. However, when it came to taking part in theater shows, that certainly “turned me on”.” confides to I Woman. The leap from magazines to cinema was almost immediate: at 18 she had already embodied none other than Botticelli’s Venus in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Terry Gilliam, as well as the ingenue Cécile de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons by Stephen Frears, alongside Glenn Close and John Malkovich. First titles of a rich filmography culminating in pulp Fictionreleased just 30 years ago. AND for 30 years she has been defined as “Quentin Tarantino’s muse”.
John Travolta and Uma Thurman in “Pulp Fiction”, 1994 (IPA/Miramax).
Uma Thurman, the price of a career
An apparently sparkling artistic team. Behind there are dark sides like the car accident (balance: concussion and permanent knee injuries) on the set of Kill Billin 2003for the director’s sadistic longing for realism. Or how the harassment suffered by the film’s producer, the infamous Harvey Weinsteinwhich in 2017 reported offering a decisive contribution to the #MeToo cause.
«There is a part of me that is greatly enriched by being an actress. I often forgot about it, either because I was pregnant or for one reason or another… I’ve been away from this world sometimes too longyears. And as soon as I come back it’s like: “Oh! That’s the thing that makes me feel pain in a positive way.” It is a special form of creativity. When I play a role in a pleasant situation, it gives me indescribable joy. You don’t know how much you miss it until you try it again: it’s like remembering yourself.”
What criteria do you use to choose a project? «For me, the basis is the script, the idea… I evaluate whether, perhaps, it is a somewhat unrepeatable opportunity. But participating in a film is a group activity, then the crews you choose to work with matterthey make the difference: we must follow the good souls. Ultimately it always applies, in any context: better to be with people who are better than us».
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