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Meet Uma Thurman

The softly-spoken, six-foot star reveals her views on feminism, what it means to be a single mum in Tinseltown and just why her feet get so much screen time

The actress, who says she is now on 'cordial' terms with ex-husband Ethan Hawke, has two children from her six-year marriage to the actor. She split up with him in 2003 after his affair with a model, and she has since been linked to hotelier Andre Balazs. Yet despite her glamorous appearance and seemingly effortless elegance, Uma insists she is happiest at home with her kids.

How hard is it being a single, working mum in Hollywood?

I don't know any different at this point. I think it is such a privilege to have family; I'm so grateful to have them. It's challenging, but I think it's the same as any working woman because it's hard to do it all. I'm very grateful that I'm not wondering if I'll ever have children. They're wonderful people and they're very easy too.

Would you call yourself a feminist?

I don't know enough about feminism's true historical origins. I know some but I wouldn't go around blabbing my mouth off as a feminist. I've lived my life as an independent human being. I've been independent since I was 15 years old and I take care of my family, my children, and I work really hard. I think of my life as an example of a very hard-working woman - with pleasure though, and privilege. There are many who work harder than me.

Do you think that the world would be a better place if it was run by women?

I think that integration is what we're really all desperately in need of. The inclusion of women in government would be a really a good idea, since we make up 51 per cent of the international community - we could actually win the vote if we would just vote - and if so many female foetuses weren't aborted in Third World countries. Some type of harmony, tolerance, acceptance and integration would be a great thing.

Would you kill for love, or for your kids?

I'm sure that I would do whatever necessary if ever I was truly threatened. I find it hard to answer that question because it's such a loaded world we're living in. I've luckily never had my home shelled or invaded and never lived with an occupying force, so I don't really know what any of those things really feels like.

Would you like to travel with your kids?

I think it's very important for Americans to travel. That was a great gift to me as a young girl growing up in America, aside from the fact that my mother is European. I remember flying over Delhi at the age of nine and saying to my father, 'There are lights!' I remember not knowing that there would be lights. And this was 1979 and I was just a nine-year-old girl living in upstate New York, so my ignorance was embarrassing. But spending that time [overseas] was a basis for my sense of connectedness, lack of fear, cultural integration and knowing what it's like to be in a minority for an extended period of time. It's good for you.

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