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.
What's your obsession with your feet?
I don't have an obsession with my feet.
No 'big' issues?
Big issues? Big feet! I don't know what's up with these directors. I don't know what they're doing filming my feet but it makes a good story. Quentin Tarantino is very open about his foot fetishes so you can challenge him about that next time you talk to him about his movies - and count the foot shots! And no, I didn't turn him into one. I think he got up there by his own honest path, so to speak.
Do you like your feet?
No, I don't. I don't want to talk about my feet.
Okay, do you feel you have an advantage over younger actresses emerging on the scene?
I think still looking good enough to get cast is a great thing - I'm grateful. I think for young women it's very hard to have anyone listen to you. Young women are very much not listened to and not even considered as sensitive beings. The advantage is having survived it and having got to do what I wished to do. Taking that question further, everything is easier for me now. There's nothing that's not easier for me as an adult. It's so much better than being a kid, it really is.
What kind of man do you look for?
I think everybody's different. I know that I like to be around someone stronger than myself - and I know people who don't. I know women who like to have boy toys - and actually I could grow into that! But generally speaking, I would prefer to be with someone I could look to for help or guidance, support or some sort of superior wisdom. There are different kinds of men; some feel very emasculated around a woman who is too fully-formed, and some don't. Some men need to be around a woman two generations younger than them to feel good about themselves, in which case, they should do that. But there's a great variety of men in the world, thank God.
How do you deal with the fact that a lot of men are intimidated around you?
It's hard to get a date as a famous woman. It's true, because who would bother with it? Any half-bright guy who could have a normal, nice good-looking woman or a famous one - wouldn't you be smart and pick the normal one? So I support the wisdom. It's a pain in the neck to be involved with a famous person - it really costs people something sometimes.
Would you prefer to be more anonymous?
I do feel anonymous in many ways. I feel anonymous in that it's not intimate being 'famous' - it's just a kind of illusion. It's not really you, so in many ways you're very anonymous.
What's your goal in life?
Just to grow, to learn, to stay open, not to be tough. To not ever be bitter; wash it away, and be open - simple things.
When did you realise that with success comes power in Hollywood?
Uma Thurman: I never felt that. I've had a very touch-and-go career. I work for directors who are crazy artists, and look for writers that get inspired or are moved by somebody that resembles me enough that I can play them. I don't feel 'power'. I haven't made a career out of blockbusting movies, I've made a career out of a little delicately-constructed, spiders-web tapestry of weird choices. I've been on the A-list and on the D-list so many times. So to me, survival as an actress is just a miracle.