There was a time whenUma Thurmansimply couldn’t stay away from action movies. Titles likePulp FictionandBatman & Robinsaw her at the center of the high-octane drama, but she’d solidified herself as a genre icon thanks to her appearance inQuentin Tarantino’sKill Billseries. Following the second movie’s arrival and theatrical success, Thurman put down her katana and changed lanes in an effort to seek out roles that were unlike the ones she had become so known for. In just a few weeks, on July 2, the actress will return to the realm of action inVictoria Mahoney’sThe Old Guard 2, re-entering the arena in the most badass way possible.
During a recent appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the actress explained why she began to shy away from action flicks and dug into what madeThe Old Guard 2the perfect project to get back in the saddle.
“I never really followedKill Billup with action because I didn’t kind of want to be in a whole bunch of ‘B’ action movies. When you doKill Bill, you never stop hearing about, you know, it’s like, ‘Oh, got to be very careful about what I do next.’ So I did other stuff.”
Her turnaround moment would come with 2020’sThe Old Guard, when she watchedCharlize Theron’s Andy kick, punch, and annihilate everything in her path. Describing her fellow performer as “phenomenal” and “incredible,” Thurman added,
“Charlize was just so epic in [2020’sThe Old Guard]. And so I thought, ‘Well, I could go do this for her in that. Where she’s kind of taking the genre there. I’ll go support her and fight her and battle her out… I thought she was so fantastic in that. And I thought it was such a unique kind of action movie. It had such character and depth, and it was really quite moving.”
Who Else Stars In ‘The Old Guard 2’?
Thurman and Theron won’t be the only two stars feeling the fun of the action-heavy plot inThe Old Guard 2. Filling out the rest of the cast is a lineup that includesKiKi Layne(If Beale Street Could Talk),Chiwetel Ejiofor(The Life of Chuck),Marwan Kenzari(Aladdin),Luca Marinelli(Don’t Be Bad),Henry Golding(Crazy Rich Asians),Vân Veronica Ngô(The Rebel), andMatthias Schoenaerts(Rust and Bone).
Check out Thurman’s full conversation with Fallon in the video above and watch the action legend return to the genre whenThe Old Guard 2slices onto Netflix on July 2.
The Old Guard 2
