Uma Thurman Once Shared She Turned Down ‘Lord of the Rings’ Because of Her Child

Actor Uma Thurman once prioritized her responsibilities as a mother over starring in Lord of the Rings. But she admitted it was a decision she wished she thought about a little harder.

Uma Thurman tried not to give up her career for her kids

Kill Bill star Thurman is currently a mother to three children. She shares two of her eldest with her ex-husband Ethan Hawke, and a third child with her former fiance Arpad Busson. Although Thurman mulled over having children for a while, she committed to the decision after starring in the box-office disappointment The Avengers.

The setback of the film helped offer Thurman some new perspective over what was truly important to her.

“It was The Avengers that brought my first baby into the world. I came home from making that movie and I started rethinking my life,” Thurman once said in an interview with Parade. “I said to myself, ‘I’m going to have a baby,’ because I felt like I’d gotten to a spot where I wasn’t sure what I was acting for. Was I running from myself going from location to location? Was I hurting myself? I wanted something different that would change me.”

But balancing her newfound family life with her bubbling acting career proved more difficult than she might have expected.

“You feel much more conflicted. I think I really struggled with that conflict. Sort of like, ‘What’s worthy enough to interrupt my kid’s life to take them on the road with me while I do a movie?’ Now, I just try to balance it. I probably overthink things, but I try to do the right thing. I just do my best. Any working mother will tell you it’s the same,” she said.

Uma Thurman regretted turning down ‘Lord of the Rings’

One of the films she didn’t deem worthy enough might have been Lord of the Rings. Thurman was offered the role of Eowyn in Peter Jackson’s blockbuster adaptations of J.R.R Tolkien’s novels. But she wasn’t willing to put in the amount of time the role required. Still, it was a decision she ended up regretting in the long run.

“It was a very long time ago, and I do consider it one of the worst decisions ever made. But I just had my first child and, I don’t know, I was a little housebound,” Thurman said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “I think I was a little bit, it was a little unknown for me, but it’s really definitely a regret.”

Uma Thurman was nervous about her daughter getting into acting

One of Thurman’s children, Maya Hawke, has followed in her mother’s footsteps in recent years. Hawke has been slowly establishing her presence as an actor with movies like Fear Street and Do Revenge. She’s also been a part of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. But initially, Thurman was anxious about her daughter being in the public spotlight.

“She’s a sensitive person. Any protective parent would be anxious for their child to go into the public arena, not because they want to be in the public arena, but because they’re so creative. You just wish they’d find any other way to be creative,” she said on Access.

But Thurman was more than supportive of her daughter’s career choices.

“She’s, in the end, such a brilliant actress. Obviously, there’s nothing else she would’ve ever done,” she said.