Maya Hawke explains how mom Uma Thurman warned her about Quentin Tarantino’s secret 'fetish'
Maya Hawke revealed what her mom, Uma Thurman, warned her about director Quentin Tarantino when she was set to work with him for the first time.
The Stranger Things actress revealed all on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast when appearing on its Wednesday (October 5) episode.
As the daughter of Uma Thurman, Hawke is well aware of Tarantino's niche film scenes.
Thurman, who starred in 1993’s Pulp Fiction, 2003’s Kill Bill and 2004's Kill Bill Vol.2, was frequently seen without shoes or socks on.
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Famously, there has been much speculation that the director has had a fetish for feet, and with all of his flicks containing a foot or two, Thurman actually warned Hawke about it.
The apparent fetish is so well known in Hollywood, that even Brad Pitt mentioned it in his acceptance speech when picking up the Best Supporting Role Oscar for his role in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
"I want to thank my costars, Leo [DiCaprio], Margot Robbie, Margot Robbie's feet, Margaret Qualley's feet, Dakota Fanning's feet," he joked. "Seriously, Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA."
When it came to Thurman, she too joked that Hawke needed to ‘keep your shoes on’ around the director when she appeared as one a member of the Manson Family in Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood.
Poehler and Hawke began to laugh at the reveal, with the Parks and Recreation star saying: “Keep ’em on, baby. Perfect advice. Perfect.”
To be fair, it’s not like Thurman kept to her own advice when working with Tarantino.
But she can definitely joke about the whole thing, which she did recently on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in July 2024.
“There’s this rumor that Quentin Tarantino has a foot fetish,” O’Brein said to Thurman after mentioning a lot of her Kill Bill foot shots.
Thurman replied: “He claims that every foot shot was essential to the telling of the story.”
“There are times when I don’t see the point at all,” O’Brein joked. “There’s serious plot going on, and then languid shots of a foot out of nowhere. That’s not true, but I’m just curious, it makes you wonder.”
Thurman said he might have to interview himself about it, and the host said he would, but he’d do it bare footed.
As for Tarantino, he doesn’t let the rumors bother him.
Speaking with G2 in 2021, he admitted he doesn’t 'take it seriously' and said: "There’s a lot of feet in a lot of good directors’ movies. Like, before me, the person foot fetishism was defined by was Luis Buñuel, another film director.”
"And Hitchcock was accused of it and Sofia Coppola has been accused of it,” he added.
UNILAD reached out to Quentin Tarantino’s representatives for comment.
Topics: Maya Hawke, Quentin Tarantino, Film and TV, Celebrity
Britt Jones