Why Uma Thurman Chose to Leave Action Movies Behind After Her Iconic Role in Kill Bill

Uma Thurman took an extended break from action movies after the success of the Kill Bill franchise. Now, she’s explaining that decision and why she returned to the genre with her new movie The Old Guard 2.

The 55-year-old actress received critical acclaim portraying The Bride in 2003’s Kill Bill: Volume 1 and the 2004 sequel Kill Bill: Volume 2. Her latest outing in the action genre entails playing the villain to Charlize Theron’s hero Andy.

During a Tuesday, June 17 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Thurman explained that she took a break from the genre in an attempt to preserve her legacy as an action star.

“I never really followed Kill Bill up with action because I didn’t kind of want to be in a whole bunch of ‘B’ action movies,” she told host Jimmy Fallon, explaining, “When you do Kill 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.”

When the offer for The Old Guard 2 came around, Thurman saw it as a way to “put my toe into action again.”

She was also drawn to the film’s story and characters, saying the project “seemed different.”

“Charlize was just so epic in [2020’s The Old Guard],” she said. “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.’ ”

Thurman heavily praised Theron, describing her as “phenomenal” and “incredible.”

“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,” she said.

For her, it was also interesting to play the villain, which she described as a “fun” experience, especially when you get to play “particularly funny bad guys.”

Even though it had been years since Thurman wielded a sword, she said that she didn’t spend much time in training for The Old Guard 2. That wasn’t by choice, though.

“Oh, if only I could have trained,” she said to Fallon, recalling, “No, I came on to do it kind of at the end. So I had no training. I was like, ‘Oh yeah, a sword. I think I hold it like this.’ ”

Interestingly, Thurman wasn’t as worried about filming intense fights. She explained to the late-night host that she had more trouble eating on camera.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“No, eating when you’re acting is… First of all, you have to do a lot of takes. Second of all, you don’t pick what’s on the menu. And you have to speak sometimes and swallow, and then you start to worry about choking because you don’t want to be chewing when you say that line,” she described of the experience.

The Oscar nominee joked, “A lot of actors do eating,” adding, “You know, a good eating scene should be on my bucket list of stuff I haven’t nailed.”

When asked if there were any chances of a third movie in the Old Guard franchise, Thurman played coy.

“There’s whispers,” she teased. “I think we’ll leave it to the fans.”

By the sounds of it, the outlook for a third Old Guard movie is brighter than the chances of Thurman suiting up for Kill Bill: Volume 3.

“It has been discussed over the years. There was real thought about it happening, but very long ago,” she said during. February 2022 appearance on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.

She continued, saying, “I don’t see it as immediately on the horizon. I hate to disappoint people. Everybody wishes it would be the case, but I think it’s not immediately on the horizon.”

The Old Guard 2 arrives on Netflix on July 2.