Parallels Between Thurman and Her “Be Cool” Character: "You know, I think I identify with all [my] characters. That never even occurred to me, the idea of there being a parallel. But I guess…I don’t know. I guess there is a certain kind of vulnerability mixed with a kind of toughness and her swagger, which I guess I could relate to. [She] tries to keep it under [wraps], keep it hidden that she is actually a softie. But I don’t know. I don’t really think about characters in any way of them being parallel to me."
Did John Travolta Call You Up and Say “Let’s Do This?” "No, he didn’t. But you know, I always said about 'Pulp Fiction' that you know, I couldn’t possibly pass on the challenge, the thrill, the joy of doing a dance scene with John Travolta. I am of the 'Grease' age. I was whatever, 12 years old, or 8 years old or 7 or 6, I don’t know. I can’t remember, some ridiculously small age when 'Grease' came out. …Being brought up primarily in Massachusetts, you know, I never saw musicals…so that was a great introduction to that as well, which is now one of my great passions. I love musical theatre and dance and song and basically do anything to dance in any movie. It sort of bit me with that fire."
Shooting the Staples Center Sequence: "It was a ball. All the problems are production problems. John and I decided to ignore people screaming our names but what are you going to do? It was totally, you know, it was a really fun. What I like about this movie is it does have a slightly reality show quality to it. You know what I mean? There is this sort of tongue-in-cheek surrealness of people playing themselves and celebrities being the character with a celebrity who is being themselves in the real room with the real fans with the real people. It has a great sort of unabashed texture to it. [Those] are the really fun things about the movie."
Working with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler: "Great, totally great. He is a very nice man. He is completely soft spoken, self deprecating, funny, nice."
On Starring in "The Producers:" "Yeah, I am doing Ulla and so I dance every day now, which [I’m] absolutely beyond overjoyed [about]. But in the origin of this movie, it seems so sort of tongue-in-cheek and wonderful to get back together and dance again. Sort of irresistible."
Musicals as the Last Frontier and Fight Training vs. Dancing: "I wouldn’t say it was the last frontier. …I am totally excited, I can’t tell you. I am wild for the experience. It really is so wonderful. At the moment I am part of a dance team. It is a little bit more pleasant then being part of the fight team only because there is no fake blood involved. Mosquitoes don’t get attracted to [you] with all that sugar water. But, you know, the guys who did the Broadway musical and the director is the director who directed a Broadway musical, so the people I am working with right now are all basically the blood and flesh of Broadway. Their discipline and their passion and their attention to detail in their work ethic is so unlike anybody in the movies. I really look at them and I go, 'Boy, you do realize you work very hard? People who make films don’t work this hard,' which is really hard to say because people do work hard in the films. But these people put that to rest. But their heart and their passion for what they do has been so much fun for me. I can’t tell you."
Uma Thurman’s Singing Voice: "I would say I make a poor but hopefully passable singer. They haven’t suggested anyone sing for me yet so I feel like, 'Phew!' And when I signed on they said they would have someone if I needed it. But no one has mentioned it so I feel I must be passing, with some tiny check box in the corner of my vocal chart."
Adopting the Swedish Accent: "I haven’t started. All I do is dance. I am ready to start and I am not shooting for one month, so I am ready. I have been dancing and dancing and now I am going to start…singing and accenting."
