A stunt coordinator who worked on the Kill Bill films claims that he was not asked about or informed that Uma Thurman would be involved in a dangerous driving stunt on the Mexico set of the Harvey Weinstein-produced, Quentin Tarantino-directed film.
Thurman revealed earlier this month in a chat with The New York Times that she was injured and hospitalized after performing the stunt, which she said Tarantino strong armed her into doing.
Stunt coordinator Keith Adams told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday in an email, ‘At no point was I notified or consulted about Ms. Thurman driving a car on camera that day.’
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Scary: A stunt coordinator on Kill Bill told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that he was never informed that Uma Thurman would be involved in a dangerous driving stunt, as he and his crew that day were told no stunts would be taking place
Adams, who’s also worked on films such as Den of Thieves, Jason Bourne and Spider-Man, noted that he and his colleagues on the stunt team were completely left in the dark over plans to have Thurman attempt the hazardous move behind the wheel of a 1973 Karmann Ghia, in which she steered a curvy dirt road at speeds topping 40 mph.
‘No stunts of any kind were scheduled for the day of Ms. Thurman’s accident,’ Adams said. ‘All of the stunt department was put on hold and no one from the stunt department was called to set.
‘At no point was I notified or consulted about Ms. Thurman driving a car on camera that day.’
The stunt expert said that if he and his crew were involved in that day’s filming, there’s no way Thurman – who suffered a concussion and knee injuries in the resultant crash – would have been involved in the hazardous sequence.
Missed presence: Stunt expert Keith Adams says that had he been on set the day of the crash, he ‘would have insisted not only on putting a professional driver behind the wheel, but also insuring that the car itself was road-worthy and safe’
Signature role: Thurman played The Bride in the 2003 film Kill Bill and its 2004 sequel
‘Had I been involved I would have insisted not only on putting a professional driver behind the wheel but also insuring that the car itself was road-worthy and safe,’ he told the publication.
The car Thurman was driving has also been scrutinized, as she described it as ‘a deathbox’ with a ‘seat wasn’t screwed down properly.’
Multiple veteran stunt experts told THR that films in vehicles are not particularly well-maintained, as the focus is on cosmetic appearance as opposed to safety and performance.
Melissa Stubbs told the outlet that ‘a picture car is usually a piece of s***,’ while Andy Armstrong said that video that’s emerged of the crash reveals ‘irresponsibility on a mega level,’ as Thurman could have suffered ‘a death by decapitation’ based on the condition of the car and nature of the crash.
Adams said that he would have had to have been intricately involved with the shoot had he and his crew been on set that day.
Damaging: Uma was injured while attempting the stunt on the set of the film in Mexico
‘On any set, my number one priority and the priority of any stunt coordinator is the safety of the cast and crew … for a stunt coordinator to do their job properly, they must be involved at every step of the process and given the opportunity to intervene when changes to the shoot are made,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, I did not have that opportunity in this case.’
Adams did not have a response to the publication’s inquiry as to whether he and the stunt crew were sidelined to ensure that Thurman would be the one driving.
Speaking with Deadline about the stunt this week, Tarantino said that neither he or other higher-ups in the film-making process ‘considered [Thurman’s sequence behind the wheel] a stunt,’ as ‘it was just driving.
‘None of us looked at it as a stunt,’ she said. ‘Maybe we should have, but we didn’t.’
SAG-AFTRA told the publication that the sequence described ‘sounds like a stunt and would be a likely safety violation’ based on the information received.
The latest: Thurman, in her expansive chat with the NY Times, said Kill Bill producer Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her. The two were snapped in 2016 in NYC