Fans of Uma Thurman, 51, still get surprised when they discover that she was once married to Gary Oldman, 63, ten years before she married Ethan Hawke, 50. The Pulp Fiction actress was only 18 when she met her future first husband. Sean Penn, 61, who's also dating a much younger actress these days, introduced Thurman to the Dracula actor.
The men were co-stars in the film, State of Grace. The couple started dating around 1988 and 1989. Between that time, they worked together in the film, Henry and June. They tied the knot in 1990, a year after Oldman had finalized his divorce with his first wife, Lesley Manville, 65. But less than two years into the marriage, the couple called it quits. Here's the real reason why.
Inside Their Short-Lived Relationship
State of Grace director, Phil Janou said the two "got married right after the movie," which may have been too quick since the two began dating while Oldman was working on the film. The ex-couple kept their relationship from the public, so not much is written about it. Then in 2014, the actor told Playboy that he regrets "being overly forthcoming in interviews."
"I was so naive. I was very happy where I was in the theater and thought doing a movie would be just a one-off thing. I should have just said, 'I don’t talk about family. Next question,'" Oldman continued. "Now, because of the internet and all that, people just go to the fucking morgue, open the drawer and write, 'Son of welder, once married to Uma Thurman.' I'm so tired of it." And that's the only time he's ever talked about their marriage.
The Darkest Hour actor has strong feelings against sharing details about his personal life. When asked if there was anything wrong about his father being a welder, Oldman explained: "It’s not so much that. It’s that your life story is out of your control. [in a nasal voice] 'We read many stories after you directed your first film, Nil by Mouth, that said it was autobiographical and that your father used to beat your mother.'"
Then he revealed that "it’s not true!" He even apologized for "getting a little angry about these things" as he explained the real story. "That character is not my dad. My mother never got beat up," he said. "That character was a composite — partly fiction and partly a kid I knew at school. It’s not my personal story, but that’s what the media wanted." No wonder he and Thurman never shared much about their relationship back then. Still, they were an adorable couple who, according to Instyle, "knew how to coordinate" during public appearances.
Thurman Said The Marriage Was 'A Mistake'
When asked about her marriage to Oldman in 1996, Thurman told Vanity Fair that it was "a mistake" but that she still thinks "he's a truly great actor." Then she admitted that the age gap was the reason they had to end the marriage. "We met when I was 18. He was 12 years older," said the Oscar-nominated actress. "It was a crazy love affair that ended, as it needed to. He was my first love. I had no prior experience."
Truly, Thurman was too young for such a serious relationship. In the interview, she opened up about her struggles with people thinking that her sultry role in Henry and June was her real-life persona. "We were deluged with phone calls and had to unlist our number," shared Thurman's father, Bob.
"People of various stripes kept trying to gain access to her through us. Weird people have fallen in love with her image. One guy from Brooklyn kept writing letters for a year. We kept ignoring them and letting them pile up. Finally, he sent a switchblade with a note that said, 'Is this what you want me to do? Kill myself?'"
It prompted the Kill Bill star to take a break from acting. "I preferred not to work if I was going to be pigeonholed as the sexual flavor of the month," she said. "I had too much respect for acting." It was also implied that her "turbulent" marriage to Oldman caused her to step back from the limelight. When asked if the affair was "a daddy trip," Thurman answered: "Not unless it was to make my father mad." Then she laughed it off.
Oldman also said something about relationships that may have been related to their marriage. "[Groans] Look, relationships are very, very hard. They just are," he said in that Playboy interview. "I mean, four times! [marriage] I’m not proud to say it. One of them was for 10 minutes. I don’t think it meant very much to either of us. What can I say about marriage? I don’t know."
He added that "it’s all been a bit of a disaster in that area" but that despite being unlucky with love, he at least has "very good artistic instincts, often right on the money." He's currently married to his fifth wife, art curator and writer Gisele Schmidt, 59. Following her divorce from Hawke in 2005, Thurman has had some serious relationships but none of them led to a third marriage.