Uma's new chapter

Bad things seem to happen when Uma Thurman promotes

Thurman struggles to maintain her composure. 'If I was younger I'm sure I would have been splattered all over a beach somewhere with big swollen eyes,' she says, fixing my gaze. 'But I don't think Ethan was blaming me. I think his intentions are better than that.

These quotes can be interpreted many ways. I think he felt he had to explain himself. It's all been difficult, but, of course, I respect him as the father of my children.'

If Thurman's emotional state is fragile, she looks phenomenal. Her blonde hair is shoulder length and curly, her skin tanned and her greenish eyes enormous, apparently unenhanced by make-up. No fashion snob, despite once being the face of Lancôme, the 33-year-old six-footer wears a pink Chanel tweed jacket she's been photographed in several times and a pair of dark blue designer jeans.

'I don't know if you've ever been through a divorce, but it's not fun. We all like change when we decide to go to the Bahamas for the weekend, but not change when your house burns down. I'm a Taurus, a semihomebody creature of habit, although I have a gypsy soul too, which is the actress in me. I'm kind of split.'

She says she has not yet adjusted to her new life. 'Not at all. I don't know when that will happen.' Suddenly she is fighting back tears. Her 1990 marriage and divorce two years later from actor Gary Oldman has clearly been no preparation for this.

'I'm just trying to take one step at a time. Which is kind of a good way to live, maybe.' There's a poignant pause. 'Hopefully I'm going to have a nice summer.'

Summer should also feature her new boyfriend, hotelier André Balazs. Thurman, no attention-seeking wild child, has been repeatedly snapped clutched in his passionate embrace.

Friends say the couple are well suited. 'Well, you have to have a good time as much as you can,' shoot ruined the arrangement. 'My daughter didn't find it much fun either. When you do a movie for four months, you think, "I'll find a nursery school", but Kill Bill went on for so long. The schedule and locations were constantly changing and it put a tremendous strain on the household.'

It's impossible not to feel sympathy for this woman who appears so at odds with The Bride, the kick-ass ex-assassin who tracks down the last of her betrayers in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Yet, who'd have thought this idol of gritty low-budget fare - Tape, Chelsea Walls --and posh costume drama - The Golden Bowl, A Month By The Lake - would finally ascend the Hollywood A-list by playing a Biblically vengeful bitch? In Vol. 2 Tarantino has given his muse more dialogue and opportunities for emoting, but it's still this real-life Buddhist's lightening-fast kung-fu moves that dazzle. It's all a long way from her breakthrough role as an innocent virgin in Dangerous Liaisons in 1988. 'Years ago Quentin and I sat down to talk and three hours later we were still talking,' she says. 'I'm just able to be myself and to be honest with him.'

She wasn't ever fooled by his protestations that he was shooting a single, linear film. 'He kept insisting it was one movie, but he was shooting two. It was only towards the end that he acknowledged it was two, so the two-movie scenario didn't surprise me.'

Vol.2 sees a cat fight between Thurman and Daryl Hannah which makes The Bride's first part tussle with Lucy Liu appear lacklustre. Doesn't Thurman ever wish her kids were older and able to watch their mum at her swordswishing, high-kicking best? 'You know, I was thinking about that today,' she grins. Immediately her mood lifts. 'I don't know what my daughter will think, but one day my son will see it and I think he'll like it.'

And at least he won't grow up thinking women are wimpy. 'I think there's not a chance of that - although I'm a complete pushover, so he'll think women are strong but pushovers. I'm sure that will be his experience anyway because he's extremely cute.'

Anyhow, what is she planning for her 'nice summer'? She thinks hard before replying. 'I want to try and go home - wherever that is, and if I can find it.'

Kill Bill Vol. 2 opens Fri 23 Apr.