24 Stunning Photos of Teenage Uma Thurman as a Model From the Mid-1980s

Uma Thurman, born April 29, 1970, is an American actress known for her roles in films like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. She began her career as a fashion model at age 15, and signed with the agency Click Models. Her early modeling credits included Glamour and the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of British Vogue.

In the mid to late 1980s, her look — tall (around 5'11"), with striking, slightly unconventional beauty — fit perfectly into the era’s growing appetite for models who were distinctive and dramatic, not just traditionally pretty.

Modeling was never her main goal; she used it as a way to support herself while studying acting. Thurman made the transition to acting with her film debut, the teen thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight, which was released in 1987. Thurman was subsequently cast in three 1988 films — Johnny Be Good, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and most notably, Dangerous Liaisons.

In the Oscar-winning drama Dangerous Liaisons, co-starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich, Thurman took on the role of a naive teenager, seduced by a manipulative man. The picture was an arthouse success, and garnered Thurman recognition from critics and audiences; film critic Roger Ebert found her to be “well cast” in her “tricky” key role. At the time, insecure about her appearance, she spent roughly a year in London, during which she often wore loose, baggy clothing. Malkovich said of her, “There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her, I haven’t met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there’s something else. She’s more than a little haunted.”