Uma Thurman Had One Condition To Star In The Old Guard 2

Actor Uma Thurman has played some pretty tough women over the years, becoming immortalized as revenge-seeking, blade-wielding badass Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films and starring in action flicks like the John Woo-directed "Paycheck" and the non-Marvel "The Avengers." In recent years, however, she's tended to stick more to dramas and comedies, eschewing sword fights and wire work for less action-heavy roles in movies as wide-ranging as Lars von Trier's nightmarish "Nymphomaniac" to the Robert De Niro-starring kids flick "The War With Grandpa." So, when it was revealed that she would be joining the cast of the action-fantasy sequel "The Old Guard 2," fans were a bit surprised (and extremely excited). But what made Thurman agree to such a high-profile action role again after all of these years?

In an interview with The New York Times, Thurman and her "The Old Guard 2" co-star Charlize Theron discussed the ins and outs of making action movies, and Thurman revealed that she had one very specific condition for starring in the Netflix sequel. While one might think it had something to do with wire work or the number of physically demanding stunts she had to perform, it was actually much simpler: no swimming or underwater scenes, thanks.

After Theron listed some of the injuries she's suffered as a result of starring in action movies, Thurman joked that she could never compete. Thurman had a pretty scary accident on the set of "Kill Bill Vol. 2" that could definitely compete, so she's being modest, but it led the duo to discuss their no-gos on movies. As Thurman explained:

"I'm really, really practical. If there's not a big enough budget and there's a bunch of crap underwater, I'm just like, sorry, guys. I'm like, what's your budget? There's a bunch of underwater stuff here? No."

The "big enough budget" part is definitely practical, but the underwater part is kind of interesting because Theron agreed, saying that despite feeling like she's a pretty good swimmer, when it comes to movies, she does "not want to hear anything about water." Thankfully, there wasn't too much water in "The Old Guard 2" and fans got a chance to see an onscreen Theron vs. Thurman face-off for the ages, even if the "Old Guard" property's future looks rather grim after the sequel received some seriously sour reviews. Honestly, though, the press tour alone was worth the existence of "The Old Guard 2," because Theron and Thurman seem to genuinely have a great time together and their interviews with one another are pure joy. That "Hot Ones: Versus" episode they did? Legendary. Let's get these two their own franchise, stat, just without any underwater bits.

"The Old Guard 2" is available to stream on Netflix.