Pulp Fiction wasn’t supposed to be iconic– Uma Thurman reflects on its cultural legacy

"I dare you, I double dare you" is enough to make anyone speak English and, well, get shot. Pulp Fiction is perhaps the best work of Quentin Tarantino today. He gave us characters like Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), Vincent Vega (John Travolta), Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), and more. But the movie, according to Uma Thurman, who plays the wife of Marsellus, Mia, didn't think it would make it big like it actually did.

She was in a conversation with The Times U.K., where she said about the film that

"I knew it was special, you could tell from the writing, the uniqueness. But it was a relatively small film."

The film was a critical and commercial hit, garnering much praise, as its 92% Rotten Tomatoes score shows, and earning $213 million at the global box office. At the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, it won the Palme d'Or, the highest award for directors at the festival.

Uma Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction is a cultural icon today

Mia Wallace sits with a cigarette in her hand. (Image via A Band Apart)

Uma Thurman's role in the film wasn't just a breakthrough in her career, but her character became a cultural icon throughout the years. It's been over three decades since she appeared as Mia Wallace, but that bob cut and white shirt are still as iconic as they were back in the day.

Several actresses were considered for this role, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, and Holly Hunter. But Jay Moloney, Thurman's agent, thought this was a perfect role for her, and hence, the actress ended up landing it.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Thurman said about her role in Pulp Fiction that

"I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the movie."

Quentin Tarantino wasn't a big name among filmmakers at that point. Regarding that, she said,

"He wasn’t this revered demigod auteur that he has grown into. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, because I was worried about the Gimp stuff."

For those who don't know, the 'Get the Gimp' scene is considered the most notorious scene in Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction's cultural influence

Jules watches in fury. (Image via A Band Apart)

Over the years, this movie has only grown in popularity. In one of their stories, Total Film called it "an international phenomenon," which has influenced "music and advertising, television, and literature." Roger Ebert, one of the finest critics to have lived on earth, called the Tarantino movie the most influential film of the decade.

And it's not just cinema. Its influence reaches beyond that. In 1996, an American rap-rock band called Fun Lovin' Criminals debuted their album, Come Find Yourself. A song in it, Scooby Snacks, became a hit, especially because of references from the Quentin Tarantino film.

There's also one reference that many fans might have missed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). No, we aren't talking about Samuel L. Jackson's presence but a scene where he visits his own grave after he is presumed dead.

His gravestone reads,