Priyanka Chopra Jonas sought inspiration from Uma Thurman’s iconic performance in Kill Bill as she prepared for her role in the recently-released actioner The Bluff, the Indian actress said on a recent chat show.
Appearing on Thursday’s episode of The Tonight Show, Priyanka explained that she took inspiration from Thurman’s portrayal of The Bride while working on the emotional core of her performance.
“I was really trying to think about iconic female action heroes in the past. And I kept thinking about The Bride from Kill Bill. The reason why she goes on this vengeance is you're trying to take away the life that she dreamt of building,” Priyanka told host Jimmy Fallon.
“So this movie [The Bluff] has a similar energy. How far would a parent go to protect that child? And what are you really capable of if you have to protect your kid? So, I used to listen to the Kill Bill soundtrack.”
Priyanka said the inspiration extended beyond performance preparation and into the atmosphere on set. “My hair, makeup team, me, my wardrobe, my dresser, all five of us would walk on like, yeah, to Kill Bill music and just be really hype. And our director, Frank Flowers. He was my biggest hype guy. He used to have a microphone on set and be like, brim, ah! And just doing the thing, vibes. It paid off, bud. It's great”.
She added that the film revolves around a woman confronting her violent past to protect her family, echoing the emotional stakes she admired in Kill Bill. “Mary Read, yes, we've seen a few things around her. Grace O'Malley, Ching Shih. But we've never heard about female pirates. And I think between the Russos and Frankie and Joe, they really wanted to put a female at the helm of this movie. So it's about a woman trying to protect her family from the bad guys of her past. And she's really good at killing.”
Produced by the Russo brothers, The Bluff is set in the 19th century in the Cayman Islands during a period when pirates were being hunted by the same forces they had once helped empower.
Priyanka also talked about her much-anticipated return to Indian cinema after nearly seven years with Varanasi, directed by S.S. Rajamouli.
“Rajamouli is one of India's most amazingly talented directors, and it’s gonna be an adventure. I’m very excited. It’s shot on IMAX format. So it's going to be for IMAX theatres. It's gonna be great and all over the world,” she said.
Also starring Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran, Varanasi is set to hit theatres on April 27, 2027.