Uma Thurman makes a triumphant return to acting after a three-year break following the birth of her daughter. Thurman returns with force in the movie Nymphomanic, a Lars von Trier film that tells the story of a sexually compulsive woman and her numerous exploits. One review of the film calls it “thoughtful, provocative, ridiculous, comically deranged, occasionally beautiful, unforgettable and terrible.”

In the film, Uma plays a cheating victim who turns up to confront her husband and his nymphomaniac mistress. It’s a small but powerful scene, labeled as “hysterically grotesque” as Uma changes the film’s tone with her character’s “complex vitality from literally out of nowhere.” Uma received a call from director Von Trier only weeks after she’d given birth, but she wasn’t concerned about being cast in any of the more provocative scenes. “I [was] 30 pounds up after the baby, that wasn’t something that would be fun for anyone,” Uma tells LA Times.

Uma Thurman in nymphomaniac is #batshitcray

— Mike A C (@justpickone) March 30, 2014

Her last movie was the Gerard Butler drama Playing for Keeps in 2012 and before that, a quiet movie called Motherhood that didn’t receive much attention. Her small but critical role in Nymphomanic is hopefully a stepping stone back into Hollywood. Uma’s next considering a role in the movie American Ultra, where she would play a CIA agent opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. And what about the possibility of working with pal Tarantino again? “He’s sort of my oldest friend,” Uma says. “We talk to each other about work all the time, but not together.”

Nymphomaniac: Vol I was released March 21st; you can catch Vol II out April 4th.

Sunday morning lie-ins, #UmaThurman style. Find her on PORTER page 188. pic.twitter.com/xYEYSE1RbN

— PORTER magazine (@PORTERmagazine) March 30, 2014

Image via Wikimedia Commons