In 2002 she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Hysterical Blindness. Talent scouts noticed her performance as Abigail in a production of The Crucible, and offered her the chance to act professionally. Thurman’s maternal grandmother was Swedish-born Birgit Holmquist, from Trelleborg, who in 1930 modelled for a nude statue that overlooks the harbor of Smygehuk, Sweden (Birgit’s father was Swedish and her mother was of German and Danish descent). She was praised by her co-star John Malkovich, who 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. She’s more than a little haunted.” in 1990, Thurman co-starred with Fred Ward in the sexually provocative drama Henry & June, the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. It was a critical and financial disappointment; Thurman was nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie. She became one of Tarantino’s favorite actresses to cast; he told Time magazine in 2003 that she was “up there with Garbo and Dietrich in goddess territory.” 1996 would see Thurman in two moderately successful films, the first of which was Beautiful Girls, where she played the female lead and love interest of Timothy Hutton and was supported with a high-profile cast (for that time) of Mira Sorvino, Martha Plimpton, and Natalie Portman.
