Uma Thurman: The female collaborators we want to see on ‘Star Trek’

For a while there, it looked as if Quentin Tarantino’s magnum-opus lucky-number-ten film would be his take on Star Trek. Paramount and Bad Robot haven’t officially announced they’re going forward with the film, but a script for the film was commissioned by The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith.

It’s unknown whether the auteur’s Star Trek will follow the established Kelvin timeline from the rebooted film franchise or the traditional timeline for which CBS is slowly creating continuity errors thanks to the multitude of TV shows being released these days.

Tarantino hasn’t even looked at the first draft of the script yet, so nothing is known about the film besides Tarantino might direct, and at least some part of the story is coming from Smith.

Of course if Tarantino were to take on Star Trek, the cast would be key. We don’t know which timeline Tarantino Trek would cover, so who knows if any cast members from the original Star Trek or Kelvin Star Trek will return for the film. Heck, even Tarantino is sending mixed signals on what timeline he would follow. Knowing Tarantino, there’s a list of actors and actresses we could see make an appearance on the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Tarantino has his list of collaborators he’s worked with on multiple films. With Star Trek possibly being his last film, some of these collaborators are expected to come back in one way or another. Of course, the majority of the talent he’s collaborated with multiple times are some of the hottest actresses in Hollywood.

The women of Tarantino’s past films have a variety of films under their belts since their time under Tarantino, and it’s completely understandable if some of them (Must we forget the Uma Thurman car crash controversy?) choose not to work with him again. For the others, we’d love to see some of those badass women return and find a spot in Starfleet.

Uma Thurman

Okay, we know Thurman is not happy with Tarantino and is probably not going to make an appearance. She made it clear after releasing the horrible story of how she was injured from a stunt on the set of Kill Bill. But come on! After seeing Thurman kick so much ass in Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, we know exactly where she could fit in Star Trek.

Just imagine Captain Jenny Kirk, the “won’t take no for an answer” captain who sticks with her gut as her main decision-maker. You know the person you picture in that role is Uma Thurman. You also know Trekkies will get mad if Tarantino starts messing with the timeline even more, trying to gender-bend the legendary Enterprise captain, so this probably won’t work out.

Zoe Bell

Bell mostly works behind the scenes doing stunts for Tarantino, but has made three appearances as an actress in his films. She wasn’t very memorable in The Hateful Eight, but then again very little about that movie is memorable. She brought life to the lifeless monologues in Death Proof.

If we’re going to see Bell in Star Trek, it’s going to be in an action-oriented role. Tarantino doesn’t shy away from intense stunts, and action is key in bringing Star Trek to the big screen. Bell’s performance was on fire in Death Proof thanks to her stunt performances, and she’ll shine if she took over the role of Enterprise’s chief of security and got to kick some Klingon butt.

Dana Gourrier

Gourrier had smaller roles in The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained, so she’s the perfect option to become a leading lady. She got hardly any screen time in The Hateful Eight as the owner of the haberdashery where everything goes down, but the small bit of Gourrier we get to see is delightful.

What if Gourrier took on Bones? She could easily pull off the sarcastic doctor. Just imagine her dealing out that iconic “Dammit, Jim – I’m a doctor, not a blank” catchphrase. Bones has always been sassy calling out Kirk for his nonsense. Gourrier could easily pull off Bones.

Lucy Liu

It may be cheating to include Liu on this list, since she was technically in just Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2, but they’re technically two separate movies, so it still counts. O-Ren Ishii herself left an impression on audiences, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Tarantino tries to recruit her back for Star Trek.

The obvious idea would be to cast Liu as Commander Sulu, but we like to go with more bold picks. We vote Lucy Liu takes on the pointy ears of Spock. Liu’s best roles are when she’s the serious partner to the emotional, outlandish character, which is exactly the role of the lieutenant second-in-command to Kirk.

Julie Dreyfus

The French actress made appearances in both Kill Bill films and Inglourious Basterds, but really hasn’t done anything else since then in either American or French cinema. Coming back for Tarantino’s final film would be the perfect opportunity to rejoin the actor’s world.

This may be controversial, but we’d love to see Dreyfus join the show as a totally new character. There are good and bad versions: Alice Eve’s Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek: Into Darkness was seen as a joke and just added in to give Kirk someone to romance.

On the other hand, Sofia Boutella’s Jaylah in Star Trek: Beyond was well received. If Tarantino were to go the same route and create someone who actually fit in with the team and isn’t just there for romantic tension, Dreyfus could fit in great with the cast.