Lucy Liu has been recalling her iconic look in Kill Bill. The actress, who played O-Ren Ishii, shared recently how another Quentin Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction, heavily inspired her Kill Bill costume.
Lucy Liu was responsible for O-Ren Ishii’s final look in Kill Bill
In her interview with Vogue, Lucy Liu revealed how her Kill Bill look was a tribute to Pulp Fiction’s styling. She stated, “Kumiko Ogawa, she was the one who designed this kimono.” The 57-year-old star added, “And this kimono almost wasn’t a kimono.” She continued that this is because Tarantino originally “wanted me to wear something very different,” and “this kind of communist gray.”
“When I read the script, which was so beautifully written — and Quentin is really such an artist and a visionary,” she shared. The Charlie’s Angels star said she “saw something very different.” Liu added, “I just saw there was an elegance about her and a femininity that I wanted to retain.” She recalled saying, “Why don’t we take what you are known for, like your Pulp Fiction?” “The black ties and the white shirts and the black suits, like the simplicity of what he did.”
“Like, why don’t we take that and make that into something?” she exclaimed. Liu was inspired by the look of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in the 1994 flick. The award-winning actor explained, “For the first scene that you see O-Ren in, she’s in a black kimono with a white underneath the black kimono.” She added the styling “was representing, basically, Pulp Fiction.”
Liu also gave ideas for the snow garden scene.” She said, “Why don’t we reverse it and make it white on the outside and black on the inside?” Liu added, “He was willing to say yes, and it changed the direction of how O-Ren was able to be perceived.” Talking about her role, Liu’s O-Ren Ishii was a former Deadly Viper who eventually led the yakuza in Tokyo. For her performance in Volume 1, she won the Best Villain award at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.
Originally reported by Ritika Singh for ComingSoon.
