Zendaya Says She’s ‘Quite Honored’ to Be Vivica A. Fox’s Choice to Star in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 3’

Zack Sharf
·3 min read

Vivica A. Fox reignited demand for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Vol. 3” in July after sharing with NME that she’d love to see Zendaya take on the role of Vernita Green’s daughter, should original actress Ambrosia Kelley not return for the up-in-the-air sequel. Fox’s fan casting idea went viral on social media and eventually made its way to Zendaya herself, who told Empire magazine this week that she was quite appreciative of the shout out.

“I saw that [and] I was quite honored that she would say that,” Zendaya said. “Obviously she’s incredible and I’m very flattered that she would think of me. You know, it’s just an idea. The internet kinda takes things and run with it.”

Fox said she had not gotten any word from Tarantino about “Kill Bill Vol. 3” officially moving forward, but she appeared enthusiastic about the idea of Zendaya playing her character’s daughter as an adult. Tarantino has long discussed a third “Kill Bill” movie centered around Vernita’s daughter seeking revenge against The Bride (Uma Thurman).

In the opening scene of “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” The Bride shows up at Vernita Green’s house and the two have a brutal fight that gets interrupted when Vernita’s young daughter arrives back home from school. The Bride later kills Vernita in the kitchen with a knife without realizing the daughter is watching from the hallway. The Bride says, “It’s not my intention to do this in front of you. For that, I’m sorry. You can take my word for it, your mother had it coming. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I’ll be waiting.”

“How hot would that be?,” Fox told NME about casting Zendaya as Vernita’s daughter. “And that would probably green light this project. Because her and Uma are both very tall, and it would just be kick-butt, and I love her. Hopefully now we can put that out, like ‘Tarantino, cast Zendaya!’ And spark his interest to put it on the fast track. Wouldn’t it be amazing?”

Tarantino confirmed in July 2019 that he was still in talks with Uma Thurman about the project, adding, “If any of my movies were going to spring from my other movies, it would be a third ‘Kill Bill.’” The director doubled down on “Kill Bill Vol. 3” in a radio interview last December with Andy Cohen.

“I just had dinner with Uma Thurman last night,” Tarantino said at the time. “I do have an idea of what I would do with [‘Kill Bill Vol. 3’]. That was the whole thing, conquering the concept. What has happened to The Bride since then? And what do I want to do? I didn’t just want to come up with some cockamamie adventure. [The character] doesn’t deserve that. The Bride has fought long and hard. I have an idea now that could be interesting. I still wouldn’t do it for a little bit. It would be at least three years from now. It is definitely in the cards.”

Tarantino is still planning to retire from filmmaking after his tenth feature film, which means there’s only one more chance for “Kill Bill. Vol 3” to happen. Up next for Zendaya are the Emmys, where’s nominated in the Best Actress in a Drama Series category thanks to her work in HBO’s “Euphoria,” and the release of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” in theaters December 18.

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