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Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Uma Thurman's back in action in ‘The Old Guard 2′ on Netflix
But even by western Mass standards, her family was different. In addition to being a professor at Amherst College, Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I think what gave us the extra bit of weird was the Buddhist factor,' Thurman says. Advertisement It all worked out, of course. After an occasionally awkward girlhood that included an itinerant education in the Pioneer Valley — she attended the Campus School at Smith College, Wildwood Elementary School in Amherst, Amherst Regional Junior High School, and Northfield Mount Hermon, the boarding school in Gill — Thurman moved to New York and quickly established herself as a talented actress of considerable range. Now, at 55, she has appeared in dozens of films, playing everything from ingénue (1988's 'Dangerous Liaisons') to comic book villain (1997's 'Batman & Robin') to mob wife with a black bob (1994's 'Pulp Fiction') to swashbuckling assassin in a tracksuit (2003's 'Kill Bill: Volume 1'). Along the way, she's been nominated for an Academy Award ('Pulp Fiction'); Advertisement Thurman says her upbringing proved to be important in a few ways. She discovered her love of movies while sneaking into 'There I was amongst this troupe of great British actors at [the Italian film studio] And it was at Northfield Mount Hermon, playing Abigail in a production of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible,' that Thurman was first noticed. An agent from New York saw the show and spoke afterward to its tall, 10th-grade leading lady. 'He said, 'If you come to New York, I'll help you get real acting lessons and send you on auditions,'' Thurman recalls. Initially, though, the roles being offered to an attractive blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress were the opposite of interesting. 'I understood I was going to have very limited options if I didn't really learn how to be a character actress, so I pursued that with ferocity,' Thurman says. 'If you have a humanity inside of you that sees how objectified and looked down upon women are, you don't want to be something that you just don't relate to.' Advertisement Uma Thurman (at right) with Charlize Theron in Netflix's "The Old Guard 2" Eli Joshua Ade/Netflix While she has played plenty of strong, self-possessed female characters in her career, Thurman has not made many action movies — aside from director Quentin Tarantino's two 'Kill Bill' films, in which she wields a lethal sword as The Bride. But in 'Old Guard 2' — a sequel to 2020's ' ''Kill Bill' turned out to be this iconic, trailblazing, singular, cinematic moment, and I've noticed in all cases, when you do something really well, you kind of get asked to burn yourself out in that genre,' she says. 'But you look at someone like Charlize and the way she creates her own work. I wish I had had more of that kind of can see that it can be done and it's people like that who are trailblazers.' Asked if she's been satisfied with the roles she is offered now that she's older, Thurman sighs. 'I heard Jodie Foster say this: 'When you're in your 20s, they say it's going to be over when you're in your 30s. And when you're in your 30s, they say it's going to be over when you're in your 40s.' And so on,' Thurman says. 'You're given multiple death sentences as an actress, as a woman, because of the industry and its focus on youth. Advertisement 'But I think finding good roles is as hard today as it ever was.' Mark Shanahan can be reached at
Boston Globe
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
What's happening at CATS Academy and Newman School, where they're suddenly turning out elite basketball prospects?
The court was flush with future Division 1 talent Saturday as the host Griffins (18-3), ranked No. 9 in the 'I just think there was a need for schools in New England that are willing to offer a year-round, high-level training, basketball-specific space,' said Newman coach Jackson Johnson . 'A lot of the prep schools, it's a little more holistic. Our kids are really trying to chase something specific at a high level.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Each school's transformation started from the top down. After coaching the Boston-based Expressions Elite AAU team on the Nike EYBL circuit, Cary Herer took the reins at CATS in 2021, seeking to turn the program into a prep power. Advertisement Former longtime Northfield Mount Hermon coach John Carroll had a similar vision for Newman, a small school in Back Bay, when he arrived as an advisor in 2022 and hired Johnson, his former assistant at NMH. Before he was tapped to build the program, Carroll hadn't heard of Newman. But he liked the idea of a prep school in downtown Boston. 'Boston is a hotbed for basketball,' Carroll said. 'And I thought the combination of that with the social piece, where kids are walking around and they're seeing themselves all day long because Boston is such a college town.' Newman School's 6-foot-11-inch junior Collins Onyejiaka (left) tries to stay in front of 7-1 CATS Academy center Leo Curtis, who is committed to Arizona State. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff When Carroll and Johnson arrived, Newman had a NEPSAC Class D team that was in the Mass Bay Independent League. None of the players from that group made the Cardinals' new top squad, which is in Class AAA and practices and plays at the New Balance headquarters in Brighton. Instead, Carroll and Johnson recruited 17 new players, a mix of local kids and prospects from around the country. Among them were 6-foot-6-inch forward Ryan Mela , a former Natick standout who is Luka Toews , who transferred from Northfield Mount Hermon and Advertisement Those initial recruits trusted the track record of Carroll, who sent more players to the Ivy League than any other coach in the country at NMH. Once high-profile prospects like Mela and Toews made the leap, others followed. 'I had been playing with [Mela] growing up,' said Timmy Bollin , a 6-foot-6-inch wing from Raynham, who played one year at Bridgewater-Raynham and two at St. Sebastian's before arriving at Newman. 'I watched a couple of games and thought it'd be a great fit.' Newman School coach Jackson Johnson said the program's focus is on turning out college-ready basketball players. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Like Newman, CATS, One recruit was Harrell, a Providence College-bound senior from Boston who considered brand-name preps like Brewster Academy (N.H.) and Montverde Academy (Fla.) but was intrigued by what CATS could offer. 'The fact of them being so new . . . you can kind of build your own program, in a way,' said Harrell, who is averaging 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 10.3 assists. 'That's what they would tell me, and I trusted that.' Herer's focus on individual improvement attracted 6-7 Jaylin Williams-Crawford , a defensive stopper who transferred to CATS after leading Leo Curtis , a 7-1 center from Iceland who is committed to Arizona State, among others. Related : Advertisement Williams-Crawford primarily played center as the tallest player at Charlestown. CATS has allowed him to play on the wing. Curtis, on the other hand, sought the chance to play other big men his size. 'The pitch has always been development,' said Herer, who led the Atlantic-10 in assists as a senior at UMass for second-year coach John Calipari in 1989-90. 'We do not guarantee playing time. We do not guarantee college scholarships. But what we do guarantee is you're going to get better.' Such is the aim at both CATS and Newman — to foster development and prepare players for the next level, above all else. 'Obviously, our goal is to always win every game, and we're going to fight all the time to win games,' Herer said. 'But ultimately, the goal is to help these kids attain their goals.' Coach Carey Herer brought his AAU connects to CATS Academy in Braintree, which is now ranked in the 10 in the country by the National Prep Coaches Poll. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Courtside chatter ⋅ Seeding for the Boston City League Tournament is coming down to the wire in a new format that uses the MIAA power rankings. The winners of the three BCL divisions receive the top three seeds, with the top overall seed (likely Holland/Burke) earning a first-round bye to the semifinals at Madison Park. The other six teams will play quarterfinals matchups Feb. 14 at the lower seed. TechBoston (8-5, 7-2) holds the tiebreaker over Charlestown (10-4, 7-2) and is likely to win the BCL North, with Muniz Academy (11-3, 6-2) on track to win the BCL East. The remaining four seeds are selected via their position in the MIAA power rankings, with Charlestown and Latin Academy slated to tangle Thursday afternoon in Dorchester in a matchup with huge implications. East Boston and English currently hold the final two at-large bids. The semifinals are scheduled for Feb. 19 at Madison Park with the final to follow on Feb. 20. Advertisement ⋅ Lowell senior captain Tzar Powell-Aparicio topped 1,000 career points while posting 27 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and f5 steals in Friday's 80-53 win over Andover . . . Central Catholic junior captain Javi Lopez broke 1,000 career points with 25 in a 78-57 win over Chelmsford on Tuesday . . . St. John's (Shrewsbury) senior Nick Barnes reached 1,000 career points with a pair of free throws in the third quarter, finishing with 29 points in Tuesday's 63-50 win over visiting St. John's Prep. Rockport senior Josiah Whitley became the 10th player in school history to score 1,000 points with a 3-pointer on Monday. ⋅ Oliver Ames scored the program's first win (53-48) over Mansfield since 2008 on Friday, and has won six straight . . . Tewksbury has won five straight, with two of the Redmen's last three on MOnday wins featuring a total of four overtime periods, as they followed a 92-90 triple-overtime win over North Andover with a 69-64 ocomeback win in OT at Lawrence on Tuesday . . . Norwell (16-0) continued its undefeated start with Games to watch Friday, No. 2 Newton North at No. 8 Brookline, 6 p.m. — Typically these rivals start before 5 p.m. to avoid any issues in the stands. With both teams ranked high in the Advertisement Friday, No. 1 Franklin at No. 5 Attleboro, 6:30 p.m. — Now the top two teams in the Friday, No. 6 St. Mary's at No. 14 Bishop Feehan, 6:30 p.m. — St. Mary's (17-0) is one of the few undefeated teams left in the state and they've gone 9-0 against Catholic Central League competition, but have yet to face the sizable Shamrocks. Sunday, BC High at No. 13 Mansfield, 1 p.m. — Catch a great high school game early on Super Bowl Sunday when Mike Vaughan's Hornets host Bill Loughnane's BC High program, a battle pitting coaches with six state titles and 1,000 wins between them. Monday, Newburyport at Lynnfield, 6:30 p.m. — Newburyport has started 15-1, including a perfect 13-0 in Cape Ann League play. The Clippers look to stay undefeated in league during a tough road test at the Pioneers, a team they beat, 65-54, at home Jan. 13. Tuesday, No. 12 Catholic Memorial at No. 11 Bridgewater-Raynham, 6:30 p.m. — The Knights have been up-and-down this season with a pair of underclassmen starring in the backcourt. The host Trojans are a veteran-laden team looking for another signature win. Correspondent Nate Weitzer contributed to this story.
