Ah, Motherly Advice

Alternative headline: The Quentin Tarantino Foot Fetish Rumors Live On

By Claire Guinan | November 6, 2025 | 4:50pm

Photo: Getty Images Celebrities Entertainment

When Maya Hawke (aka a nepo baby that we like) talks about growing up in Hollywood as the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, you tune in.

This time, on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, Maya was asked if her mom had any advice about working with director Quentin Tarantino. “Keep your shoes on,” she said. Gotta love that wholesome motherly advice!

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These words of wisdom stem from the long-standing rumour that Tarantino is obsessed with putting women’s bare feet on 35mm. Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, you name it, there are feet.

Hawke, who made her film debut in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019, reflected on her audition in Jay Glennie’s new book, The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

“I knew that Quentin was going to be there, and I have known him my whole life. But, of course, in the room that day, he was very different, you know? He wasn’t, like, kooky Uncle Quentin—he was in serious mode.”

You love to see an OG Hollywood foot fetish rumor standing strong. But still, the joke hits a little weird considering she literally grew up calling him Uncle Quentin. To think she’s now the age where “Uncle Quentin” could start obsessing over her feet…Gross.

At this point, Tarantino’s foot fetish has gone from rumor to recurring bit. When Brad Pitt accepted his SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2020, he even joked in his speech, “I want to thank my co-stars, [Leonardo DiCaprio], Margot Robbie, Margot Robbie’s feet, Margaret Qualley’s feet, Dakota Fanning’s feet. Seriously, Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA.”

It seems like everyone is in on the joke except Tarantino, and he probably never will be. But still, I’m just glad to see a classic Hollywood rumor is alive and well.

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