Maya Hawke shares hilarious advice about working with Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino may never fully escape the long-running chatter about his alleged foot fetish.

The topic resurfaced during a recent episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, when Stranger Things star Maya Hawke was asked whether her mother, Uma Thurman, had offered any advice about working with the acclaimed director.

Thurman famously starred in some of Tarantino’s most iconic films — Pulp Fiction (1994), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) — before her daughter appeared in his 2019 hit Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Hawke didn’t hesitate with her witty reply: “Keep your shoes on,” she said, prompting laughter from both herself and Poehler. The Saturday Night Live alum quickly added, “Keep them on, baby. Keep those shoes on. Perfect advice. Perfect.”

Over the years, Tarantino has been frequently teased for his tendency to include close-up shots of women’s bare feet in his films — notably those of Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, and Dakota Fanning.

Even Brad Pitt joined the fun during his 2020 SAG Awards acceptance speech, joking, “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.”

Despite the ongoing jokes, Tarantino has brushed off the speculation. In a 2021 GQ interview, he said, “I don’t take it seriously,” while defending his creative choices.

“There’s a lot of feet in a lot of good directors’ movies. That’s just good direction,” he explained, citing Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, and Sofia Coppola as others who’ve faced similar claims.