Uma Thurman has revealed she grew up hating the way she looked because she was once told she had an “ugly smile”.

The 44-year-old Pulp Fiction star has been hailed as one of the most beautiful actresses of her time, but she told Hello! magazine she did not always feel that confident about her own appearance.

Uma said: “I’m enjoying getting older because I feel I didn’t appreciate being pretty when I was younger.

Uma in 1994 (Adam Nadel/AP)
Uma Thurman in 1994 (Adam Nadel/AP)

“I felt terrible, in fact. When I was 10, someone told me I had an ugly smile, so I spent the whole of my younger years feeling embarrassed and never smiling with my mouth open. But what are you going to do?”

Uma recently drew attention on the red carpet when she attended a party wearing minimal eye make-up.

But the actress said she thinks women should embrace their age, as it would be “weird” if they tried to look much younger than they are.

Uma Thurman's bold new look (Andy Kropa/Invision)
Uma Thurman’s dramatic minimal make-up look (Andy Kropa/Invision)

Uma said: “We all lose our looks as we get older and I actually think there’s a beauty to older people that’s just different to the beauty of younger people.

“You look good as a beautiful mature woman but you do not look 12 and if you tried you would look really weird.”