LOS ANGELES — Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino says persuading actress Uma Thurman to perform a car-driving scene on the set of Kill Bill — which ended with her in the hospital — is the "biggest regret" of his life.

Thurman, 47, in an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, said she had an enormous fight with Tarantino after the car crashed and accused him of trying to kill her.

She walked back her criticism of Tarantino somewhat in an Instagram post on Monday, saying she does not believe now that he acted with "malicious intent."

Tarantino delivered his account of the incident which occurred on set in Mexico in an interview published on Monday in Deadline Hollywood.

"None of us ever considered it a stunt," the 54-year-old director said.

"Maybe we should have, but we didn’t."

He said he drove the strip of road himself to ensure it would be "easy and safe enough for Uma to drive.

"I came in there all happy telling her she could totally do it, it was a straight line, you will have no problem," he said.

"I told her it would be safe. And it wasn’t. I was wrong," he said. "I didn’t force her into the car. She got into it because she trusted me."

Tarantino said it was decided at the last minute because of the light to have Thurman drive the car in the opposite direction.

’Spins her like a top’

"And I didn’t think I needed to run the road again to make sure there wasn’t any difference, going in the opposite direction," he said. "That was one of my most horrendous mistakes, that I didn’t take the time to run the road, one more time.

"It wasn’t the straight shot that it had been, going the other way," he said. "There is a little mini S-curve.

"She’s flying along, and she thinks it’s a straight road and as far as she can see, it is a straight road out her windshield.

"And then it takes this little S-curve, and she’s not prepared for it. And it threw the car out of control," he said.

"And it spins her like a top," Tarantino said. "It was heartbreaking. Beyond one of the biggest regrets of my career, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life."

In footage posted by the Times, the actress is seen speeding down an unpaved road before crashing into a tree. Thurman is jolted and left dazed for several moments until crew members carry her away.

"I felt this searing pain and thought, ’Oh my God, I’m never going to walk again,’" Thurman told the Times.

"Quentin and I had an enormous fight, and I accused him of trying to kill me," she said.

Producer Miramax told her at the time that she could see the footage of the crash if she gave up her right to sue, Thurman said. She declined.

In her Instagram post, Thurman lashed out at producers Lawrence Bender, E. Bennett Walsh, and Harvey Weinstein.

"THE COVER UP after the fact is UNFORGIVABLE," she said. "For this I hold Lawrence Bender, E. Bennett Walsh, and the notorious Harvey Weinstein solely responsible.

"They lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress," she said. — AFP