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How did it feel to have the role specifically written for you by Quentin Tarantino? Lonie Batchelor

It was like a dream come true. I always secretly hoped that I would get the opportunity to work with him, because I was a big fan, but the chances were very slim really, considering how few movies he's made and the amount of time he takes between projects. I felt like the luckiest person on the planet.

Did he tell you why he wrote it specifically for you?

He just called me up, said he was working on this project Kill Bill, and that there would be a part for me. He called me at the beginning as he was starting to write. I never asked why. He's got this amazingly fertile world up there in his head, and I guess it just fitted.

The only doubt I had was whether my part would make it to the actual movie. I knew he was sincere, but he writes really big scripts and he always has to hack some of it off at the end. So I didn't actually talk about it to anyone until I had the script in my hands, because I didn't want to jinx it. I didn't want to go round telling everybody, "Oh, I've got a part in a Tarantino movie", and then, too bad, the part's been cut.

Do you think Quentin always wanted to do Kill Bill in two parts? Jennifer Holmes

He's starting to say now that he thought about it way back when, but he never told us, and he never wanted to tell Harvey Weinstein either, because he didn't want to scare him off - he kind of waited for Harvey to come up with the idea. And it sounds, from what Quentin has been saying, that that was his plan.

You were already a big celebrity in Japan prior to appearing in Kill Bill: Volume 1. To what extent did your role in this movie change the way in which you are viewed by the Japanese public? Jubeen Moaven

Well, the movie's just come out in Japan, maybe three weeks after London, so I haven't been able to measure the true impact yet. When we went back for press, people were really amazed... a few people, including the president of the distributing company, said: "Why did you agree to a part like that, where you get all messed up? You're so pretty. Why?" I thought that was really funny, because from my point of view anything with Tarantino is worth doing. But the Japanese were a little shocked to see me covered in blood.

We never find out what body parts the Bride cuts off when she's interrogating you. Will we find out in Volume 2? CJ

You will find out in the Japanese cut. It's all there. The Japanese cut is slightly different from the western cut - it's a little more hardcore, a little more gory. There are little bits and pieces - literally. You don't need to wait for Volume 2, just get your hands on the Japanese cut. It'll come out here eventually, either at the cinema or on DVD.

How much longer is the Japanese version?

It's the same length, but it's just got a couple of different snippets, and the big House of Blue Leaves scene is different.

Are you going to be in Volume 2, and if so are you going to fight? Lani Jones

I can't say. Quentin is now editing Volume 2, so nobody knows what's going to happen.

I'm sorry to say that I laughed when your character gets her arm chopped off in the House of Blue Leaves. Was it hard dealing with so much stylised gore? James Boorer

Well I'm surprised that person laughed, because I have been consistently told that it was the one bit that people thought was less stylised and was slightly more truthful - that people felt sorry for Sofie and felt the pain was real, as opposed to the stylised way a lot of the other people die. Sofie is more... you can't say it's real, but Quentin wanted the acting to be truthful, so I'm surprised that he laughed. But there's a lot of humour in the movie. Dealing with stylised gore, I felt very comfortable just trusting Quentin and his vision. You don't ever feel like you're left to your own devices, you just trust the director and he takes you to where he wants to go and it's very comfortable. I was never puzzled or stressed.

Were you allowed to bring much to the character of Sofie, or were you bound by Quentin's vision? Rob Reed

As Quentin says, the characters don't come alive until they're spoken through the actors' mouths. It's his words, his world, but it doesn't happen until the actors actually take the words and make them theirs. In that respect, he very much entrusts his words to the actors, so there is a lot of flexibility there.

Could you ad-lib, for example?

Oh no, he doesn't like that. At all. He believes, with reason, that he's still the best writer of us all and that chances are, we're not going to come up with anything more interesting or better written than he has. He doesn't like improvisation at all.

What's your favourite Tarantino film? Marty Peralta

It's Kill Bill now, but before that... I have a particular fondness for Jackie Brown, which I think is an under-appreciated movie - apart from in France, the French love it. I think it's his most subtle movie, a grown-up kind of movie.

What's Quentin like to work with, and is he ALWAYS that hyper? TheZed

He's exactly like that. He's hyperactive, absolutely passionate, this great big dynamo, and it's wonderful, because he really pulls you along. He's so positive that you can't help but do as well as you can, even if you don't have the same amount of energy. Five minutes around him, you forget that you're tired and you just get into it. He loves what he does, so his energy trickles down to everybody on set and makes it the most amazing experience.

I read somewhere that you took some martial arts classes during Kill Bill. Is that true and if so, is it something you will persist with? Joseph de Condappa

We did three months of physical training with the master Yuen Wo Ping and his fight team, just after they'd come back from Australia, fresh off the last two Matrix movies. It was most enjoyable for me because I was only doing half days, because my part didn't warrant anything sophisticated. I would do mornings when there was group training, and in the afternoons the actors would split up and learn a specific choreography, which is when I would go.

And have you persisted with it?

No, I'm afraid I'm no martial arts expert.

The shoot was a lengthy process - how long were you there? Ellie Stallard

I was actually on from beginning to end - I'm the only cast member who went to all of the locations. I was there on the first day of shooting and I was there on the last day of shooting. In the first part of the shoot in China, Sofie doesn't die, so there was no 'wrapping' me and sending me home, which was great because I got to see it all. And then when we went back to LA, there was always something we hadn't finished shooting - like a close-up of my foot on the gas pedal, some driving shot, or something that we hadn't quite finished - and they'd say, "Oh, we'll do it next week," and then they would push it and push it. As a result, they never wrapped me, which was wonderful.

How would you describe yourself - a model who acts, or an actress who models... Maddie Bilson

I've never been a model, that's a misconception about me, and I don't know where it came from. I'm an actress who's done some ad campaigns in Japan, the way actresses here do Revlon or Lanc么me. Because I was well known in Japan for my work on television, I got to be a spokesperson for a few companies for a while, so I was never a model who started acting - it was the other way round. I wish I could be a model, and then I could have this fantastic body and parade around and get paid for it. Unfortunately it's not the case. When Quentin found me, I actually had a lot of experience.

What is your favourite track off the Kill Bill soundtrack? John Whitelaw

I think probably Bang Bang, the Nancy Sinatra version of the Cher song, because it's just so spot on.

Have you had a lot of offers for roles since the release of Kill Bill? What are you working on at the moment? Daniel-San Okaru

I'm going back and forth for meetings, I have meetings here in London, then I'm going back to Paris for a meeting at the end of the week. Then flying off to LA for meetings there, and then a little bit more press for Kill Bill. There are a couple of things in the works, but nothing that's been signed so I can't really talk about it.

Which actress did you aspire to while growing up? Rachel Smith

I really loved Diane Keaton, and I'm also a big fan of Shirley MacLaine. Diane Keaton mainly, though, because she's just a brilliant comedian.

Any movies stand out for you?

All the early Woody Allen movies. My mother was a big Woody Allen fan, so she would drag me along when I was little to see them in revival houses.

You had a small role in Mulholland Drive. Were you disappointed when your part was cut from the final film? James Clews

I had a small part in the pilot. It was going to be a recurrent part in the series, but was cut from the movie after David Lynch modified it to make it into a theatrical release. He totally changed the story and everything. I didn't have that much to do in the pilot to start with. The sad thing is that when we shot it, there was no doubt amongst anybody that the series would be picked up. We were all imagining ourselves working with him [David Lynch] for years on end. But it did great things for some of the actors.

Why haven't you been in other films? You seem like a decent actress, and quite a looker too... immy_baby

I have done several films but I've mostly done TV, and 99% of the work I've done has been in Japan. Don't go from what what the , because I've done a lot more work than is listed. It's just that none of it has crossed over.

Why did you choose to learn Japanese? Did you learn it in college or on your own? Heather C

I went to university there [in Tokyo]. Originally I was going to spend a year or two in Japan just to learn the language and then go home and do something with it. But while I was a student, I was supporting myself doing jobs here and there, and I got hired to be part of a TV show. It got me interested, and then I got other offers afterwards. One thing led to another and I started working there seriously.

Why Japan?

I was studying languages, and I wanted to learn an Asian language. Japan was the place that attracted me most because of its modern architecture and design.

Quentin Tarantino seems to use favourite actors and actresses in several movies. Is there any talk of you appearing in other Tarantino films?

Well, he says he wrote me a part in his World War II movie [Inglorious Bastards]. He was working on it before he started Kill Bill, and he did tell me he was going to write me something. But I never read anything, so I don't know. Again, that's an example of how he works. He says, "Oh, I have a part for you," and then he starts writing and he's like a novelist and just goes where the story takes him. Sometimes he just veers totally off and ends up with a totally different story, and some of the characters don't fit in that part of the story anymore. So I have no idea. I'm just hoping that I'll keep being part of his world, because it was so much fun being with him. I wish nothing more than to work with him again.