• October 27, 2003
• Vol. 60
• No. 17

Kill Bill's Chiaki Kuriyama

AGE: 19
HOMETOWN: Tokyo

•Who's that scary schoolgirl? The Japanese actress plays Go Go Yubari, perhaps the freakiest of the ant colony of assassins in Kill Bill Vol. 1, Quentin Tarantino's martial-arts lollapalooza. In a blazer, kneesocks and plaid skirt, Go Go swings a ball and chain in battle against Uma Thurman. Not a drop of bad blood between the actresses, though. "Uma was with her child [Levon, now 21 months], so she was very gentle and mothering," Kuriyama says through a translator. "Everyone called me Go Go, but she called me Chiaki, my real name."

•That ball and chain isn't real metal, is it? After all, the 5'3" Kuriyama—who began acting at 13 and caught Tarantino's eye with parts in Japanese action movies—weighs just 88 lbs. There's a heavy 9-lb. model that she dangles menacingly, but she whirls a light, plastic version at Uma. "I want it [as a souvenir]! I've been asking for it for the longest time."

•Impressions of America? She barely got to sightsee during the three months she spent training for the role in L.A. (her big scene was shot in China, where production is cheaper). Tarantino did take her to Disneyland. She loved it but took a pass on Space Mountain: "I'm not good with heights." Just medieval weaponry.