Rinko Kikuchi reveals how she clung to movies like a lifeline during her tumultuous teenage years, and now she views acting as her way of returning the favor -- while director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu says she was robbed of an Oscar

Twenty-six-year-old Rinko Kikuchi is the current toast of cinema, both in Japan and the world over. A virtual unknown a year ago, her appearance as Tokyo teen Chieko in the film "Babel" -- which opens throughout Japan on April 28 -- and a clutch of award nominations and prizes have turned her into a cinema icon. No one before her, it seems, managed to portray the poignant angst of a Japanese 17-year-old with quite her guts or insight. The role won her the best supporting actress award at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and a slew of nominations for best supporting actress or breakthrough performance at events including the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Kikuchi auditioned tirelessly for a whole year (mastering sign language skills along the way) before director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu finally agreed to give her the role, one that she has stated many times she felt had been "tailor-made" for her. What was it in her own life that made her identify so strongly with Chieko?