She's died on screen almost as many times as she's killed. Western movie fans will know her as Gogo Yubari, the spiked-ball-and-chain-wielding schoolgirl who disembowels men for fun before crying tears of blood in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." In Japan, she's been an actress since the age of 14 and a model since she was 5. Now, she's setting her sights on the pop charts.

Ladies and gentlemen, take cover: We give you Chiaki Kuriyama.

"I've always played really tough women in action-packed settings, so I think people will be surprised to hear me sing," Kuriyama tells The Japan Times as we chat on facing leather sofas in a spacious meeting room at the Tokyo office of Sony imprint DefStar Records. Wearing a black-and-white striped jumper, pink nail polish and hardly any makeup, she looks softer than she is usually presented on screen — but commands your full attention. She adds, "I think my singing voice will catch people off guard."