1.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011)
Role:
Sofie Fatale
Starring:
Directed By:
While studying at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Japan, Julie Dreyfus was invited to work as a French language instructor on NHK's educational morning television program in 1988. She was soon hired by chief producer Motoyoshi Sei to appear in several episodes of the program to increase ratings and was subsequently offered more small roles as a gaijin tarento (foreign talent) in various other television series and films. She showcased her talent during her initial appearances on quiz shows and talk shows such as ‘Sekai Fushigi Hakken’ (‘Discovery of the World's Mysteries’), ‘Kimama ni ii yoru’ (‘Ryu's bar’), and ‘Sense and Nonsense’, which helped her gain recognition locally and earn roles in TV movies like ‘Don't Steal My Heart’, ‘Towards You’ and ‘Interactive Suspense’. She also appeared in ad projects for many Japanese companies, including Sakura Bank.
Julie Dreyfus made her big screen debut in the 1992 Japanese film ‘Tōki Rakujitsu’ (‘Faraway Sunset’). Two years later, she was cast in the famous biographical drama ‘Rampo’ and made her English language debut in the British comedy film ‘A Feast at Midnight’. In 1995, she appeared on the popular Japanese television cooking show ‘Ryôri no tetsujin’ (‘Iron Chef’) as a taster and panelist, during which she once refused to eat a dish prepared by Toshiro Kandagawa because it contained whale meat. She gained international recognition for the first time following her appearance as recurring character India Reyes in the Canadian superhero television series ‘The Crow: Stairway to Heaven’ in 1998. The same year, she played the lead female character Isabel in the Japanese drama film ‘Legal Aliens’. She next went on to appear in several English language short films in America, such as the comedy film ‘The Godson’ (1999) and the historical drama ‘Bathory’ (2000). In 2002, she also acted in the French made-for-television historical biography ‘Jean Moulin’.
During the late 1990s, Julie Dreyfus met famous American director Quentin Tarantino at a film festival in Japan and he immediately recognized her face from various billboards around Tokyo. He soon offered her the role of Sofie Fatale in his next film ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’ (2003), for which she also served as a casting associate. It was a memorable experience for her as the director wrote the role specifically for her and she took martial arts training for months in preparation for the role. She went on to reprise the role in the second part of the film, ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2’, the next year, but despite the popularity of her character in the successful ‘Kill Bill’ movies, she did not work in many projects in the following years. In 2008, she appeared as a translator in the short film ‘Merde’, by French director Leos Carax, which was one of three parts of the anthology film ‘Tokyo!’ The same year, she also featured in the British-French-Belgian-Australian drama horror film ‘Vinyan’.
In 2009, she again collaborated with Tarantino in the alt history war film ‘Inglourious Basterds’, in which she portrayed Francesca Mondino, a fictional French interpreter and mistress for Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Since then, she has appeared mostly on television, like playing the lead character in the 2010 Japanese drama series ‘Kyûkei no Kôya’, as well as acting in small roles in the French mystery thriller ‘Interpol’ (2011) and the Japanese miniseries ‘Bitter Sweet Home Kyoto’ (2013). She has also appeared in the original cut of ‘Kill Bill’, titled ‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’, released in 2011, and is scheduled to reprise her role in the much-awaited third installment of the series, ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 3’.
