Rinko Kikuchi at the L.A. premiere of "Babel"

Kikuchi had to spend a year researching in order to play a deaf and mute character in "Babel"

Kikuchi looking stunning at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where she was nominated for Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Rinko Kikuchi (center) in "Babel"

Kikuchi at the Academy Award Nominees Luncheon, celebrating her Best Supporting Actress nomination

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Q: What kind of research did you do to play a deaf character? Did you learn sign language or hang out with deaf people?

RK: It actually took a year to research. I did go to a deaf-mute school and I spent a lot of time with these teenage girls. I saw a movie with them and hung out in the park with them as well. I dropped by their houses and spent time with them. I developed a friendship with them.

One of the girls who I became friends with is in the movie. Her friend in the movie is actually a girl I met in the school. That's how I developed the character. Spending a lot of time with them made me realize their other four senses are very acute. Touching, seeing, the other senses are very important to them. That's basically how they communicate, so that was one of the greatest discoveries.

Q: This film is about communication or the lack thereof. What was it like communicating with Iñárritu and having him direct you, since English is a foreign language for both of you?

RK: It took a year to do auditions [for him]. What was happening was he would come meet me in Japan, and then he'd go off to Morocco and shoot some stuff. Then he'd come back to Japan and audition some more, and then go to Mexico and shoot a big part and then come back.

He was directing me for the whole year even though it was called an audition. So at the beginning of the shoot there was already a trust between me and Alejandro. On the set I spoke sign language to him and there was a translator to translate sign language to Japanese and a Japanese translator translating to English. He did this because the whole theme of the film is communication. It's a very important theme for him as well as for the film, so that was how communication took place.

Q: Communication was such an important theme in the film, do you feel that sign language is a more universal language than spoken language?

RK: I do think that sign language is a language on its own. In this case it was Japanese sign language, so I approached it in the same way you would approach French or any other language. They do it by touching you. That might be more important, but in a way that's just like a difference in grammar.

As far as what the film meant to me, it's basically about miscommunication. Miscommunication obviously has a negative connotation, but I think that within that miscommunication the film says you are given the opportunity to confront someone if there is a way for the communication. So the film is about miscommunication, but in a positive way in the sense that the people in the film are given a chance to confront each other and discover things about themselves.

Q: Being physically nude in a film is tough on its own, but in this film you have a nude scene where you're very emotionally naked. Was it difficult to get into that emotional state, and then was it difficult to leave that emotional state behind when you went home at the end of the day?

RK: Well actually that scene I specifically auditioned for many times. And before the audition process, we did that scene over 10 times already and it was a different cop every time, so just because of that it was a difficult experience. We ended up spending three whole days just to shoot that one scene, and of course it was almost impossible to make the quick emotional changes. But I understood the importance of the scene and I felt that it was a scene worth spending three full days on. I can't say that it was one of those scenes you dream about, but it kept popping up in my mind. It was a very important scene.

Q: Did your character's sexual confusion ring true to you either as something you've known or did you have a similar experience at that age?

RK: Well I can't exactly say what's me and what's the character, but one thing I can say for sure is the feeling of holding someone, keeping someone, longing for someone--[it] is a very universal thing. That's something I can identify with.

Q: When you saw the entire film assembled, how did you feel about it, especially the parts you didn't work on? What did the film meant to you, and what do you think is the meaning of it altogether?

RK: Well actually when I was first given the script I was only given the Japanese part of the script. Obviously, the director didn't want me to be distracted by the other parts of the film. So I had no idea what the other two sections were about, and the first time I saw it I wasn't able to appreciate it. But after three or four times, then I realized each of these three or four stories were interconnected within the film. So it was refreshing to look at the film from different directions.

Q: In Japan you've worked with some of the most cutting-edge directors, but now you've gotten this international exposure. Are you going to look for more big roles, or are you going to go back to the cutting edge directors? And are you hoping to do more international films?

RK: Well if there's a part I can invest myself in, like my character in this film... I wouldn't just do any role. And as an actress the most important thing is trust with the director and how I can develop that with different people. But obviously I'm Japanese so I'm going to keep working with Japanese films. But just as I learned sign language for this film I would learn English and try to take on more roles like that if there was an opportunity.

Q: What are you working on now?

RK: Right now I'm doing promotional work and learning English and Japanese comedy.

Q: Have you worked in any of the traditional Japanese theater forms?

RK: I'm very interested in Noh theater. That's not something you can actually learn, but I'm doing research and reading books.