Bicultural superstar Anna Tsuchiya on her role in Mika Ninagawa's acclaimed debut film 'Sakuran'

Born in 1984 to a Japanese mother and a Russian-American father, a professional model since the age of 14 and now an actress and singer with a string of hit films and CDs, Anna Tsuchiya has one of the hottest careers in the Japanese entertainment business, though her punk/rebel image is not exactly in the mainstream. With the release of her new film, "Sakuran," she is about to get hotter, and not only in Japan. Screened out of competition at this year's Berlin Film Festival, the film -- the directorial debut of photographer Mika Ninagawa, daughter of famed theater director Yukio Ninagawa -- has garnered Tsuchiya a new burst of overseas attention, following her international breakout as the snarling biker in the hit comedy "Shimotsuna Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls)" in 2004. Tsuchiya is also braced to release a new album, ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA (BLACK STONES), next week. In a recent interview at Avex Entertainment, her handlers were present, but she was as casual and cheery as though we'd all somehow met up at a Roppongi pub after the stress of work, but before the first drinks arrived. She sounded a bit hoarse, possibly from a string of media interviews before our arrival, but her energy level was high enough and her laugh, a pleasing combination of the raucous and the merry, was genuine. What you see with Tsuchiya is pretty much what you get -- and we got an hour's worth, straight.

"Sakuran" is a new departure for you -- your first period drama.