One of Quentin Tarantino's finest works is the Kill Bill franchise. With a dynamite cast, Kill Bill Vol. 1 follows the story of The Bride, fresh out of a four-year coma after her former colleagues, The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, tried to murder her at her wedding, all under the orders of their leader Bill. A killer story about an assassin out for blood, Kill Bill is the ultimate revenge story, beginning with the Bride rising from a coma and beating all odds to kill those who failed to kill her.
Under the direction of Tarantino, Kill Bill Vol 1. came together perfectly thanks to a dedicated cast featuring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and even Dave Carradine. While fans have been wanting a sequel to polish off the franchise as a trilogy and while rumors are circulating about a potential sequel, there has been no official confirmation. With all this talk of a revival of the franchise, it leads us to wonder where the cast of the original is now, almost two decades later. Here’s where the cast of Kill Bill Vol. 1 is today.
8 Julie Dreyfus (Sofie Fatale)
Julie Dreyfus plays the small role of Sofie Fatale, the multilingual side-kick of O-Ren Ishii. Like her film counterpart, Julie Dreyfus is indeed multilingual, with a great deal of popularity in Japan. Starring in a number of TV roles as the twenty-something beautiful, this led Dreyfus to gain the status as a gaijin tarento (foreign talent). Dreyfus later appeared in another one of Tarantino's films, Inglorious Bastards, but her film career seemingly came to a halt in 2011, appearing in no film or television over the last decade.
7 Vivica A. Fox (Vernita Green)
After a run on Soul Train, Vivica A. Fox broke into film after her role in Independence Day, which ultimately led to her gaining the role of Vernita Green AKA Coppertop in Kill Bill Vol 1. Fox’s career continued to flourish after Kill Bill Vol 1, including starring in the Lifetime drama Missing, which earned her a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. Over the last decade, Fox’s career has dwindled down from Hollywood Blockbusters to TV movies, making the occasional appearance on a TV show as herself, including a guest appearance on the popular show Black-ish.
6 Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo Yubari)
Chiaki Kuriyama plays the role of O-Ren’s young crazy bodyguard Gogo, who takes on The Bride with a unique weapon. Some may only know her as Gogo, but she also starred in Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale prior to Kill Bill Vol. 1. During the 2010s, Kuriyama dabbled in the music industry, eventually releasing an album called Circus and received a moderate amount of popularity. While her Western roles are somewhat limited, Kuriyama’s career is far from over, with her most recent work being the Japanese action thriller series 24 Japan, based on the American series 24, and her role as Keiko Jinno in A Sower of Seeds 4. While it may seem that Kuriyama has disappeared into nothingness in the West, she remains active as ever in Japan.
5 Dave Carradine (Bill)
The most we get of Bill in the first film is the mention of his name and his voice at the beginning and the end of the film as he plays a much larger role in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Bill is voiced by Dave Carradine, known for his martial arts movies in the 70s, especially his role in the 1970s series Kung Fu, which earned him nominations for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His performance even earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Carradine appeared in over 100 films during his career, but his appearance in the Kill Bill franchise earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2009, while in Thailand for the production of Stretch, Carradine was found dead in his hotel room, the official cause of death was deemed accidental asphyxiation. Carradine left behind his wife and three children, two of which have joined the family business of acting.
4 Daryl Hannah (Elle Driver)
Daryl Hannah plays the brief but memorable role of Elle Driver, the one-eyed blonde who tries to give The Bride a peaceful death until Bill stops her — certainly a terrifying secondary villain. Hannah rose to fame after her appearance in the sci-fi cult classic Blade Runner and her appearance as the mermaid Madison in Splash. Hannah’s career has somewhat dwindled as she takes on smaller roles, especially known for her appearance in the Netflix original series Sense8 and The Now, which premiered on The Roku Channel. It would seem that Hannah has moved away from acting to focus more on her environmental activism, leading a march in Washington, alongside Neil Young, against the Obama Administration to reject the proposed Keystone Pipeline.
3 Sonny Chiba (Hattori Hanzo)
Sonny Chiba plays the role of the famed Hattori Hanzo, the crafter of katanas. Sonny Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his martial arts skills. His breakout role in the West was in 1974 as Takuma in The Street Fighter, but his Japanese filmography is nothing to be sneezed at either, spanning six decades and starring in over 125 films. His experience as a martial artist, holding black belts in five different forms of martial arts, gained him the role as Hattori Hanzo and paid a nice homage to the arts. Chiba’s career continued until the time of his death in 2021 when he sadly died due to complications of COVID-19.
2 Lucy Liu (O-Ren Ishii)
Lucy Liu rose to fame as Ling Woo the TV series, Ally McBeal and her role as Alex in the Charlie’s Angels films before making her mark as the cutthroat O-Ren Ishii, head of the Yakuza, which won her an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Liu’s career has thrived over the years, from voice-acting opportunities, like playing the role of Viper in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, to the her latest dark comedy drama TV series Why Women Kill. Liu’s latest works include the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods and her appearance in the TV special Death to 2021.
1 Uma Thurman (The Bride)
Uma Thurman’s role as the Bride brought her international acclaim for her performance and earned her two Golden Globe nominations. Thurman has starred in a number of films over the years, from comedies like The Producers to deep fantasy films like Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, there’s no genre off-limits for this well-established leading lady. Uma Thurman’s career has not over the years as Thurman still takes on great roles, even earning an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Now Thurman is expected to appear in Hollywood Stargirl, the sequel to Stargirl expected to be released sometime this year. On top of her own career, Thurman’s daughter Maya Hawke has chosen to join her mother and father (Ethan Hawke) in the field of acting.