Jonathan Stryker: Your last name is intimidating to Western audiences. How do you pronounce it?
Barbara Nedeljáková: I know, no one can pronounce my last name, not even in my country! I was thinking of making it shorter, to maybe just Nedel. It's pronounced NADEL-ja-KO-va.

JS: Where were you born? Tell me about your background and your early years.
BN: I was born in Banská Bystrica, which is in the middle of Slovakia. My father was Slovakian, and my mother was Czech-Italian, a professor of math and chemistry and always trying to convince me to follow her path. But I hated math! I always wanted to study acting or art. I finished jewelry design and moved to Prague when I was eighteen and studied acting over there.

JS: What are your earliest memories of going to the movies?
BN: My mother loved movies. She used to take me to see movies allowed from age eighteen when I was thirteen. I would put lipstick on to make myself look older! Sometimes it worked; sometimes they would send us home. I am still laughing, thinking about that!

JS: Was there a particular film that jumped out at you and made you feel that one day you would like to see yourself onscreen?
BN: I don't think it was any particular movie or wanting to be onscreen. I always liked telling the stories or making people laugh, which lead to theatre and then movies to become an actress.

JS: What were some of the first films that you remember seeing?
BN: I loved old Czech movies with Vladimír Mensík and Jirina Bohdalová like COZ TAKHLE DAT SI SPENAT and LASKY JEDNE PLAVOVLASKY (known in the United States as LOVES OF A BLONDE). I also love French comedy with Louis de Funès. I can watch them over and over again.

JS: Louis de Funès was in one of the earliest films I saw in a theater called THE MAD ADVENTURES OF RABBI JACOB. That was in 1974. Did you ever see that?
BN: No, but I saw a lot of his other comedies. The films of Jean-Paul Belmondo and American films are the ones I recall seeing. I remember pushing my mother to take me to see movies with ghosts because I really liked that genre.

JS: It is very difficult to see Louis de Funès's movies here in the United States, even on DVD. He is one of the best-known comedic actors in French cinema, but here he is virtually unknown.
BN: I know! I ask all of my friends about him, but nobody has heard of him. However, back in Europe, everybody seems to know his name.

JS: He died in 1983 at the age of 59, which is a real shame because he brought a lot to French comedy and probably could have continued for another 10 or 15 years. What American films did you see?
BN: When I was a teenager I saw the popular movies like TOP GUN, RAIN MAN, THE GODFATHER, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, PULP FICTION, and hundreds of others, as well as a lot of European movies, both Italian and French.

JS: What was the genesis of your acting ambitions?
BN: I liked acting for as long as I can remember. I acted on stage from age fourteen.

JS: You speak English very well. Was it difficult to learn?
BN: Thank you. I studied French first, but then I would work on commercials or films with people who spoke only English and I had to have someone to translate everything for me. I didn't like it. So, I took English classes for one year and then moved to Los Angeles. That sped up whole process of learning. I used to sit at home and read the books with a dictionary.

JS: What came first, modeling or acting?
BN: Both, actually, around the same time when I was fourteen years-old.

JS: Did you go to acting school?
BN: Yes, I went to acting school in Prague, then I trained with Nancy Bishop and continued studying in Los Angeles and London.

JS: The Internet Movie Database currently lists you in nine films. Have you appeared in any other films that are not on this list?
BN: Yes, I was in ÄNGLAR (BLACK ANGEL) with Sasa Rasilov, as well as JOURNALIST and a few other short films.

JS: How did you get the role in HOSTEL?
BN: I was living in Prague when casting director Sona Tichackova called me and invited me for an audition. Eli Roth was sitting there and I did a reading with his brother Gabe Roth. I was reading for a smaller part and came back for callback. Eli ask me to read for a bigger role, walked out, came back in a few minutes later and cast me as Natalya.

JS: What can you tell me about ISLE OF DOGS?
BN: I co-star opposite Edward Hogg, and the movie is about marriage betrayal. What I liked about the story is that it shows a woman's strength. There are a lot of scenes of fighting, but it also has some dark comedic elements.

JS: What can you tell me about PIMP?
BN: The film is about the sex scene in London's Soho district, and it explores various relationships between characters. My character's name is Petra.

JS: You've completed two new horror films, ASHES and THE HIKE. ASHES is described by the IMDB as being about "an obsessive doctor working on a cure for AIDS (who) unwittingly creates an aggressive new bacteria that deteriorates the body and enrages the mind." Who do you play in this film?
BN: My character is Maya Ehrlich, and she is married to Peter who is the best friend of a doctor, Andrew Stanton, who is played by Bryan Krause. I have a close relationship with Andrew's wife and I try to help her sort out issues in their relationship.

JS: What can you tell me about THE HIKE?
BN: The story is about a group of old girlfriends who get together to reconnect after their lives went separate ways. But then, if you go to the woods today, be sure of a big surprise!

JS: You're currently working on another CHILDREN OF THE CORN film, which is subtitled THE DWELLER. Who is directing this and who do you play?
BN: Joel Soisson directed the movie. I play Helen, a character who is mysterious and sexual in a desperate and emotional way.

JS: Who are some of your favorite directors?
BN: There is so many of them, but to name just a few: Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Alfred Hitchcock, Milos Forman, Guy Ritchie, and many others!