Lotta is such a fun character, always cheerful, playing jokes on people like in 'Nobody's Fool', but also loyal and brave, saving Luke's life in 'Grand Delusions'. What did you like about Lotta's character? Does she have some similarities to your own personality?
I always loved Lotta's independent spirit, resourcefulness under the most astonishing conditions, and her romantic longings for the ineffable Luke. There is much about me that resembles Lotta – I'll do or try most anything. Even bungee jumping off a cliff in New Zealand this year! It may stem from my Texas roots – but even as a little girl my general feistiness and foolhardiness cost me several broken bones, a concussion, tumbles and minor injuries. Also like Lotta, I long for things I may never have, share some of her occasional lonesomeness, but I never give up, and I find joy in life every day!

Did you know Terence Hill's movies and/or the Lucky Luke cartoon character before you worked on the movie?
I was familiar with the Lucky Luke cartoon character – that little shock of black hair, with the cigarette hanging down from his mouth. But it was my cousins, raised in Perugia, who filled me in on Terence's legendary comic films with Bud Spencer. Of course, I then rented every film I could, starting with 'My Name is Nobody', and I, too, became an admirer of Terence's work. One of the amazing coincidences for me relative to the cartoon comic books – the author, Morris, came to the set one day, and he shared with me that as a little boy in Belgium he had gone to Tex Ritter movies every weekend, and he partly based his Western cowboy hero on Tex! Since Tex Ritter was my kids' grandfather, that made the Lucky Luke adventure that much more meaningful for me!

Where was the Lucky Luke 'Daisy Town' location?
Daisy Town was built about 15 miles north of Santa Fe up in the rolling hills. It was a beautiful location – big skies, gorgeous rainbows when those frequent thunder storms rolled through. We drove about 30 minutes to get to the set… the last few miles on unpaved roads. Once we arrived, it almost felt like the Old West – no phones, telephone lines, or cell phones (nobody even had them then). Then there were the cowboys, stunt guys, actors, international crew – it was just a ball. I looked forward to working every day!

We just have to ask... Did you notice that Terence eats lots of apples?
I did notice that! He seemed to have a lot of healthy habits, and I think it shows!

How long were you working on the movie and TV series?
We worked the first season for about five months in 1990, if I remember correctly. We came back for another season, about four months that time, in 1991. My family joined me for the summer, and my kids ran around on the set, dressed up in the period costumes for a few shots, and generally had the happiest summer of their childhoods!

There were some dangerous scenes in Lucky Luke, like you swinging on a chandelier, did you do this yourself or did you have a stunt-double?
I'm proud to say I went all out to do whatever the scene called for. It was one of the delights for me to ride a horse on the job! I galloped out of town more than a few times, did my own swinging on that chandelier, and learned to ride a horse along a camera track and hit a mark, all while talking to Luke! My favorite ride, hands down, though, was galloping into Daisy Town on the back of Luke's horse – it was a long ride and I was holding on to Terence for dear life, but that was the fastest, smoothest, most exciting ride of my life.

'Grand Theft Auto', in which you played Paula Powers, must have been a lot of fun to film? The movie has just been re-released on DVD in the US. I wonder if the computer game of the same name was based on this movie?
First of all, it had nothing whatsoever to do with that violent, horrifying video game! (which my sons played, of course!) But, yes, 'Grand Theft Auto' was a lot of fun to film. This was Ron Howard's first directing job and like Lucky Luke, it was a family affair. Ron directed, with his father as consultant, his wife Cheryl catered for us, and his brother, mother and father all had parts in the film. The great B-movie producer Roger Corman memorably told Ron, "If you do a good job for me, you'll never have to work for me again!" The success of this movie financially helped open the doors to the great work Ron has done ever since. By the way, you may not have known that I, like Cheryl Howard, catered the mid-afternoon snack for the crew the second season of Lucky Luke! Just because I liked everyone so much! I'd end the day shooting, then head to the market to pick up food for the next day-that was my routine.

Which episodes of 'Lucky Luke' are your favorite ones?
I liked 'Midsummer', the episode in which Lotta feels jealous because Luke falls in love with someone else. The scene in which Lotta is sleeping and Luke tells her all about his feelings for her was nice. In 'Caffé Olé', Lotta was wearing a duster and colt and acted like a cowboy, which was fun! 'Nobody's Fool' was great too, because Lotta was playing jokes on everyone and generally being a big trickster!