Juliette Lewis

She headlined the romantic drama That Night the same year, a coming-of-age story set in the 1960s.

Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and musician.

She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in projects with dark themes.

Juliette Lake Lewis was born June 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, to actor Geoffrey Lewis and his first wife, Glenis ( Duggan) Batley, a graphic designer.

She has seven siblings or half-siblings, and a step-sister.

Lewis' parents divorced when she was two years old, and she spent her childhood living between both their homes in the Los Angeles area.

She also lived for a brief period with actress Karen Black, who was a mentor to her.

Lewis dropped out of high school at age 15.

Following an uncredited role in Bronco Billy (1980), Lewis made her first major screen appearance in the television film Home Fires (1987).

Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times praised her performance in the latter, writing that she "lights up the screen".

She then starred as Kate Farrell on the ABC sitcom I Married Dora, which ran between 1987 and 1988.

At age 14, she was legally emancipated from her parents—with their approval—enabling her to work more freely.

She later recalled, "I know that sounds all radical, but when you start acting when you're younger, you talk to other actor kids and their moms, and they're like, 'Yeah, if you want to get a job, they like [your] resume to say emancipated minor versus minor, because you then can work [longer hours]'".

The daughter of actor Geoffrey Lewis, Lewis began her career in television at age 14 before making her film debut with a small part in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988).

Lewis had a minor part in the science fiction comedy My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)—playing Lexie, the best friend of main character Jessie—before landing her first major supporting role as Audrey Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), which is now regarded as a "classic" in its genre.

Regarding her involvement with the film and the opportunity to work with co-star Chevy Chase, Lewis later reflected, "even at [age] 15, I knew it was a big deal".

This was followed by a more prominent role in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989).

She followed this with appearances in the comedies Meet the Hollowheads and The Runnin' Kind, as well as a guest-starring role as Delores on the coming-of-age drama series The Wonder Years (all 1989).

Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, appearing in various independent and arthouse films.

Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and two Primetime Emmys.

In 1990, Lewis co-starred with Brad Pitt, whom she would go on to date for four years, in the Lifetime television film Too Young to Die?, a crime drama based loosely on the case of Attina Marie Cannaday.

Lewis played Amanda, a troubled teenager who falls into a world of prostitution and drugs.

In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Ray Loynd felt that the film worked due to its "compelling script [and Lewis'] authentic portrayal of the young and abused murderess whose first question to her public defender [is] whether he has any sugar-coated candies".

She came to prominence with her portrayal of Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Lewis garnered international attention when she beat out 500 other actresses to play Danielle Bowden, the daughter of a family targeted by psychopathic criminal Max Cady, in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of Cape Fear (1962).

Vincent Canby of The New York Times lauded her performance, calling her "a new young actress of stunning possibilities", while The Hollywood Reporter's Duane Byrge commented, "Perhaps providing the strongest real counterbalance to De Niro's crazy Cady is Juliette Lewis, whose [performance] shows the most sinewy fiber".

She went on to receive Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for the role.

Retrospectively, the sequence in which her character is seduced by Cady was named one of the most unforgettable scenes in film history by Entertainment Weekly and Complex.

On working with Scorsese, Lewis has since said, "I liken that period of time to being anointed, or getting my creative wings ... [the experience] changed me [and] gave me a confidence ... It wasn't [about] the outside accolades. It was [Scorsese] nurturing my ingredients as a performer".

Subsequent credits included Husbands and Wives (1992), Kalifornia, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (both 1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Strange Days (1995), and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).

In 1992, Lewis had a supporting role in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives, with Rita Kempley of The Washington Post describing her portrayal of Rain—a "Lolita"-esque college student— as "sumptuous".

Lewis appeared in several films in 1993, including Peter Medak's neo-noir thriller Romeo Is Bleeding, where she played the mistress of a corrupt cop.

She then reunited with Brad Pitt in Kalifornia, co-starring as the girlfriend of a serial killer.

Critic Roger Ebert deemed Lewis' portrayal of the childlike Adele one of "the most harrowing and convincing performances I've ever seen".

Lewis earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress for the television film Hysterical Blindness (2002).

She went on to co-star in mainstream features such as Enough (2002), Cold Creek Manor, Old School (both 2003), and Starsky & Hutch (2004).

Lewis embarked on a musical career in 2003, forming the rock band Juliette and the Licks.

Since 2009, she has been releasing material as a solo artist.

Her film credits during the 2010s included Conviction (2010), The Switch (2010), August: Osage County (2013), and Ma (2019).

Lewis has worked more frequently in television since the mid 2010s, appearing in prominent roles on series such as Wayward Pines (2015), Secrets and Lies (2015–2016), Queer as Folk, Welcome to Chippendales (both 2022), and Yellowjackets (2021–2023).