Juliette Lewis…I have to tell you, this is one very cool girl! She has an aura that is radiant and captivating. She is very beautiful, skinny (I could claw he eyes out, LOL), and just all smiles. She certainly has much to smile about and much to be proud of.
Juliette L. Lewis an Academy Award-nominated American actress and musician, was born on June 21, 1973 in Los Angeles , California . Her father is actor Geoffrey Lewis and her mother, is Glenis Batley, a graphic designer. When Juliette was just two years old her parents divorced. She has two brothers, Lightfield and Peter, and two sisters, Dierdre and Brandy. Her uncle is the late composer, Peter Tod Lewis.
Since, Juliette was six years old she wanted to act and was fortunate enough to get her start in TV at the age of twelve. Lewis has appeared in over forty films and made-for-TV movies. She starred in the video for the Melissa Etheridge song, “Come To My Window”, and has also appeared in a GAP commercial which she was dancing with Draft Punk to the tune of the song “Digital Love.” She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 for the modern cult film Cape Fear. In 1995 she starred in Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days; in the movie she sings PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me from the eponymous album, anticipating her later work as a singer. She received an Emmy nomination for her performance in “Hysterical Blindness” in 2003. She also appeared in the HIM music video for “Buried Alive By Love” in 2003.
Some of her films include: Meet the Hollowheads, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Through the Rain, Catch and Release, Daltry Calhoun, Blueberry, Starsky & Hutch , Cold Creek Manor, Enough , Old School, The Way of the Gun, Room to Rent, The Other Sister , Full Tilt Boogie , The Evening Star, From Dusk till Dawn. Mixed Nuts , Natural Born Killers, Romeo Is Bleeding, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Kalifornia, That Night, and My Stepmother Is an Alien .
Many people are unaware that Juliette is also a talented rock singer. She launched her career as a solo singer and musician, leading an American rock band group called, Juliette and the Licks, releasing a number of recordings. She worked with rock songwriter Linda Perry, among others. Lewis has also appeared on three tracks by Electronic Music group The Prodigy’s 2004 CD Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, (“Spitfire”, “Get Up Get Off”, and “Hot Ride”). In 2006 Blender Magazine included her in their hottest women of rock music list. Lewis made an appearance in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV, providing the voice of “Juliette”, the host of fictional radio station “Radio Broker”. Some of the group’s popular songs include “You’re Speaking My Language” and “Hot Kiss”. Juliette also did a cover of PJ Harvey’s “Hardly Wait” and “Rid Of Me” in the film Strange Days before forming Juliette and the Licks. Juliette and the Licks released their first EP…Like a Bolt of Lightning, in 2004, which was shortly followed by the release of their debut album You’re Speaking My Language. The album spawned their most successful single “You’re Speaking My Language”, and the less successful, disco influenced “Got Love to Kill”. The released version of the second single was a remix of the original song, which had a more rock influence. The band is still performing as of June 2008 and is occasionally erroneously billed as Juliet and the Licks.
The Licks were a guest act at the Foo Fighters sell out Hyde Park performance on the 17 June 2006 to around 85,000 people. At the same event, Lewis and Moa Holmsten from Meldrum came on stage for one of Motörhead’s songs to do backing vocals.
After their performance at Hyde Park , their second album Four on the Floor, was released in late 2006. “Hot Kiss” which was one of the Licks’ most successful singles, was the first release off of the album and the following single “Sticky Honey”. With the release of their second album, Juliette and the Licks went on tour in late 2006 in America and many parts of Europe . They once opened for Muse, and Chris Cornell.
On July 15, 2007, Juliette and the Licks announced on their MySpace page that Kemble Walters decided that it was time for him to go back to his original career as leader of his own band, The Rise. Juliette and the Licks also announced that they would be continuing their tour as planned with a temporary player. In March 2008, Guitarist Craig Fairbaugh of +44 (band) and the Mercy Killers announced that he was going on tour with the band, and became on official member in April.
On September 28, 2007, the Band appeared in Brazilian’s MTV music award, Video Music Brazil like a presenter and performer.
The band appeared at the 2008 MTVAAs on April 26th in Sydney , Australia . They both performed as one of the headlining acts and presented at the show. The crowd loved them and they were highly regarded at the Awards Show and at their other Australian gigs.
As of 2008 Todd Morse is no longer with the band. Craig Fairbaugh has replaced Morse on the current Juliette and the Licks tour
Speaking at a press conference, Lewis said that pursuing rock and roll has made her ‘fearless,’ she also stated that she has temporarily put her movie career on hold to tour with her band. “I ended up getting very complacent about making movies and stopped taking risks…. Since I have turned 30 my first objective has been to do live shows because I find music to be very spiritual,” said Lewis during a stop in Thessaloniki to promote her album Four On The Floor. Speaking about being on the road, Lewis insists that while it is tiring, being on the road is definitely fuelling the fire of what she loves to do. Lewis says she has gained much of her inspiration by artists such as David Lee Roth, Aerosmith and ACDC. The actress said that while her acting career is not over she will be focusing much of her time on touring. “I am not done filmmaking – maybe I will do one film a year and the rest will be to focus on my music.”
Personal Life
Lewis dated actor Brad Pitt for several years and co-starred with him in the movies Kalifornia and Too Young to Die? (LUCKY GIRL!) She also dated Michael Dewitt., the nanny employed by musicians Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Juliette married professional skateboarder Steve Berra in 1999, but are now divorced. She is a member of the Church of Scientology. Lewis’ sister, Brandy, is married to My Name Is Earl star Ethan Suplee. It was no surprise when Lewis guest-starred on My Name Is Earl in 2006.
When I spoke with Juliette at Prive Club in the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino on June 28TH, for her birthday celebration, she spoke of her band stating, “Its never-ending fun”. With much excitement in her voice she also stated, “We are coming out soon with our new album.”
All I can say is… you go girl and keep on rockin…. We can’t wait to see what you do next.
