Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress, singer, and musician. She is known for portraying offbeat characters, frequently appearing in films with dark plots, themes, and settings. Lewis gained prominence in American cinema during the early 1990s through her roles in independent and arthouse films. Over her career, her performances have earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Lewis was born in Los Angeles to actor Geoffrey Lewis and graphic designer Glenis Batley. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, leading her to grow up living between their respective homes in the Los Angeles area. She has eight siblings, including a step-sister, and also spent a brief period living with actress Karen Black. Lewis dropped out of high school at age 15, having already obtained legal emancipation at age 14 with her parents' approval to facilitate her acting career.

After an uncredited appearance in Bronco Billy (1980), Lewis made her first major screen appearance in the 1987 television film Home Fires, followed by a starring role on the sitcom I Married Dora (1987–1988). She then appeared in films such as My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). Her breakthrough performance came as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991), which earned her nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Following her breakthrough, Lewis appeared in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) and starred in That Night (1992). In 1993, her film credits included Romeo Is Bleeding, Kalifornia, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. She received the Pasinetti Award for Best Actress at the 1994 Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Mallory Knox in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Throughout the remainder of the 1990s, she appeared in projects such as Strange Days (1995), The Basketball Diaries (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), and The Other Sister (1999).

In 2002, Lewis received Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominations for her performance in the television film Hysterical Blindness. She subsequently co-starred in mainstream features, including Enough (2002), Cold Creek Manor (2003), Old School (2003), and Starsky & Hutch (2004). Lewis launched a musical career in 2003 by forming the rock band Juliette and the Licks, which released an EP in 2004 and studio albums in 2005 and 2007. Since 2009, she has released music as a solo artist, beginning with the album Terra Incognita.

During the 2010s and beyond, Lewis continued acting across film and television. Her film credits include Conviction (2010), for which she won a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, as well as The Switch (2010), August: Osage County (2013), and Ma (2019). She has worked extensively in television, taking on major roles in series such as Wayward Pines (2015), Secrets and Lies (2015–2016), Queer as Folk (2022), Welcome to Chippendales (2022), and Yellowjackets (2021–2023).