Just 30 years ago, Juliette Lewis proclaimed herself as the most stimulating, in-demand, spontaneous and imitated queen of the new Hollywood of the nineties. She did it literally and figuratively, on the Golden Globes red carpet, posing in a black slip dress and a Cleopatresque beaded headdress that confirmed her pharaonic status in the mecca of cinema. She had only just entered her twenties, but Lewis had already lived a career worthy of someone with several more decades adorning her identification card. She had legally emancipated herself from her parents at the age of 15 to be able to film without restrictions for more hours, winning over filmmakers of the stature of Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese (whose work in cape fear earned her an Oscar nomination) and made headlines for her romantic relationship with a promising young man named Brad Pitt who, in the shadow of his popularity, would also end up carving out his place in the industry. To finish shoring up her fame as “the wild girl” of Hollywood, that 1994 she would release Natural Born Killers, which was censored in France or the United Kingdom after several teenagers committed several homicides inspired by the psychopath he played in Oliver Stone's ultraviolent film. And just when she was at the top, when there was no one else cool in the world that the Californian, her meteoric rise stopped and she disappeared from the front line. We forget about her but, 30 years later, Juliette Lewis is willing to refresh our memories of her.
It will precisely be another red carpet, but this time the Emmys, which once again welcomes the footsteps of Juliette Lewis, nominated for an individual award two decades after the last time. Her work in the miniseries Welcome to Chippendales (Disney+), based on a real scandal surrounding a club empire striptease for women, has earned her a nomination for best supporting actress at the ceremony that will take place in the early hours of this January 15. “I stayed in shock when I found out,” said the interpreter on her Instagram account.
This recognition culminates a silent but unstoppable comeback, supported by television series such as Yellowjackets and Queer as Folk, and that has not gone unnoticed by the fashion world. Marc Jacobs, Acne Studios, Skims, Miu Miu and Rodarte are some of the brands that have been interested in having the artist as an ambassador in recent years. “Juliette has always been an underrated star, recognized as a formidable actress and rock icon, although she has rarely been awarded for it. But her work in Yellowjackets has been her introduction to a new generation obsessed with her innate 'cool girl' energy. writes Magazine ID. “Is there anyone more captivating than her?” he asks. Washington Post.
But the obsession with this performer is not exclusive to the youngest. Since she debuted as an actress when she was just a child encouraged by her father – also an actor Geoffrey Lewis – the Californian has captivated the viewer thanks to a rebellious, visceral and individualistic spirit that clashed, however, with the oppressive guidelines that govern the industry. . “I tried to do things my way, but, in some photo sessions, I had to go to the bathroom to cry because of the pressure,” confessed In an interview. The negative impact that the premiere of Natural Born Killers had at the time seriously damaged her image, being blamed by the press for her character's actions to the point of labeling her 'crazy'. “I have never felt more disdain and hostility towards actors from journalists. “They hated us and they hated the movie.”
Fame burned a Lewis who still today regrets not having been able to enjoy the anonymity deserved by any teenager. She suffered from tachycardia and panic attacks constantly. She felt like an alien every time she entered a restaurant and the gazes of her diners were inevitably directed towards her. She developed an addiction to cocaine and painkillers and, at just 22 years old, she was forced to enter a rehab clinic and stay away from the industry. “People described me as a drug addict before I was even one,” she once claimed. Together with her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt, she flirted with the church of Scientology, a faith that she has defended for years, although today she defines herself only as “spiritualist.” At the beginning of the century she left cinema aside for six years and found in punk-rock the best way to free that caged animal that was cutting her off inside her. First, with the band Juliette & The Licks; later, alone.
“I wanted to break away from what I call the pedestal culture, the fame culture, where they put you in a shiny box and you're all sweetness and sugar. I'm not like that, but people wanted to see that in me because I came from cinema. So in my concerts I can't be more direct, more aggressive and face-to-face. Even in my appearance. I just want to be what I am. A raw, sweaty and real force”, alleged in Los Angeles Times. During that time she met her first husband, the skater Steve Berra, with whom she was married for four years until 2003, and her last public partner, the drummer of the group Rage Against the Machine, Brad Wilk. Since 2019, she has not been known to have another romantic relationship.
Lewis made sure to leave one foot crossed so as not to completely close the door to Hollywood and through that loophole a good handful of supporting roles on the big screen and leading roles in television series have slipped in in recent years, but none of them The compliments received recently had earned him. “Now I have a name,” he says, comparing the value of the projects he receives to those of his first years in the industry. Fame has returned to her routine, but she is prepared to manage it. Her mantra is based on providing her daily life with as much normality and practicality as possible so she can be “dangerous and daring” at work. She has lived for years in a small Californian town, surrounded by mountains and a layer of media invisibility that, according to what she declared in The Times, is not willing to lose: “I no longer fight to achieve this or that and become bigger. Now I am comfortable in my own skin.”
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