Juliette Lewis Remembers Her Favorite Roles at 90s Con

Gabrielle Moss September 15, 11:39 am

Juliette Lewis 'Natural Born Killers' and now — Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated actress Juliette Lewis has appeared in over 40 films, including ’90s classics like Natural Born Killers and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, as well as the recent hit horror series Yellowjackets. But when she spoke at the “Fabulous Ladies of the ’90s” panel at 90s Con in Daytona Beach, Florida, three roles in particular stuck with her.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION, Johnny Galecki, Juliette Lewis, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, 1989

Though her roles are “all special for different reasons,” Lewis has fond memories of her first major role: Audrey, the teen daughter of the put-upon Griswold clan, in 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. “I see all these people, these kids and families [who are fans of the film] and it’s so touching because you can’t predict that. I was 15 years old,” she said. “I didn’t know that’s a movie that’s gonna play every year … it’s very special and Chevy Chase was very kind to me on that movie.”

Natural Born Killers

Lewis with Woody Harrelson in 1994’s NATURAL BORN KILLERS, courtesy of Everett Collection

The controversial 1994 Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers, which she starred in alongside Woody Harrelson, was also a favorite. “I wanted to carry the torch, sort of a primal fire particularly for women, because I hadn’t seen that in movies,” she said of her role as Mallory Knox, one half of a married serial-killing couple. “And I really, somehow, I scared people a lot, you know about this little thing. But that was very important for me, because Oliver Stone gave me a lot of creative freedom. So I really developed my instincts.”

The Other Sister

Everett Collection

1999’s The Other Sister, where Lewis starred as Carla Tate, a young woman with a developmental disability who falls in love and seeks an independent life that her parents are reluctant to support, also stuck with Lewis. “The Other Sister is profoundly special to me,” Lewis said. “And so when people come up to my table and they’re moved by that because they have someone in their family like Carla Tate, that’s moving. There’s a lot of heart in that movie.”

On Her New Film, The Thicket

Samuel Goldwyn Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

Lewis is back on film and TV screens after an extended hiatus in the 2000s. In addition to her recent two-season turn on horror/drama Yellowjackets, where she played “Nat” Scatorccio, a woman tormented by memories of the time she spent lost in the wilderness with her soccer teammates as a high schooler, Lewis has a new movie in theaters. The film is especially meaningful to Lewis because it’s a Western — the same genre of film she remembers her father making when she was a child.

“My dad is a character actor,” said Lewis, referring to her father, Geoffrey Lewis, who appeared in a number of Westerns, including Gunsmoke and High Plains Drifter. “I was essentially babysat in the hair and makeup trailer on movie sets when I would visit my dad.

“And right now I’m in a Western, which is called The Thicket with Peter Dinklage. It’s really nice to have a movie out, but it was really special because the first set I ever was on when I was about 8 was a Western. And so you have a lot of full circle moments in life.”

On Her Band

Lewis also discussed her 2000s hiatus from acting, when she focused on making music as lead singer of the band Juliette and the Licks. “Well, when I was very little, my creative fire was all in one. So it was dancing, singing and storytelling through characters.”

But once she started acting professionally, the focus shifted: “And then I got successful very young and you’re sort of on this hamster wheel. And when I turned 30, I was like, wait a second, my great love of singing and songwriting. I better do that now.”

Though some stars who decide they want to get into music get involved with huge producers and songwriters, Lewis took a much more DIY approach with her band. “I did it very much like you would a high school band,” she said. “I like, call people I knew who played instruments, like, ‘Do you wanna write songs with me?’ There was no management team. I just put a band together and that’s the Licks.”

Though Lewis is focused on acting again, the Licks do still periodically perform. “I do like little one-off shows here and there,” Lewis noted, including Kentucky’s Louder Than Life Festival and Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival, “with huge bands like Iron Maiden, Slayer and Mastodon and everybody hard-rocky.” Though the other members also have other jobs, like Lewis — including playing in the Offspring — “we just come together when we can and do that. But now I’m back to making movies, which I’m really excited about.”