Showtime’s Yellowjackets has been creating a lot of buzz lately, and the stellar cast of ladies leading the show is a huge part of its success. Juliette Lewis plays the adult version of hardened punk Natalie in the thriller drama that draws thematic comparisons to Lord of the Flies and the epic first season of True Detective.
Lewis has been acting for more than thirty years and is known for playing edgy, intense, and oddball characters. When not acting, she is the rockstar front-woman for her band, Juliette and the Licks. Her resume includes numerous highly-rated films that feature an impressive roster of co-stars and directors from Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep to Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese.
Conviction (2010) - 7.2
Conviction is a biographical drama starring Sam Rockwell as a murderer sentenced to life in prison and Hilary Swank as the devoted sister who put herself through law school and spends almost two decades fighting for his freedom. It is an inspiring true story that sheds light on the faults of the legal system.
Lewis has a small but impactful role as Roseanna Perry, a woman who gives testimony that leads to the wrongful conviction. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Lewis said of the role: “I've never transformed myself so thoroughly, visually or internally, for a role. It was really intimidating and exciting.”
Strange Days (1995) - 7.2
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the first female director to win an Academy Award (for The Hurt Locker), Strange Days was written and produced by her then-husband James Cameron. The futuristic sci-fi thriller was a box office failure and received mixed reviews from critics.
The film co-stars Angela Bassett, Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Sizemore alongside Juliette Lewis as a rock singer, and Lewis uses her real-life musical talents to perform PJ Harvey covers. Many themes were ahead of their time and are increasingly relevant today, including police brutality and violence against women (Bigelow was influenced by the Rodney King riots and Lorena Bobbitt trial).
August: Osage County (2013) - 7.2
The ensemble drama August: Osage County explores complex family relationships in the wake of family tragedy. The movie was adapted from a Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by actor and writer Tracy Letts and features an extensive who’s who cast of big names.
Juliette Lewis plays youngest daughter Karen, who brings home a sleazy boyfriend played by Dermot Mulroney. Meryl Streep, as matriarch Violet, received an Oscar nom, as did Julia Roberts as daughter Barbara. Some family dynamics are more toxic than loving, and the Weston family has layers of trauma to work through.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - 7.2
Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the friends put their signature ultra-violent stylized stamp on grindhouse gore-fest From Dusk Till Dawn. Tarantino is also one of the stars, playing Richard Gecko opposite a neck-tattooed George Clooney (in his first feature film role) as his brother Seth - a pair of bad dudes on the run.
They pick up the Fuller family as hostages, including dad Harvey Keitel and daughter Juliette Lewis, on their way to Mexico. Vampires, carnage, a Salma Hayek snake dance, and incredibly re-quotable dialogue make it a cult classic horror flick.
The Basketball Diaries (1995) - 7.3
Based on the biography of author and musician Jim Carroll (“People Who Died”), The Basketball Diaries chronicles the writer’s descent from high school basketball star to heroin addict on the streets of New York City as a teen.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Carroll, with a supporting cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, The Sopranos stars Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli, and Juliette Lewis as a prostitute. The story doesn’t glorify drug use, but rather serves as an accurate portrayal of the negative effects of heroin addiction.
Cape Fear (1991) - 7.3
A terrifying psychological revenge thriller, Cape Fear tells the story of a recently released rapist who has vowed revenge on his defense lawyer. A remake of the 1962 film starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, it was directed by Martin Scorsese and stars frequent Scorsese collaborator Robert DeNiro.
Juliette Lewis appears as Danielle, the daughter of the lawyer (Nick Nolte) targeted by DeNiro’s Max Cady. Both Lewis and DeNiro received numerous accolades for their performances (including Oscar nominations), and their unrehearsed auditorium seduction scene is infamously tense and disturbing.
Natural Born Killers (1994) 7.3
Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers is notorious for its hyper-violence and has been accused of providing inspiration for a slew of copycat crimes. Heavily adapted from an original script by Quentin Tarantino, it is a stylized visual commentary on media voyeurism glorifying the gruesome acts and making celebrities out of criminals.
Juliette Lewis plays Mallory Knox and Woody Harrelson is her husband, Mickey. The psychopathic couple kill Mallory’s abusive father and then embark on a murderous road trip sensationalized by the media. The wild movie features Stone’s artful, in-your-face imagery and signature filmmaking style and, while unmistakably of its time, Natural Born Killers still holds up today thanks largely to Lewis' committed and brave performance.
Husbands and Wives (1992) - 7.5
Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives was released amidst the media frenzy of his split with longtime partner Mia Farrow, and the controversy surrounding his relationship with Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-yi Previn. Allen and Farrow star in the film as a couple who examine their own relationship when faced with the news of their friends’ divorce.
Lewis plays Allen’s love interest as a young 20-something who is attracted to older men. Allen was nominated for a best screenwriting Academy Award and co-star Judy Davis received a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) - 7.6
Watching the Griswold family’s dysfunctional attempt to have a perfect Christmas in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a yearly tradition for fans during the holidays. The wacky extended family dynamic is incredibly relatable, and memorable quotes from Christmas Vacation can be found on everything from mugs to ugly Christmas sweaters nowadays.
Chevy Chase’s charmingly inept everyman is a common comedic trope from the eighties but he plays it to perfection as Clark Griswold. Juliette Lewis is this National Lampoon installment’s version of the hard-to-please teenage daughter, Audrey, alongside an incredible supporting cast that includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the carpet-obsessed yuppie next-door neighbor.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) - 7.7
A heartwarming and offbeat drama, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape follows Gilbert (played by Johnny Depp) as he works through his lot in life as the caretaker and default patriarch for his dysfunctional family.
Set in a small and sleepy midwest town, Grape feels trapped in his current state and without hope for any change in his life until he meets Becky (Lewis), who was passing through town with an RV caravan. It is a beautifully acted character study, and young Leonardo DiCaprio scored his first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Lewis shines as Depp's unconventional girlfriend, who shows him there's life outside his narrowly defined existence as his family's primary caretaker.