Playboy's 20Q: Juliette Lewis

At the age of six, Juliette Lewis was given a part in Clint Eastwood's Bronco Billy. In 1987, she had a leading role in the miniseries Home Fires. At 14, seeking exemption from child labor laws that restricted shooting schedules for minors, she petitioned the court to grant her legal majority. When she was 16 she played Chevy Chase's daughter in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and starred in the television film Too Young to Die. During that shooting she began an affair with older co-star Brad Pitt. At 18, Lewis was working with Robert De Niro in Cape Fear, for which she garnered Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.

Lewis became a sought-after actor and at the same time earned a reputation as a loose cannon. She next appeared with Woody Allen in Husbands and Wives, followed by memorable performances as a dysfunctional innocent opposite Brad Pitt in Kalifornia, as a waitress from Queens in Romeo Is Bleeding, co-starring Gary Oldman, and as a drifter hanging out with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Then Oliver Stone cast Lewis alongside Woody Harrelson as two mass-murdering folk heroes in Natural Born Killers. Lewis avoided typecasting with turns opposite Steve Martin and Adam Sandier in Nora Ephron's comedy Mixed Nuts and Ralph Fiennes in the science-fiction action film Strange Days, followed by Quentin Tarantino's ode to vampires, From Dusk Till Dawn.

After a struggle with drugs and alcohol, Lewis came back strong with well-reviewed work in The Other Sister, an Emmy-nominated performance in Showtime's My Louisiana Sky and a co-starring role as Jennifer Lopez' best friend in Enough. Lewis carries a heavy workload this year with roles in the comedy Old School with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn, in Mike Figgis' The Devil's Throat opposite Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone and in Blueberry with Michael Madsen and Vincent Cassel.

Robert Crane caught up with the reinvigorated actor at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. He reports: "Lewis is way too bright and energetic. A relationship with her could never be boring or predictable. She does things her way. She's also much more attractive in person than on the screen. She kills, in a natural-born way."

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[Q] Playboy: Are girls who have tattoos promiscuous? And which is a better indicator of a woman's sexual heat--tattoos or piercing?

[A] Lewis: I think it's square to have tattoos. Go back to the basics and be really organic, kind of pure, un-inked, under-sexualized. I am so against piercing. I have a little tattoo of a heart on my neck, and I'm having a Hello Kitty removed from my wrist. If you find yourself getting pierced and tattooed, maybe you should look into doing something more creative with your time.

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[Q] Playboy: What's a creative use of your time? Do you throw good parties?

[A] Lewis: Yes, and choosing the right people is everything. My husband and I have an eclectic bunch because he's a pro skateboarder. We had a Christmas party that was pretty fun. He invited photographers, skateboarders, people who run skate magazines. I invited musicians, actors, designers. It was a real creative blend. Also parents. Being a parent is an interesting thing. Here's my party recommendation: The Cars anthology. It has the hits and then it has their cool music that didn't break out. It's upbeat but not too intrusive. It has just enough kick.

3

[Q] Playboy: When some women have good sex, they tell everyone. Even their mothers. Do you?

[A] Lewis: No, because I'm not in fucking high school anymore. I just build on it for next time with my one and only and expand on whatever we were doing before. I've talked to my mom, but not too intimately. My mom is a good friend of mine. But we don't get overly explicit.

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[Q] Playboy: A woman's stomach is a sexy, powerful place. How do you use yours?

[A] Lewis: I'm an actress, so I should be into my looks and all that stuff, but I'm really not. This stomach thing is funny. The Turks invented belly dancing, but most men think it's a parking lot. I saw a girl in Beverly Hills wearing a half shirt. My sister and I have a little voice we use for a certain kind of woman. You can tell as she's walking down die street that all she's interested in is if her stomach looks OK. She's like, "Oh, I hope my stomach's cool. Does everybody see it?" I get to play one of those girls in Old School. I don't like half shirts, I like long shirts. When I want to feel sexy sometimes or show off a little bit, I'll usually wear a short skirt because I inherited dancer's legs from my parents. I've been told they look all right.

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[Q] Playboy: To a guy, the phrase "Can I have a drawer?" is frightening. What is the equivalent phrase from a female's point of view?

[A] Lewis: "Could I borrow your car? I'm getting one next week--I gave them a down payment--but could I borrow yours now?" Borrow a woman's car? Not a good sign.

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[Q] Playboy: Do you think you have an especially appreciative fan base among the prison population?

[A] Lewis: People both in and out of prison are appreciative of my performances. My Natural Born Killers fans are not in prison. The ones who love Natural Born Killers are very (continued on page 150)Juliette Lewis(contimued from page 131 intelligent. When I shot it in Joliet we went on a tour of the facility. Coincidentally, Cape Fear had played the week before I toured the prison. They all seemed pretty happy about that film, especially the scene that would be stimulating to some inmates. It was brilliant timing. The thumb scene was still fresh in their minds, so prisoners heckled me, saying, "Put your thumb in your mouth, girl." Prisoners seem to like television, and TV fame is much scarier because it's intimate--the actor always plays the same character. That gets scary for people, so I've heard.

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[Q] Playboy: Tell us something that you once feared but feel comfortable doing now.

[A] Lewis: Going someplace where there is a large crowd. When I'm in crowds I feel like chaos is going to happen. Someone will get shot. But I went to a Rolling Stones concert in Dodger Stadium about four years ago that was therapeutic. I went with a friend, and we were on the grass. I did an exercise where I looked around and just embraced it. Once the concert started I was a complete fanatic, singing every song.

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[Q] Playboy: How can we help change your bad-girl image?

[A] Lewis: I don't want to change anything because I just played a psychopath and played it well. I think that's cool. In Natural Born Killers, a woman who was full of rage and anguish and being obnoxious was more shocking than a man would have been. Right after that I did a Nora Ephron--Steve Martin comedy called Mixed Nuts, but it didn't do well. I like to do the unpredictable in film. People have seen me as intense because of some of the movies I've been in, like Cape Fear and Kalifornia and Natural Born Killers. But those have been interspersed with movies that aren't intense.

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[Q] Playboy: Have we seen the demise of the bad girl?

[A] Lewis: What is a bad girl these days? It's almost become trite. I don't know the difference between bad and good. That's why I'm into the progressive girl. Are there bad girls anymore? There are stupid girls.

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[Q] Playboy: What's more dangerous to the general public, people having sex in an automobile or talking on a cell phone?

[A] Lewis: Talking on a cell phone. Unless I'm living a sheltered life, I don't see the sex part happening. Some people can't do two things at once. I, however, can.

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[Q] Playboy: Do you have any incantations that actually work?

[A] Lewis: I was big into spells when I was younger. If I felt wronged I would make up something like, "Your car is going to catch on fire." I wouldn't do anything about it. I said this once to a guy, "You just watch. Within a month you'll be in jail." I said that to a petty criminal, so it's not like I'm psychic. And yes, he went to jail.

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[Q] Playboy: We have to ask about Cape Fear and your scene with Robert De Niro. We have heard women value the size of a man's thumb. What can you tell by sucking a man's thumb?

[A] Lewis: That was one of my favorite movies of all time because of Robert De Niro, but as far as what you can tell by sucking a thumb, I have no clue. That's not what's going on when you're doing that kind of scene. There were all kinds of cat-and-mouse things that were going on that led up to the thumb infiltration.

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[Q] Playboy: What kind of lasting impression did you leave on De Niro?

[A] Lewis: I'm sure he was happy that I held my own in the scene--that I did a decent job. That's where inexperience works for you. You haven't developed notions on how to behave, which I think is good for an actor. That scene is so complicated because it's about a guy persuading a girl to trust him when she has no reason not to trust him other than that he hurt her mom's dog. She doesn't know what the audience knows. It's a little magical. When I was working with De Niro all the moments fell into place. The scene was something De Niro and Scorsese came up with. All I knew was that he was supposed to walk up to me and kiss me. The thumb thing was De Niro's idea--it was such a violation. They also came up with my wearing a retainer for the part. It's a puberty thing. They came up with those images to have an impact on the audience.

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[Q] Playboy: In Natural Born Killers, did Rodney Dangerfield's character influence your personal hygiene?

[A] Lewis: No. Rodney's such a sweet guy. It's good he was funny, because it was a sitcom spoof. I had to jump on his back. I wanted to make sure the emotion was there and that I looked enraged, but at the same time I was worrying about Rodney--I didn't want to put his back out. I didn't want to hurt him.

15

[Q] Playboy: Does Oliver Stone have a vision of the corrupting violence on the edge of American culture, or is he just a nutty guy with a dirty mind?

[A] Lewis: He's definitely not the latter. Oliver is brilliant. Is he exploiting something or is he making a comment on violence? As with the snipers in Washington, any wack job now knows he'll be front-page news. That's what Oliver was commenting on. It's not that complicated, but he knew he was hitting the news media in the face--and, boy, they did not like it. I think he's wickedly brilliant and funny, too. A lot of people don't know he's funny.

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[Q] Playboy: Do most directors have a particular vision, or do they just want to see their star naked?

[A] Lewis: That's more of a question for the producer.

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[Q] Playboy: If you feel that it's appropriate, would you do a nude scene?

[A] Lewis: Yes. In Blueberry I'm naked underwater. It's really beautiful. American films with nudity are only sexual. I think nudity is fine, but I would like to see it in a nonsexual context. Having a phone conversation naked or something. Reality stuff.

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[Q] Playboy: Does Woody Harrelson make more or less sense now that you're clean?

[A] Lewis: First of all, my little destructive youth stint was when I was 21, 22. It was not during that movie. Woody is Woody. He has some convictions. We just worked together, and he's funny. I'm OK with people as long as they have a sense of humor. Regarding his pro-hemp stance, I'm not down with the pot culture. It's like, get a day job, dudes, do something else. I understand when you're 14 how pot is the almighty, your guru. Now I don't get it.

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[Q] Playboy: If we were in a lingerie store now, toward what would you gravitate?

[A] Lewis: I like panties. I'm trying to be demure by saying panties. I usually say underwear. I've always gone braless, but now I'm into finding colorful bras, so I might look for those too.

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[Q] Playboy: You've worked with top-notch directors. Whose phone call would you immediately return?

[A] Lewis: I'd say pretty much everybody's, but Mike Figgis and I are like two peas in a pod. He's my new best pal. He's a great guy, and he's trying to push the envelope. We don't need to put out product and TV dinners all the time. I would immediately call back Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Woody Allen. Isn't it funny I've worked with two Woodys? Do you know any other Woodys working in Hollywood?