Juliette Lewis has been recognized as one of Hollywood's most talented and versatile actors of her generation since she first stunned audiences and critics alike with her Oscar-nominated performance as "Danielle Bowden" in Cape Fear (1991). To date, she has worked with some of the most revered directors in the industry, including Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Lasse Hallström, Oliver Stone and Garry Marshall. Whether lending dramatic authenticity or a natural comedic flair to her roles, Lewis graces the screen with remarkable range and an original and captivating style.

Lewis was born in Los Angeles, Californa, to Glenis (Duggan) Batley, a graphic designer, and Geoffrey Lewis, an actor. By the age of six, she knew she wanted to be a performer. At twelve, Lewis landed her first leading role in the Showtime miniseries Home Fires (1987). After appearing in several TV sitcoms including The Wonder Years (1988), she made her move to film, starring with Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and with Jennifer Jason Leigh in the drama Crooked Hearts (1991). At 16, Lewis starred opposite Brad Pitt in the critically acclaimed television movie Too Young to Die? (1990), catching the attention of Martin Scorsese, who cast her in his thriller Cape Fear (1991). Her powerful scenes with Robert De Niro captured the quiet complexities of adolescence and earned her an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actress". Her auditorium scene with De Niro went down in movie history as one of cinema's classic scenes.

Lewis next worked with Woody Allen in Husbands and Wives (1992), playing a self-assured college coed with a penchant for older men and, particularly, her married professor. She quickly followed suit with a succession of starring roles in a variety of blockbusters and critically acclaimed projects including Kalifornia (1993), Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994), Oliver Stone's controversial media satire about two mass murderers who become legendary folk heroes. Lewis's other credits include the Nora Ephron comedy Mixed Nuts (1994), with Steve Martin and Adam Sandler; the sci-fi action film Strange Days (1995) with Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett; Quentin Tarantino's vampire tale From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) with George Clooney; The Evening Star (1996) with Shirley MacLaine; the Garry Marshall-directed The Other Sister (1999), and Todd Phillips' Old School (2003), co-starring opposite Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell as well as Starsky & Hutch (2004). In addition to her film career, Lewis has continued to add roles to her growing list of television credits with a performance in Showtime's My Louisiana Sky (2001), for which she secured an EMMY nomination, and a starring role in the Mira Nair-directed HBO's film Hysterical Blindness (2002), alongside Uma Thurman and Gena Rowlands.

Stephen Berra (9 September 1999 - 11 December 2005)

Trivia

Sister of Lightfield Lewis and Brandy Lewis. Half-sister of Dierdre Lewis and Matthew Lewis.
Legally emancipated from her parents at age 14.
Dropped out of high school just three weeks after starting.
Arrested for being underage in an underground dance club at age 16. The arresting officer, who recognized her dad when he picked her up at the station, gave Juliette her mug shot (the charges were dropped), which now hangs, poster-size, in her home (this picture can be seen at Fan Page)
Drove without driver's license until she was 21. She owned a car bought under a friend's name and had been driving illegally since age 15. Eventually got a license after she got caught not stopping at a stop sign.
Father almost named her Snow Lake.
Daughter of Geoffrey Lewis and Glenis Batley, a graphic designer.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#75). [1995]
Played a suicidal mental patient in the music video for the Melissa Etheridge song "Come to My Window". Lewis' erratic behavior frightened the director to the point where he yelled "Cut!" several unnecessary times for fear that Lewis had truly suffered a mental/emotional breakdown.
Her song from Natural Born Killers (1994) was used in another song, "Bad Brother" by The Infidels.
Auditioned for the role of Lydia Deetz which was played by Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice (1988).
Fronts a rock band called "Juliette and the Licks" which is touring on Van's Warped Tour in 2004.
Posed for a portrait in US Magazine, by Peggy Sirota, which featured nothing but an extreme close-up of the soles of her bare feet.
Although she is now divorced, she remains good friends with her ex-husband, Stephen Berra.
She was introduced to her future husband Stephen Berra by her younger sister Brandy Lewis.
Ranked #7 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
Sister-in-law of Ethan Suplee. He is married to her sister Brandy Lewis.
Friend of Alanis Morissette.
Turned down the role of Mia Thermopolis that eventually went to Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries (2001).
Performed in Finnish rock music festival Ruisrock. [July 2007]
She was in Buenos Aires, Argentina only for one day (October 26), where she acted with her band The Licks in a private event. [October 2007]
London, England, in rehearsal to star as "May" (alongside Martin Henderson as "Eddie") in the upcoming revival of Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love", which opens at the Apollo Theatre on 13th June. [May 2006]
Had a four-year relationship with Brad Pitt. She was 16 years old, while Pitt was 26 when their relationship began in 1989. They met on the set of the TV movie Too Young to Die? (1990), in which they played a couple, and worked together again in Kalifornia (1993). They lived together and the relationship ended in 1993.
As of 2018, has never appeared in a film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
Is a member of the Church of Scientology.

Personal Quotes 

Fame can be just so annoying because people are so critical of you. You can't just say "hi". You say hi and people whisper "Man, did you see the way she said Hi. What an attitude."
Just 'cause I'm in the same age bracket as Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't mean we all screw together.
Just to buck the system in California, I bought a Mazda for $6,000 when I was 15 without even bothering to get a license.
[on Brad Pitt] It amazes me that people are still fascinated that we went out for four years. I was a teenager at the time. It's a lifetime away. I was in my high-school years and it was a wonderful, loving relationship with a fun, smart guy. Then it was over and he went on to become incredibly famous. The far more significant relationship was my marriage to an incredible pro skateboarder (Steve Berra). But no one wants to know about that. All these years on, there's nothing I can say or divulge about Brad Pitt that would be remotely interesting to any intelligent being.