Born in LA 33 years-and-a-day ago, June 21, 1973, it seems like Juliette has done it all.
She's acted with De Niro, been directed by Woody, and is currently recording her second rock album with none other than Dave Grohl as her drummer.
Yesterday's birthday girl emancipated herself from her parents at 14, dropped out of high school at 15, started banging Brad Pitt at 16 in a romance that would last almost four years, and got an Oscar nomination at 17.
Juliette has appeared in dozens of films, including "Natural Born Killers", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", "Kalifornia", "Husbands and Wives", "Cape Fear", and who could ever forget her role as Heidi, the over-sexxed fiancee with the blindfolded couple waiting for her in the bathroom, in "Old School"?
But probably her most amazing accomplishment to us here at LAist is her completely natural role as a singer in her band Juliette Lewis and the Licks. Part Iggy Pop, part Courtney Love, part P.J. Harvey, Lewis crawls across the stage, performs faux fellatio on her guitarist's strings, and basically freaks out all over the place, whipping her hair and limbs and soul all over the crowd.
We were lucky enough to catch her perform in 2003 at the Sunset Junction Street Fair, and then at a Halloween gig opening for Hole at the Wiltern, and lastly 11/05 at the Troubadour with Hollywood's own Tsar. Each show was passionate and energetic and frenzied -- exactly what you'd expect from Mallory Knox.
Just as punk rock is her stance on the controversial church she belongs to, the Church of Scientology, which she says is far different than how the media portrays it.
"Whatever the media writes about Scientology would go against what you would think of me. But I'm fiercely independent and defiant and its all the stuff that I've done in Scientology that has helped reinforce that and make me even more of an individual." she was once quoted as saying. "And it's a true non-conformist religion, its just the media makes it really negative."
Currently Juliette is recordingher second record, "You're Speaking My Language", with the former Nirvana drummer keeping the beat. Videos of the recording session are available on the band's MySpace page.
Happy belated, baby, hope this makes up for it.
