Juliette Lewis is perhaps one of those rarities in Hollywood – a rebel who continues to impress fans with her acting and singing talent despite some known down times in her personal life.

Juliette was born June 21, 1973 to a family of artists. Her father, Geoffrey Lewis, is an actor while her mother, Glenis Batley, is a graphic designer. She has two siblings – her brother Lightfield and sister Dierdre. She was only two years old when her parents divorced.

Career

Juliette Lewis knew she wanted to act when she was still six years old, when she became obsessed with the musicals Grease and Fame. It wasn’t until she was 12 years old that Juliette landed a TV role. In 1987, she got her first big TV role on “Home Fires”, a Showtime miniseries, and moved on to “I Married Dora” and “The Wonder Years”.  She started doing movies with the science fiction comedy “Meet the Hollowheads”.

She proved herself to be a great acting talent when, in 1992, she was nominated the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Cape Fear”, where co-starred with Robert de Niro and Nick Nolte.  She was nominated an Emmy award in 2001 for her role in “My Louisiana Sky”. She also starred in Robert Rodriguez’s 1996 vampire flick “From Dusk Till Dawn” and in 2004’s “Starsky & Hutch” with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller.

Juliette Lewis has appeared in over forty big screen and TV movies to date. Juliette Lewis’ talent goes beyond acting and she has, in fact, launched a singing career. Her group, Juliette and the Licks, has released a number of songs. Her appeal as a rock star did not miss the notice of Blender Magazine editors, who in 2006 put her on the their list of the hottest women in rock. Juliette has so far appeared on the music videos of "Spitfire," "Get Up Get Off," and "Hot Ride" – all tracks in the Prodigy’s 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. She also appeared in the video for “Buried Alive By Love” by HIM.

Personal Life

A known workaholic, Juliette encountered a set back in her personal life with her break up with actor Brad Pitt in February 1993. The break up caused her to resort to drugs, and to take on more work, to escape the pain.Juliette Lewis’ pain worked well for her work, as she gave a very compelling performance in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers in 1994, and excellent performances in “The Basketball Diaries”, “Strange Days” and “From Dusk Till Dawn”

It was only in December 1996, three years after breaking up with Pitt, that Juliette faced her addiction head-on and checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic. Almost two years passed before she began acting again –in the comedy “Some Girl”. She swung back in full force in 2000 with her roles in “The Way of the Gun” and “The Other Sister,” where she played a mentally challenged woman. In 1999, she married professional skateboarder Steve Berra, but divorced him in April 2003.