If you hate the idea of movie stars dabbling in music, you may be pleasantly surprised by the results that actress-turned-garage-punk-rocker Juliette Lewis turns in with her band's first full-length album, "You’re Speaking My Language."
"I'm unstoppable. My band is unstoppable. There's that sentiment in the air about 'actor-turned-rocker,' but for me it's a big yawn because I know how tight my band is, and I know what we mean. I know how much heart is in it and that we're gonna keep on keepin' on."
Juliette Lewis is best known as the Oscar-nominated actress who appeared in "Natural Born Killers" and in "Cape Fear" where she memorably sucked Robert De Niro's thumb. (She was also engaged to Brad Pitt about 10 or 12 years ago.) She is now the frontwoman of Juliette & the Licks, the punk band she formed three years ago.
, She knows that actors-turned-musicians do not have an easy time being accepted for anything more than a novelty act. (Think Russell Crowe's Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts or Keanu Reeves's Dogstar). But Juliette says she's more serious about music than she is about acting.
"I feel like we have so much to prove," she says. "It is a double-edged sword for me. On the one hand I have an audience from films, but on the other, this is ten times harder. The music has got to be rock solid. Hollywood has lost its charm for me. I’ve been a hired actress for so long, I don’t really have a passion for it any more. This is my career now. This is who I am."
She knows that actors-turned-musicians do not have an easy time being accepted for anything more than a novelty act. (Think Russell Crowe's Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts or Keanu Reeves's Dogstar). But Juliette says she's more serious about music than she is about acting.
"I feel like we have so much to prove," she says. "It is a double-edged sword for me. On the one hand I have an audience from films, but on the other, this is ten times harder. The music has got to be rock solid. Hollywood has lost its charm for me. I’ve been a hired actress for so long, I don’t really have a passion for it any more. This is my career now. This is who I am."
