Caffeinated Clint
She might make a fabulous bad guy on screen, but in real life screen vet Juliette Lewis (Kalifornia, Natural Born Killers, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?) couldn’t be any sweeter. But as the Whip It star tells CLINT MORRIS and ASHLEY HILLARD, she always loves a challenge!
Was it fun getting to be the most bad-ass roller derby girl?
[Laughs] Exactly! No pressure there. I had to be the best one, so it was pretty daunting. We pretty much did ninety percent of our own skating in the movie – because you can’t really fake it – so I had to spend a lot of time at Roller Derby Camp.
What did you do at Roller Derby Camp?
It would start at like 8am and we’d get up and so strength training, yoga, and then skating – for like 8 hours. But that was really fun… and I miss it.
So you enjoyed playing the villain of the piece?
Yeah, I really enjoyed playing the baddie. But there’s that one scene with Ellen [Page] where we learn it’s not so much about good vs. bad as it is really about Youth Vs Experience.
Some of these roller derby girls are fantastic aren’t they?
Yeah, they’re amazing! And they are all so agile. The whole trick to Roller Derbying is staying up – you’re knocking people down, you’re getting knocked, but how do you stay up? In the beginning I mainly concentrated on my form, just so I could look the part. I wasn’t hanging with the other girls on set [because I’m the villain] so all the girls in my crew are real Roller Derby girls. I’d be deferring stuff to them all the time – “Would you really be pushing someone in a locker?” or “Would you really be calling her these names?” And they’d usually always answer “Yeah, pretty much – when we want someone to earn their stripes”. It’s not in my nature to be a bully, so I was having a bit of a tough time being mean to Ellen.
How long had it been since you’d been on roller-skates?
It’d been like – let me think – eight years. I remember going to a roller-skating party once, but that’s nothing like this – this is like football-on-wheels!
Did it scare you a little that you’d be required to learn how to skate when you first signed on?
Yeah – but that’s exactly what you want, you want to take on things that scare you. I’m an artist firefly. I want to be challenged, scared, and not know I can pull it off. We really wanted to represent this whole sub-culture that nobody’s made a movie about in a long time – and I think we did. I could really relate to themes of the movie too – doing something you didn’t know you were capable of …Â it’s just like when I started a band at age 30 – I meant it, I didn’t want it to be a hobby, and I stuck to it.
How far back do you and Drew go?
You’d think we would’ve met previously – having both done some living [Laughs] – but we’d never actually met prior to that first meeting in her office. But I was instantly taken with her – She’s so smart, but I also loved how well versed she is about cinema, and how in love she is with the texture and nuance of it… which I can’t say I am.
You’re not in love with cinema?
Drew has a relationship with cinema that I don’t. I probably have it with music. She really impressed me as a first-time filmmaker. She was really prepared. I’ve worked with a lot of filmmakers – new ones, old ones…
Oliver Stone…
Exactly [Laughs]
And I hadn’t done a movie in nearly five years so I was excited. It was a sweet role to make a comeback with.
After completing Whip It you did a movie with Sam Rockwell and Hilary Swank called Betty Anne Waters . Could you tell us a little bit about that project and who you play in it?
I have a crucial cameo as a woman – a real-life person – who wrongly accuses Sam Rockwell’s character of a murder he didn’t commit. I essentially put him in prison. She’s a real dark character. For better or worse, I can just connect and play these primal energies [Laughs] – the underbelly of existence. So I did two scenes, one where I’m in the court, at the trial, and I put him away, and then another where we met her twenty-years later and she’s been sort of living her alcoholic existence and she’s not too pretty. It was the first time I’d ever done a role where I had like, age make-up. Having to play someone whose led a rotten life, and been a liar, was actually fun for me because in my heart of hearts I’m a character actress.
Sam had been working on that accent for a while. Was he all intense on set?
Oh man, Sam Rockwell is one of my favourites! I love him. We all worked with a dialect coach to perfect the Boston accent. I only got to do those two scenes with him, but he really is a unique talent.
So I did that movie, and then I did Mark Ruffalo’s movie [Sympathy for Delicious] – so I did Drew’s movie, and then I did another actor turned director’s movie [Laughs]. Mark is one of my favourite actors of the last decade. That movie is a really unique, strange story and again it’s a risky project – but they’re the type of projects I like to do; if they’re not doing something fresh with the medium I’m like, what’s the point?
And then I followed up all that with a comedy – I’m playing Jennifer Aniston’s best friend in The Baster.
You took some time off to concentrate on your music. What’s your game-plan for the future as far as balancing the music and the acting?
Oh man… I’m just hustling. No, what I mean by that is that it’s very hard for live touring bands – with ticket sales and that, so I’ll be handing out flyers and that myself. That’s something I’d never be doing with movies. Now I’m out the front of theatres beginning people to come in and hear us. It’s a whole other world – it’s very communal; it’s very grass roots. I’m actually on tour right now – I leave in two days to finish the tour. I just opened for The Pretenders and Cat Power. For these past five years music has been my main gig and I’ve played teeny-tiny clubs everywhere and anywhere. I took a break last year – my old band The Licks broke up – and then in that time these film opportunities came my way. I never said I wasn’t going to do movies again, I just knew that if my music was going to be heard I’d have to pay it some attention and tour my ass off.
What’s the name of your band now?
It’s just my name now. Our music is pretty wild – it’s a pretty wild new sound. I make a joke that I feel like a rapper – but I don’t have a vitamin water, and won’t have one any time soon! [Laughs]
Good luck with the tour!
Thank you, that’s so nice.
