Pop Quiz: Juliette Lewis

Pop Quiz: Juliette Lewis

Aidin Vaziri | It's hard to tell what's worse: musicians who think they can act (see: Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Madonna) or actors who think they're musicians (see: Keanu Reeves, Russell Crowe, David Hasselhoff). So it comes as some relief to find one who gets it right. Juliette Lewis, the Oscar-nominated actress who is best known for her role in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers, " has made the transition look effortless with her glam-rock band Juliette and the Licks simply by playing it fast and loose. "We're not trying to be Pink Floyd," she says of the group's debut album, "You're Speaking My Language," out this week. And they're all the better for it.



Juliette Lewis of Juliette and the Licks
Q: Why the style change? Was there a spandex shortage or something?
A: No, it's just this year I was really inspired by androgyny. Last year was superheroes..
Q: So last year it was all about David Lee Roth. This year it's David Bowie.
A: Sure. I don't know.
Q: As a rock critic, it's my job to compare everything to everything else.
A: Oh, OK. I'm sure you'll make it sound interesting.
Q: Has the novelty of being in a band worn off yet?
A: It has not worn off. It's just that now that we've been touring so much, I crave the time to be in the studio. And then when we were in the studio, we crave touring.
Q: You can't win.
A: It's always going to be like that. But it hasn't worn off. Just when you're exhausted, it changes up and you go somewhere new. What is exhausting is I have to do 100 times more press than I did when I was acting.