Juliette Lewis picks her favourite song
Bursting onto theatre screens with her first major role as the troubled teenage daughter in Martin Scorsese’s remake of Cape Fear in 1991 and earning a ‘Supporting Actress’ Oscar nomination for her effort, Juliette Lewis garnered acclaim and critical praise for her versatility as an actor.
Three movies during the 1990s, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Till Dawn, all signified the strong emergence of female talent and showcased an incredible range from Lewis that has continued to this day. Her talents, however, extend well beyond the confines of the camera.
Having hinted at her musical abilities and excellent singing voice in films, most notably with a cover of PJ Harvey’s ‘Hardly Wait’ in Strange Days in 1995 and the Broadway musical number ‘Come Rain or Shine’ in The Other Sister four years later, Lewis gave fans her first bonafide musical entry with her band Juliette and the Licks and their debut EP, Like a Bolt of Lightning, in 2004. She followed up with two more albums with the group before embarking on a solo venture with Terra Incognita, on which she channelled her love for rock heroes Patti Smith and PJ Harvey.
Speaking to the New York Times back in April, Lewis picked her favourite song of all time, and based on her own musical endeavours, the choice is somewhat surprising: Billie Holiday’s rendition of ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’. Referring to the line “Can’t you hear a pitter-pat, babe?”, Lewis explained why Holiday’s rendition made such an evocative mark on her: “I picture like, little tapdancing… or it’s your heart when you’re excited and happy.”
Originally written by Dorothy Fields with compositions by Jimmy McHugh in 1930, ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’ quickly became a jazz standard that was covered by a whole range of seminal artists like Dave Brubeck and Count Basie, but probably most famously by Louis Armstrong. Lewis, clearly enjoying herself, continues to sing the famous line, “Life can be so sweet, on the sunny side of the street.”
Whilst the actor hasn’t appeared on the big screen for several years, with her last role being in Tate Taylor’s black comedy Breaking News in Yuba County, Lewis starred in Peacock’s remake of Russel T. Davies’ Queer as Folk, had a main role in the mystery drama Welcome to Chippendales and joined as a recurring cast member on the acclaimed and ongoing Showtime series Yellowjackets.
You can listen to Lewis’ favourite song below.
