Juliette Lewis hits out at backlash double-standard for Natural Born Killers

Natural Born Killers star Juliette Lewis has criticised the double standard she noticed amid backlash to the controversial 1994 film.

These days we can't seem to get enough of TV shows and films about crime and murder, but when the Quentin Tarantino-written Natural Born Killers arrived on screens, it sparked a lot of criticism.

The film stars Woody Harrelson alongside Lewis as two victims of traumatized childhoods, who go on to both fall in love, and become psychopathic serial murderers.

It took a lot of inspiration from the 1958 killing spree of teenagers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, while also aiming to shine a light the media's response to such violence, but many viewers deemed the film too violent, and even went on to link it to real 'copycat' killings.

In the years after the film was released, Lewis was hit with backlash for her involvement, with some viewers taking her character a bit too seriously.

The actor reflected on her experiences in an interview with The Wrap during the Yellowjackets season 2 premiere, saying: "Way back when I did Natural Born Killers, they thought I was crazy, but they didn’t think about Woody Harrelson."

Despite the fact both Lewis and Harrelson were just doing their jobs - acting - in the film, Lewis expressed belief that critics treated her differently to her co-star.

"They accepted him as he was acting, but a woman showing volatility and repulsive behavior was certainly, you know [not acceptable]," she said.

Warner Bros.

Lewis went on to say that she now chooses to ignore what people have to say about her projects, saying: "I don’t read reviews. Don’t believe the hype and maybe you gotta believe the s**t. [My team] keeps me neutral."

Thankfully, fans have been much more appreciative of Lewis' role in Yellowjackets, which is returning for its second season following its initial release in 2021.

"People really validated me in ‘Yellowjackets’," Lewis said. "And I was completely flabbergasted and floored and it took me out of my head. And so that’s why I was getting verklempt."

The actor admitted she's 'always had one foot out the door of this business', but when the script for the mystery-drama came her way, she realised it was 'wild and amazing'.

“I was so happy that the writers and creators here gave me a dance floor on which to dance,” she said as she spoke alongside her fellow cast members at the event.