It’s hard to remember a time when Juliette Lewis wasn’t making a memorable mark on the big screen — can you believe Cape Fear came out in 1991? But after a few years out of the spotlight, during which she focused on a music career, she’s back on the big screen. In movies like August: Osage County and Hellion, she’s reminding us how good she’s always been. Still, her supporting roles always leave us wanting more.
If you were wondering when Lewis might step into a lead role she can make all her own, director Jen McGowan has the answer. In Kelly & Cal, which premiered at SXSW 2014, Lewis and Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks) make great chemistry as an unlikely pair of confidants.
Kelly (Lewis) is a former Riot Grrrl-turned new mother, who finds herself bewildered and lost when she is thrust into life in suburbia, where she doesn’t quite fit in with the Yummy Mummy set. She loves her husband (Josh Hopkins, Cougar Town), but she can’t figure out how to connect with him anymore, emotionally or physically. (She pleasures herself while looking at a picture of George Clooney — more on that later.) When Kelly’s insecurities are exacerbated by a well-meaning, but overbearing, mother-in-law (a dynamite Cybill Shepherd), she needs to find someone to talk to, and quick.
Enter Cal (Weston), a high-school senior who’s dealing with his own recent crisis: A romantically inspired accident has left him paralyzed from the waist down. He’s adjusting to life in a wheelchair, but he’s not happy about it. When Kelly and Cal meet over a sneaked cigarette, they quickly develop the shared bond of outcasts, despite their significant age difference. It would be a shame to give away too much of the plot, but needless to say, boundaries are crossed and limits are tested. Theirs is a platonic love story that’s not quite platonic.
When I caught up with the pair in Austin, Lewis was just the kind of free spirit you’d expect: warm, open and reflective. She and Weston shared stories of music, connection, and, yes, Clooney.
Read the full interview on The Huffington Post:
Juliette Lewis and Jonny Weston Get a Little Inappropriate in Kelly & Cal
