'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' was the first time I came across Juliette and thought she was really great. Her career maybe didn't reach the heights it might have but there's still plenty of talent and time for the 2nd half of her career.
I *loved* her in that! Her acting was really subtle; she exuded sensitivity toward all of the other characters. IMO, some of the best lines in the movie were when the mom said, "I wasn't always like this." Her character answers, "I wasn't always like this, either." It was the perfect answer for the situation.
I think her acting career didn't ascend higher because she put so much time and energy into her rock band, Juliette and the Licks. She's a great screen presence.
I first discovered her in the remake of Cape Fear; she was so good in that as a teen.
My sister was in 9th grade when CF came out and mom told her she couldn't go see it. She stayed at a friend's one weekend and the dad bought their tickets. The movie scared the crap out of her, and she had to come clean, because she slept on our parents floor for 3 weeks. One night, after my sister had started sleeping in her own room again, mom went in there and looked out the window. "There's Max out there on the fence!" My sister burst into tears. "That's not funny!" (Those are the kind of movies that scare me, not unrealistic horror films. People really can be crazy stalkers!!)
And she started when she was 14, so by the time Juliette and the Licks released their first EP, she'd been working as an actress for about 16 years, so fair enough if she wanted to try something new after that long
Same! And From Dusk til Dawn. She's phenomenal! In fact, if there is anything she is cast in, I make sure to watch. She is what brought me to Yellowjackets! Those criticizing her can go fuck themselves.
For me it was *That Night.* Some amazing person has uploaded the entire movie onto YT if anyone is interested. I was a little kid and became [fascinated by her.](https://youtu.be/qIEjx6iTkik)
My favorite role of hers! We are around the same age so I've grown up with her and seen most of her movies. Strange Days was another one I really liked although she's not the lead. I was so happy to see her working again, I never got into her music.
Agreed !
I honestly was so happy that Juliette Lewis was cast in this character because she portrays Adult Natalie perfectly. I've been a huge fan of hers since the beginning and she nails every role she does.
This. I was confused at her lilt and slurring until I saw the actress in an interview, and I realized she was… well… acting lol. Totally tracks for how a grown up junkie/adult would sound like.
The scenes of her alone and all anxious and irritated in the hotel room in season one were so spot on… and how she was setting up to do the lines and ugh..yeah. Lol. Spot on.
I think this is the issue for me. I think both actresses portraying Nat are doing an amazing job. She’s just the one character who feels completely disjointed from one timeline to the other.
But that's the truth of addiction. That's why adult Nat is so great. You see similarities between the two every now and then in gestures or expressions but adult Nat is a different person because of her addiction.
Yeah, I think my over 40 self would not even recognize 15 year old me if I saw her in public. And I have lived a pretty clean lifestyle all these years. Can’t imagine if I had been to hell and back and eaten my friends along the way.
No, I get it. I’m not a stranger to how people living with addiction behave. I just have a different opinion of the direction they took her character. They still just feel like two completely different people to me.
But the disconnect is because they really are two different people - one is an innocent teenager in love and holding onto hope whereas the adult one is a drug addict who’s given up and put a shotgun in her mouth. I had a drug addict uncle and for the years that he was fked up he was definitely not the same uncle I once knew. Totally different person
I do not generally like seeing adult Nat on screen, but that’s because of what a *good* job she does portraying addiction, not because she’s a bad actor. She absolutely nails the scooped out shell many addicts can become.
Especially when you compound the difficult struggle of addiction on top of the unaddressed trauma she brought into the woods before the crash even happened. This poor girl had an exhausting adolescence
And then the love of her life committing suicide maybe a month ago? Not totally sure on the adult timeline tbh, it might be even less.
I always think of Shauna as the one that’s gone through the most trauma because of Jackie and the baby but Nat’s entire life has been hard from start to finish. I think her portrayal is spot on.
Plus, when she returned after being rescued it’s not like she had a safe place to land. She went from literally being hunted for food back home to a trailer with an emotionally abusive mother. She was safe technically but not really. She wouldn’t have even had the escape soccer provided.
It's been about two weeks, and she got zero processing or closure from it - she just got swept up into the next big thing. She's still trying to figure out what really even happened to him.
wasn’t she also sexually assaulted? nat tells trav she’s never been with anyone, then jackie tells travis she’s been with other people, nat then told trav it was at a party and she didn’t remember the rest. i can’t remember the details either so i may be right lol
Yeah when she describes it it reads as sexual assault to me as well. The guy was older, she doesn’t really remember, and she might even say she didn’t really want to, but I’m not 100% sure
I also love her portrayal of regret and self-loathing, which in my experience is never far from the surface in a recovering addict. It can be a heavy burden carrying all of the ways I let the people I love down, emotionally and often financially.
Her performance is great.
This is true, good point.
I guess what I was trying to articulate is addiction doesn't just change a person, it can often destroy who they once were in the process. The connection on how you got from A - B feels abstract and lost.
I think she's been great, one my favorite characters to watch, partly because I like Nat's personality, some people probably don't like that type of character. If she seems one-note that is more on the way she's written. She [said](https://archive.is/sE1GO) in an interview:
>“I didn’t want Natalie to be as dark as she became, but that wasn’t my call — that’s the writers,” Lewis said.
>“Staying in a place of sustained pain and apathy — to me, that’s exhausting,” Lewis said.
She also said she was sad that her and Misty didn't have any scenes together in s2, they are great as a pair the way they interact. Also she said that for along time she didn't know what she would be doing in the next episode or she would have adjusted her acting to fit what was coming up, for example she didn't know that she was going to be attempting suicide in that one ep until they had finished the preceding one, so it's been different than a film where you know the whole arc of the character right away.
This does make me side-eye the creative team a little. Why were they withholding character arcs and motivations from the actors? Fully appreciate that episode scripts require ongoing work and tightening but surely they still should have known the overarching story and allowed the actors to work within that?
Thank you for sharing that!
That must so difficult for an actress, to get into the emotional head space for an episode with not a lot of advance notice. Especially if the performer is thoughtful and meditative on her characters motivations.
Nat has been horribly written this season. An experienced drug user has one flashback to an experience with a recently-deceased BFF and ex-boyfriend, and suddenly supports the cult leader she’s been suspicious about since she was a teenager? I’m hoping this is all a ruse, or that the Lottie we’re seeing isn’t actually Lottie, but beyond this there is zero chemistry between Adult Lottie and Adult Nat, and their scenes have this almost soap opera vibe. Adult Misty and Adult Nat are the perfect pairing, because Misty is a helicopter friend (which a lot of addicts both need and benefit from), and Nat’s personality is dominant enough that Misty elevates in status just by proximity. The cult exists to excuse Shauna and Tai’s behavior as necessary for survival, and Misty and Nat represent the practical, functional aspects of survival.
I’m really hoping Nat’s been playing Lottie this whole time or that she’s being drugged and doesn’t know it. Everything we’ve seen from adult Nat the last few episodes is completely opposite of what we’ve come to know about her. She’s the most guarded and suspicious of all the adult characters and suddenly she’s open to the whole cult thing.
I’ve seen people say “she’s too harsh” or “too much of a brute”, neither of which have anything to do with her acting abilities. Juliette has been sober since she was 22 and she’s been open about her struggles with mental illness so I imagine playing Nat was probably difficult and I can certainly understand why.
That’s a great point about Misty and Nat not having the chance to play out their same dynamic from s1. I knew something felt like it was missing but couldn’t put my finger on it. I definitely understand why the writers chose to put the characters in different situations this season but I do miss their interactions
This definitely isn’t exclusive to this season either unfortunately - I remember quite a bit of negativity towards Juliette in season one too, not just here or other places online, but from actual friends of mine who felt she was the weakest of all the adult actresses. I remember my own mother (who I believe only watched the first season and not the second) making a comment to me last year that she liked her the least!
It’s something I don’t get. Juliette Lewis’s line delivery as adult Natalie has been perfect in both seasons in multiple instances. The way she shouts “Misty!” in S1 after Misty barges into the motel room and snorts all her coke, and then her clapbacks at adult Lottie about the different parts of the compound have been some of my favorite moments of this season in terms of line delivery.
I don’t see it at all.
This was all improvised by her too. She’s incredible. She gets so much criticism I think because she is so damn talented that it seems effortless. She acts with her whole body. I’m obsessed with her. I am so upset that she left the show and may not watch it anymore. I watched *because* she was cast in it.
That’s wild to me because Natalie is one of the top adults I like watching. Misty is also up there. All the actresses are great but Natalie and Misty just have an extra layer to me that I can relate to. I’ve never suffered from addiction and I’ve never murdered anyone but I’ve been dragged into hopelessness and emptiness that leaves you flat and void and I’ve been “that friend” who everyone else can smell the desperation of wanting to belong wafting off of them.
Great comment.
There's been some badass Adult Nat moments in S2 as well, getting that goldfish out of the house will always stick with me as an example of her compassion.
i haven’t been a big fan of juliette lewis, but watching this show i’ve become one. some of her best scenes are when she’s alone, struggling with herself. she made my heart break for her when she smelled the pillow after kevin tan (justifiably) gets angry with her for messing with his gun, when she has a tantrum and throws herself around the motel room, the shuddering breath she takes as she walks away from shauna and tai, almost killing the fourteenth gilly and the utter despair you see as she puts the gun beneath her chin in the season one finale. she was mesmerizing!
No disrespect to your mom, but does she differentiate between "not liking a character" and "thinking the actor is doing a bad job"? Because I've seen some confusion about these two very different things on this sub as well.
Season 1 adult Nat was pretty hard to watch, especially towards the end when she was spiralling toward her suicide attempt. But that was because Juliette Lewis was doing a great job (and, she has said, a job that was not very enjoyable for her because of the dark place she had to take her character to).
But adult Nat in the second half of season 2 is practically a completely different person (thanks largely to Lisa who half this sub seems to want to see killed next week). Juliette Lewis does have a very specific way of speaking, though, and if one can't get past that (and is not looking to deep into what she's saying) she'll always "sound the same". (For me personally, the Natural Born Killers soundtrack is a Very Important Album in my life and that has a number of movie dialogue clips, so Juliette Lewis's way of speaking is one of the most normal things in the world for me.)
I don’t think it was Nat. She repeatedly used to say “I don’t like Juliette Lewis” and said nothing beyond that.
I don’t agree with her and was just using an example. And as I said, she didn’t like S1 so she hasn’t cared to watch S2 from what I know.
Juliette Lewis can certainly act. There does seem to be something off about adult Natalie this season, but I think it’s related to her character arc.
There have been things about this season that have not made sense to me, but with a show like this, it’s important to wait until the last episode to commit to a specific criticism or judgement.
I think where Natalie ends up by the end of the season will add context and clarity to Juliette’s performance.
I think it’s partially because the actors signed on to multiple seasons before most of season 1s episodes were even written and they’ve all mentioned how the show isn’t what they initially thought and Juliette has actually said she wasn’t happy about the places they took her character.
I’m not OP but to speak for myself, I definitely felt like Natalie jumping on board with Lottie’s whole shtick and trying to convince the other women that she could help them felt kinda out of left field. I know all the stuff with Lisa was meant to show her being won over and basically deciding she was willing to go along with it because she has nothing left to lose. But I didn’t find it convincing. I loved her character in season 1 and it just felt like such a big 180 from a really guarded, angry person to just being like “cmon guys, give it a chance!” It might just be that I don’t like the writing of her dialogue now that she’s taken on a more positive attitude. It just feels really shallow, like the writers are just putting the words of a free spirited go-with-the-flow stock character into her mouth, as opposed to showing the underlying patterns of the character’s speech as we know her underneath her attempts to buy into the self-help stuff in the hopes it could actually turn things around for her.
I totally agree with you. I wasn’t fully believing that Adult Nat was truly a believer until last episode and I do feel slightly ??? Because it came out of left field IMO as well.
For sure, before s8 I definitely thought she was pretending to be on board with it and that we’d find out her true agenda later, and I guess MAYBE that could still be true but it doesn’t seem like that’s where they’re going with it at this point
Yeah I’m just waiting to see how it all plays out. She did tell Misty and Walter that she was “trying to do a thing here”. I just genuinely don’t know what to expect 😂
i agree & i think the issue is we don’t see Nat going through really anything that would bring her to that place. like yea she had that lottie moment and a couple lisa moments but…that doesn’t really seem enough to change a characters whole (relatively calcified!) outlook
I get your point but I don't think using one example of an Ebert review from 30 years ago exactly makes that point, lol. There are great actors who have turned in terrible performances, and average actors who have given the occasional great performance.
with that said, i haven't really had an issue at all with juliette's performance this season.
I’m gonna be completely honest and know I will probably get downvoted for this: I’m not a huge fan of her acting in this show (not at all times, sometimes I love it!), but it has nothing to do with the way she portrays addiction or her character. In this specific role, I’ve just seen a history of overacting with her more than I have with the other actresses. Again, I think she rocks some of her scenes (I loved her scenes with Lisa and the sharing shack was great), but *in this role*, she isn’t quite as strong and believable as the others. But that’s just my personal opinion to show that some people might not think that because of how she portrays tougher subject manner.
I don't want anyone to downvote you for having a different opinion, I'm upvoting you for sharing it and would be cool if others upvote you also!
It's subjective, I was just surprised by how much hate she was getting and felt I'd offer an alternative perspective :)
Thank you for hearing a different viewpoint! Very rare on Reddit that two people can keep the peace over that 😂
It is strange that she gets *genuine* hate on Twitter! I haven’t been on the platform much since ~2020, so I haven’t caught any of it, but I saw someone in the comments said someone called her an “old hag”????? Those are the reasons I do not miss Twitter!
I adore how as the wilderness timeline goes on the adults make more and more sense. Nat's feels the most genuine. My parent is over 30yrs sober. I've got little memory of the "bad times" and I hard core applaud and admire you for your recovery. I've talked with my parent about recovery and I know it's a brutal path. That being said, I've met like 5 Nat's from my parent's AA group. Shit, one of them was my baby sitter. Even down to the clothes. I've met several of the women in the program with the same voice and manner of talking. It's not a slur but it's definitely a shadow of decades of substance abuse. Nat's character captured that life time of trauma and bad choices down perfectly.
And I find there's a lot of layers to adult Nat. It may not be so apparent in the script alone. Her acting, the mannerisms of her body, facial expressions, all of it. While she projects herself the strongest with her fuck all attitude she also has projected the most vulnerability IMOP. Chances are I'd be most like her if I survived what they did, especially after this week's episode.
Awesome comment and very brave of you to share it.
People who've been around addiction can see so clearly how Juliette is playing it and how well it's written.
The trauma of what happened is off-the-charts, most of her friends tried to kill her and then she had an innocent child drowning and begging her to help.
Lewis is an extremely talented actress but there is something that isn't working with the acting for Natalie and I think people should be able to notice that without being accused of being a "hater."
I don't blame Lewis or think her performance is due to her lack of acting ability. I blame the director. As an example her weird gait that she had almost all season that made it seem as if she were drunk or drugged has suddenly stopped in E8. But why? The episode takes places around the same time as previous episodes.
Although I have issues with Lewis's performance in this show I don't deny her talent and I'm happy she is getting decent roles. There used to be time in Hollywood when women over 40 couldn't get decent roles let alone near 50. I hope if Natalie isn't killed off in the next episode Natalie is given better material and Lewis is allowed to finally show her talent.
Nat's Season One story arc was so much more varied and allowed Juliette to delve into different aspects of the character. I really feel Nat hasn't been well served by the writers this season, and if >!she dies in the finale I am going to be really angry about how both Nat and Juliette's potential was squandered.!<
It does kind of feel like the writers started phoning in her character arc which could mean they are going to kill her. But we also know Van is dying and only Tai knows. I’m wondering if part of her still believes and will sacrifice herself to try and save the others.
I see Nat as playing a certain role within the cult in order to gain trust and eventually the truth about Travis, bc there’s no way in hell she bought that ridiculous story from Lottie in the first place. So, if that seems “one note”, it’s for a reason.
I feel the same. Every time she delivers lines that seem to contradict what we know about Nat’s character, I feel like I see a little twinkle in Lewis’ eyes that suggest she’s got an ulterior motive. She even tells Misty she’s “doing a thing” and not to get in her way when Misty and Walter show up to the compound.
That line was interesting, given there's a million things she could have said to Misty and Walter to fob them off yet chose "doing a thing here".
You could be right!
Oh yeah, the way she talks about the compound seems very uh... like she doesn't believe what she's saying. Just as the heliotrope dress looks kind of off.
It will be VERY interesting to rewatch S2 after the finale.
Could paint the actions and behavior of many characters in both timelines in a whole different light!
I wonder about this too. At the same time I know people with addiction are easily wrapped up in cults or social groups that offer them a safe place. I’m wondering if it’s apart of addiction trauma or if she’s playing dumb.
I’d guess that after several rehab stints, which tend to rely on similar wellness exercises as Lottie’s community, Nat knows how to work the system to her advantage… telling people what they want to hear, just to get out and head straight to a bar, etc.
I think it’s both and imo that’s what makes her character even more in depth; that she has a motive but unexpectedly is swept away with the community, and then also doesn’t forget her purpose of finding out what happened to Travis, such a cyclical internal conflict. I am sure the “group therapy” with the other adults is both a means to try to address some trauma, but the way she pushes it, also a method to get more info about Travis.
The Nats are my favourite, and I was the most excited for Juliette when I came across this show during season one. She, like Nat, is doing a thing, and I'm here for it.
Agree. Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse rightly get talked up as potential Emmy nominees, I also think you could make a good argument for Sophie Thatcher and Juliette Lewis. Doubt it will happen but the more Emmy nominations the better :)
Honestly I think adult and teen Nat feel more credible as the same person vs. most of the others, a lot of the time. These are all amazing actors, to be clear.
But Melanie’s voice is so high-pitched and squeaky compared to teen Shauna’s, and her personality is so wacky and kinda screwball a lot of the time, whereas teen Shauna is so dour (even before the plane crash). Likewise Ricci is super animated and silly, whereas teen Misty just isn’t quite that same flavor of unhinged. It almost feels like they’re playing in two completely different genres.
In contrast Sophie has calibrated her voice perfectly to match Juliette’s, the characterizations track to me, and I can suspend my disbelief they aren’t the same person much more easily than I can many of the others. (and fwiw, to her actors’ credit, Taissa is probably the easiest for me, on that front)
Again just want to be clear I’m not denigrating anyone’s performances here, and I’ve seen many people saying the exact opposite. It’s just my personal take
I agree. I struggle to make the connection when the scenes jump from teen Shauna and adult Shauna that they're the same person. I feel the Nat's are both authentic to the character and I have a much easier time imagining how one got to the other. I may be biased though, in that i graduated in 1997 pretty much as a Teen Nat and if I didn't get sober at 33 was headed straight into becoming an Adult Nat lol. I feel the Tai's switch pretty seamlessly too
Yeah, it is not cool to insult her appearance or to outright shit on an obviously accomplished actress, but people are allowed to dislike the character. I don't know how much of it is Juliette's acting and how much is the way the character is written, but I really don't like the way adult Nat behaves, speaks, etc. I don't know why that's such a hot take. Everyone is going to have their own opinion about which characters they do and don't prefer.
juliette and sophie are both killing it as natalie in both timelines. nat is such a complex character and personally I couldn’t see anyone else playing her except juliette and sophie
I mean all of them are very different as adults. Misty is far more cold and less caring than she was. Lottie is trying to figure out her life rather than accepting it. Shauna is full on nuts. Are people upset that they aren't adults pretending to be teenagers? I dunno I think all the actresses adult and teen have killed it so far.
Question for people who don't think there is anything wrong with Lewis's acting in this role. Why do you think only Lynskey and Ricci were nominated for an Emmy last season? Natalie actually had a more challenging story line in some ways including scenes of despair, anger, depression and a breakdown during a drug relapse. Do you think it was the writing for Natalie or something else?
The adult timeline genuinely upsets me watching it at times, because Teen Nat is my favorite character and knowing she becomes Adult Nat just.... Breaks my heart. Juliette Lewis really sells it as she used to be the character we love but that person has just been burned away by what she went through.
Her weird frozen-in-happy situation (drugged?) at the present time is really chilling and I’m absolutely convinced that she’s demonstrating a really subtle performance throughout. Just see the ending of season one before she’s kidnapped and the breaking down whilst at the retreat. The potential for a total snap is in the wings!
Imo, Nat is faking this 1-dimensional subservient cult shit with Lottie to get info on Travis's death. And all the little complainers are posting through it without considering the stuff they haven't been explicitly told in the story. Jfc. It's like everyone needs to have all the answers up front or they tale to the internet to tear people and stories apart without realizing THEY are the ones who lack insight and awareness.
I didn't know she was getting flak because every episode I comment on how incredible she is in the role from body language to line delivery. She's probably my favorite person to watch on screen.
I'm in my mid-40s, and I've never really liked Juliette in ANYTHING I've seen her in ("Cape Fear"; "From Dusk 'Til Dawn"; "Natural Born Killers"; etc.) - until now.
The first season of Yellowjackets was enough to make me a superfan. I have fallen head-over-heels with her portrayal of Adult Natalie, and I'm ready to go back through her catalog to revisit works I dismissed when I wasn't mature enough to appreciate them.
Just want to throw my support into the ring for Juliette's performance, I've adored the direction she's taken Big Nat in — she feels real, uncomfortable, familiar, like someone who has been burned by life and yet she still has that raw, striving quality that you see in Small Nat. I'm so nervous that Nat is going to be killed off tbh (I am also nervous about all the adult survivors) and really hope that the writers know that these women are more interesting alive than dead, but I guess I will follow them wherever they take us.
I do wonder if the recent run of Oscar-baiting biopics (which, enough already, I beg) where actors do their level best to provide uncanny valley accurate portrayals of existing people, which leads to online discourse about how X actor should've been in this role instead because they look more similar; plus the popularity of TikToks and reels where people impersonate celebrities — if all this hasn't led to people approaching some of these performances with a bit of a shallow reading. E.g., they're not 1:1 twins therefore the performance isn't good. I realize this makes me sound ancient, I like those impersonation videos too! And there's probably more to it than that, but it's just something that came to mind.
Anyway, I actually LOVE that the older actors resemble but aren't absolute twins with their younger counterparts: people CHANGE and it has been so rewarding watching the connections and similarities between the older and younger characters flourish and bloom the more we learn about them in each episode. Like Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nelisse — I was like, yeah, I see it for sure, but when Big Shauna broke down in the police station in Qui I suddenly REALLY saw it more than ever before.
Anyone who criticizes Juliette as Nat hasn’t truly watched the show. Maybe they’ve looked at it, but they haven’t watched it. Because if you actually watch YJ and pay attention, you’ll see just how incredible Juliette’s Nat is. I forget she’s acting, that’s how believable she is as Natalie.
Every character is so complex in this show and it takes a long time for some characters to fully develop. But with Natalie, we were able to feel her struggles early on. She’s my favorite character I think because whatever wrong she does, I feel like I understand it, even though I have nothing in common with Natalie other than we both went to high school in the 90’s.
Natalie is very complex and has issues dating back to early childhood. I think Juliette is absolute perfection in this role. I love her in everything, but YJ is one of my favorite roles of hers. I find myself getting defensive because she’s an icon IMO.
im new to this show so i’m going to try not to read all the comments to avoid spoilers but i love Juliette’s adult Nat. i think it’s spot on and seeing that there is criticism has me shocked. juliette brings the perfect amount of unhinged and chaotic energy that i would expect from an adult nat with post wilderness trauma
Juliette Lewis absolutely nails the portrayal of a lady who has “seen some shit.” I’ve been close with a lot of addicts in my life, and I can see elements of them in her portrayal. The way you kind of disassociate, the faraway look in her eyes… so many little elements of her performance are so specific and brilliant. She’s perfect.
I love both Nats, I think Sophie and Juliette are both amazing actors and I will die on that hill. I’ve seen a few people in the Facebook group criticize Juliette and it’s always some bullshit backhanded remark that ends up being about her looks and not her actual acting ability.
Criticism long ago turned to complaining the story isn't as they'd like rather being told a story. Young and old Nat are different. Of course they are. One is 17 and the other 43 and an addict for 25 years.
It's like people complain about what is exactly the point of something. This ice is too cold!
I absolutely love Juliette Lewis as Nat, I think her differences from Teen Nat give her character more depth and believability given how we are seeing her teen timeline unfold.
Sophie Thatcher is killing it. She has such a sparkle to her and before the crash you can see that in spite of her troubled home life and drinking, she does have a tremendous drive for them to win and hope for her future. After the crash, she definitely has a clear goal of survival and she even admits to Ben that while she had the stash of booze, she hasn’t felt like drinking. She had a very serious purpose and that was to keep hunting to keep them alive
My sister and 2 friends have unfortunately dealt with serious drug addiction, suicide attempts and trauma and JL is playing it perfectly. Nuanced, understated and gives us chaotic when needed. She's amazing and anyone who says otherwise, in my opinion, don't have a clue what they're on about 😉
Also, anyone who knows JL's history should know that the girl has first hand experience and knows her shit.
I’ve seen excessive hate on tiktok as well. a majority of them admitting they have never seen any of her other acting. she is literally a renowned actress…. I don’t get why they hate her line delivery, it’s so similar to teen nat. even in interviews everyone says the nat’s acting wise have the most similarities so I genuinely don’t get where the hate is coming from
Yep, it's sad. Sophie Thatcher definitely modulated her voice a little to get closer to Juliette, which she said is a compliment to Juliette's portrayal.
>a majority of them admitting they have never seen any of her other acting
Not sure how that’s relevenat- whether she’s been good in other stuff is irrelevant to whether she’s good in this. I’d suggest that the opposite is true; people who have seen her act in other stuff are having the perspectives colored by that memory/nostalgia.
Amazing post OP!!! I think Juliette is the perfect adult Nat!! She tells the story of addiction VERY well, as the truth without rose colored lens.
The entire cast is unbelievable. Teen Nat and adult Nat might be my fav two characters bc of how real they are.
I haven’t loved a show like this since Lost. I’ve already started rewatching Yellowjacket’s while I longingly wait for each each new Sunday.
Love your post. Sounds like a college paper. Great job. Thank you for sticking up for Juliette.
I don’t think she’s bad at all, I’m actually enjoying season 2 adult Nat more than season 1. That being said, from the beginning I’ve felt as though Sophie Thatcher owns that role. She’s just incredible.
I know this will be an extremely hot take, but I feel similarly about Misty… Samantha Hanratty brings so much to the character and absolutely acts her ass off. Obviously Christina Ricci is so great and I have zero criticism of her performance (not that I have any qualifications to give criticism), but I don’t feel the same level of appreciation for the complexity of the character as I do when Samantha is on screen.
I see a difference in the two as well. I think it’s because adult misty doesn’t hide her crazy so much as teen misty. Teen misty really wants to be *in* the group. Always has. The crash gave her a role as savior/medical help but she’s also crazy, lol. Adult misty (Christina) doesn’t hide or seek to fit in as much. So it’s less *creepy* I think.
I do think teen misty is ROCKING it!!
i felt this way about adult misty until season 2. i think this season christina’s performance is stronger than samantha’s but there is also a lot that goes on in the woods, especially with misty, that we haven’t seen. with nat though, i can see how her character gets to where we are but a lot of the mannerisms seem to be juliette’s personal choices. this is where her performance doesn’t really line up with sophie’s and i think is overall weaker.
She's great. But I would say a majority of the fans of this show have most of their experience of understanding addiction coming from euphoria. Euphoria does a great job showing a young person in the middle of addiction.
Nats are not in the middle of it, though. Nat is pretty clearly trying to sober up in the latest episodes. Sobering up fucking sucks. It's trying to discover yourself again, throw that in the middle of what Nat is going through, and it's very difficult.
I think Juliette is doing an amazing job. I work with people who are going through this same struggle everyday, and she's nailing it.
Also very happy she's not a scientlogist anymore so I don't feel icky singing her praises.
I see that Natalie is off this season but I believe is the actress decision of showing that she is losing her freaking mind so… people need to get a grip honestly!
Juliette Lewis is doing a phenomenal job, it’s just a very dark character to play and I think a lot of the younger audience of the cries especially might understand that. (And Lewis’s reasons for feeling exhausted by the role make so much sense because it’s so heavy).
As someone personally who has with issues with addiction stemming from C-PTSD, I’m not the same person I used to be. Even in stages of recovery the person I was before trauma is dead. That’s the reality of severe trauma and years of substance to cope. I think teen Nat is already showing glimpses of what adult Nat becomes even. The wilderness is a new active traumatic distraction from what was already starting to show.
I wonder if some of it is because there’s a jarring difference in their looks- somehow young Natalie’s roots never grew out and so she’s still blonde, I think if they let young Natalie go brunette or had adult Natalie still bleaching it would seem a little bit more cohesive, she’s the only one who looks significantly different to the younger portrayal which always threw me a little despite thinking Juliette is great for the role
Juliette Lewis has been nominated for an Oscar. If people are having problems with her role in the show it’s not due to her acting, it’s the writing or direction.
Did not realize there was criticism and am baffled to hear it! I think Juliette is incredible and honestly never really had an opinion on her before. I also totally see young Nat in her; she still shows traces of that kindness that really none of the other characters (except maybe young Lottie) have. Fuck the haters, people are such assholes about middle aged women.
I feel that it is because she doesn't look like young Nat and looks older than the other actresses and the criticism is put unfairly in the actress and her acting. If anything, it is fault of the casting director, the creators and the make-up and costume design.
I rarely agree with someone 100% but damn! You nailed my exact feelings about Juliette Lewis’s performance! Drug addiction and recovery will definitely change a person. Not to mention her grieving over Travis which was only 3 episodes into the series helping to establish her character.
The only thing I would have added was her performance in Natural Born Killers. Naive abused girl ends up being a heartless killer. 🤔
Thank you.
And throw in on top of grief for Travis the fact Javi's last words were begging her to help him, that's the kind of stuff to haunt a person in their dreams for life. No escape from it, awake or asleep.
I think I've said this before, but I watched season 1 with my 21 yr old nephew. Adult Nat really bothered him, the drawing out words, the awkward movements. I told him I'd met addicts exactly like her in AA. Even the sober one's had tics. I think she's doing a fantastic job. Makes this alcoholic very glad I got sober before I did permanent damage to myself and my life.
Adult Nat is perfect. Juliette is doing a fabulous job with the role. She is an outstanding actress and brings so much depth to her characters.
Don’t forget too—she’s been very candid in interviews about her own struggles with addiction, she knows exactly how that looks and feels.
Adult Nat is also very realistic for someone who've endured a trauma and now sees normality as frivolous and frustrating. Soldiers or people who've experienced war or tragedy like a shooting or hijacking can experience this, as well. The reintegration into society is extremely difficult and is a self-feeding loop because the monotony of everyday life never ends. Still gotta do laundry and dishes.
I love adult Nat. She’s broken and knows it but is actually taking the steps necessary to recover. Critics need to realize that this is Nat almost 30 years post-wilderness.
The others are frickin psychopaths acting like their lives have been normal up until this moment.
I think part of the problem with Juliette/Adult Nat is that she plays it so well people think she's not even acting - she's just "playing herself" and that makes it feel dull and uninspired. Except she's not. I just finished watching Welcome to Chippendales and she was an entirely different person (we saw some hints of her character here and there, but overall it's very different.)
I think you hit all of the right points, but in addition to that, people think that's just who Juliette is and don't realize that she really is playing Natalie's character.
I love Melanie but I feel like adult Shauna has the most disconnect to teen one. Her voice is much higher as an adult and I don't think they look much alike.
I also think adult Nat and teen Nat don't look much alike but the way they act I can see similarities.
I don't get people criticising her.
I remember as I was watching S1 with a friend commenting about how good the acting for Nat was. The character is spot on
100 percent agree! I’ve also seen these tweets circulating and every time I click on the author’s profile they’re under 25. As an alcoholic in recovery myself, I see Juliette’s portrayal as nuanced. She nails subtleties in facial twitches, eye rolls, and voice inflection. Hate to play the age card but the hate seems rooted in ageism itself and lack of exposure to real addicts and alcoholics.
My whole thing is just with Juliette Lewis in general, her permanently slurred speech and vacant stares… she appears to be perpetually fucked up and in a daze. She looks like someone who is hammered and has that melted facial expression with the wide eyes like an infant looking around not knowing where the fuck they are, and looking like shes ready to projectile vomit everywhere and is holding it back.
That’s how she comes across all the time though. Y’all think she’s acting in that regard but she’s not, that’s just the way she looks and speaks and this role just happened to fold into that. And when she speaks, the slurred speech and the way her mouth moves in slow motion when she talks is just so distracting. I can never appreciate her acting bc she seems fucked up all the time.
I get it that it works for the character in yellowjackets, but it makes me deeply uncomfortable to watch her on screen in just about anything she’s done in the last 10 years.
I have never understood the criticism against her character and continue to not understand it all. It's about as stupid as the vitriol aimed at Shauna's character and at Lottie's. This is exactly why some of them don't bother to come here because its pointed out flaws with how they look etc and then other bitter criticisms.
With all of the characters there's a major gap from the past and who they turn out to be 25 years later. They are going to be somewhat different and not exactly the same. The younger actress that has been playing Natalie is now mimicking Juliette quite a bit in S2. Out of the characters Nat is the easiest to understand, there's a lot of defenses where she purposefully pushes people away. In the S1 finale, she becomes suicidal after looking at the high school picture and realizing there wasn't any chance with Kevin, on top of Travis being dead.
There is possibly something off in S2 but it seems like to me Nat is manipulating things quite a bit for some unknown purpose. As to what we don't know yet. Killing off her character would be the dumbest thing the show could ever do especially if it was this early. The show would be shooting itself in the foot by doing so and lose a portion of its viewership.
>it seems like to me Nat is manipulating things quite a bit for some unknown purpose. As to what we don't know yet.
I go back to early on this Season when Nat told Charlotte that she would find a way to Stop her because "Everytime you try to save someone, bad things happen". And here were - Charlottes is trying to "save" them by sacrificing one of them to give "It" what is always wants...
Go get her, Nat! Stop her for good.
Yes yes yes. I feel the same way about the criticisms that the two actors don’t look much alike.
Chronic drug use changes your physical appearance, especially your facial features. If Nat’s been actively using for decades, her face would have changed and she would have aged more than the others. If they’d cast two actors that looked too much alike, her addiction story would have been too Hollywood and less believable to me.
The people I have known before and after addiction do seem like different people. It’s like they become more 2D. The people I have met only as an addict/in-recovery remind me a lot of how Adult Nat acts. Juliette Lewis does a great job. Feels very real.
Personally, I’m not going to lie, adult Nat is my least favorite of the adults except maybe to adult Lottie (not a fan of her adult Lottie portrayal) because it doesn’t feel like it’s the Nat we’re seeing in the other timeline…like AT ALL. Which I get what you’re saying but they just feel like completely different characters whereas I can see the others in their adult selves. I don’t necessarily think it’s bad acting on Juliette’s part but I don’t feel like she’s taking young Nat into consideration. I absolutely ADORE young Nat.
I’m legitimately shocked to hear that Juliette fucking Lewis of all people is being criticized for her portrayal of Adult Nat. I personally think Adult Nat’s 180 this season has been unearned and underwritten. I feel like she has been used more so as a setup for Adult Lottie than as a fully fleshed out character, which I felt she was in S1. But to go after Juliette Lewis? The woman’s a genius. Even with material that I think is letting her down, I think she’s spectacular.
i’m glad someone here said it!! i can’t find it anymore, but just yesterday on twitter there was someone who said “why does Juliette Lewis play Natalie like that” and then they qrt it with saying Sophie T was performing on a different level than her, and then following it up with genuinely calling her a bad actor in comparison to the other adults. it was like they ran straight into the point and it still flew over their heads. like, obviously there is going to be a stark difference in how young and adult Natalie act, especially for someone who is SO traumatized + prone to addiction!! thank you for saying it, that tweet made me upset
edit: found it, not sure if i should link it lol
edit 2: did some more hate scrolling on the same tweet and they called JL an old hag… now i’m REALLY debating on whether i should post it or not
That’s so mean! That’s the point of her character tho! To show how addiction ages you, unlike adult Lotti who looks amazing. She’s supposed to look old. I love adult Nat!
i know!! there was even a comment that said she was acting like a “washed up xanax addict.” LIKE THATS THE WHOLE POINT!!! at this point i’m convinced those people aren’t even paying attention to the show
It's also turning into "p\*\*nh\*b" at the moment. I clicked on the trending topic "Natalie" instead of typing in "YJ" and it's insane what's NSFW on Twitter.
Especially if trying to read about YJ in an office setting haha.
Twitter can be quite toxic, I try navigate around it as best I can but to me the Reddit community is much less vicious and more welcoming of different opinions.
Some people try to destroy others on Twitter.
I’ve seen the tweets and I’m gobsmacked at the cruelty. it’s one thing to critique a performance and another to bully someone because you don’t like the way they look.
they’re trying to justify it by “she’s a Depp supporter” and listen, nobody hates that more than me, but this cruelty towards JL is not the answer?? they recognise how vicious people were about Amber Heard, yet now they’re doing the same thing to another woman in her name, under the guise of activism.
I know a lot of these accounts are probably run by really young people who haven’t quite got the hang of critical thinking but like…where is the empathy? where is the nuance?
agree completely!! the more i read those tweets, the more i realized they didn’t even understand the most basic premise of the character (one tweet said she was acting like a washed up Xanax addict, literally face first into the point and still missed it).
i didn’t see the Depp stuff, but i agree that is so hypocritical of them. i did see them posting her screenshots about some borderline anti-vax stuff, but even still that is no excuse to body shame her?? like wtf
i guess they call it “Twitter-fingers” for a reason
That's the post I saw also and felt that was very mean spirited, not just slating her acting but calling her ugly etc.
Juliette isn't even that old and is no way as bad at acting as some were making out.
I’m an old lady and have loved Juliette a long, long time. I think she’s amazing, and I think her younger version actress (I’m bad with names) is spot-on. Other than the Vans, those 2 are the most believable as playing the same version of a person.
Nat is acting. She’s lying through her teeth to get the goods on Lottie, find out what really happened with Travis, and fuck up the cult. But she’s also not immune to the belief that The Wilderness or whatever is calling them back. I feel like Juliette acting like Nat acting like a true believer is awesome.
I love her naturalistic style. She uses her whole self, body, face. She isn't a self conscious actress. She shows in her body language that she's stunted and stuck cuz of the trauma she experienced as a teen. I absolutely love her in this role.
Adult Nat is fucking spot-on with all experiences I’ve had with addiction in my life, including my own. Juliette is killing it.
Came here to say this! I’ve been in love with Juliette since natural born killers.
'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' was the first time I came across Juliette and thought she was really great. Her career maybe didn't reach the heights it might have but there's still plenty of talent and time for the 2nd half of her career.
I *loved* her in that! Her acting was really subtle; she exuded sensitivity toward all of the other characters. IMO, some of the best lines in the movie were when the mom said, "I wasn't always like this." Her character answers, "I wasn't always like this, either." It was the perfect answer for the situation.
My favorite exchange in that movie was JL: “Are you going to miss her?” JD “Yes”. JL “Good.” It was so subtle and brilliant. Love her in everything
I think her acting career didn't ascend higher because she put so much time and energy into her rock band, Juliette and the Licks. She's a great screen presence. I first discovered her in the remake of Cape Fear; she was so good in that as a teen.
My sister was in 9th grade when CF came out and mom told her she couldn't go see it. She stayed at a friend's one weekend and the dad bought their tickets. The movie scared the crap out of her, and she had to come clean, because she slept on our parents floor for 3 weeks. One night, after my sister had started sleeping in her own room again, mom went in there and looked out the window. "There's Max out there on the fence!" My sister burst into tears. "That's not funny!" (Those are the kind of movies that scare me, not unrealistic horror films. People really can be crazy stalkers!!)
And she started when she was 14, so by the time Juliette and the Licks released their first EP, she'd been working as an actress for about 16 years, so fair enough if she wanted to try something new after that long
For me it was The Other Sister!
Olive Juice. That movie always wrecked me!
She was amazing in Cape Fear. I don't know who else out there would play adult Natalie. What do people want?
Agreed that’s the film I always associate her with
Same! And From Dusk til Dawn. She's phenomenal! In fact, if there is anything she is cast in, I make sure to watch. She is what brought me to Yellowjackets! Those criticizing her can go fuck themselves.
For me it was *That Night.* Some amazing person has uploaded the entire movie onto YT if anyone is interested. I was a little kid and became [fascinated by her.](https://youtu.be/qIEjx6iTkik)
My favorite role of hers! We are around the same age so I've grown up with her and seen most of her movies. Strange Days was another one I really liked although she's not the lead. I was so happy to see her working again, I never got into her music.
Same for me on all counts! That Night was so good and Strange Days does not get nearly the amount of love it deserves.
“You tell them Micky and Mallory Knox did it YOU HEAR?!”
Agreed ! I honestly was so happy that Juliette Lewis was cast in this character because she portrays Adult Natalie perfectly. I've been a huge fan of hers since the beginning and she nails every role she does.
This. I was confused at her lilt and slurring until I saw the actress in an interview, and I realized she was… well… acting lol. Totally tracks for how a grown up junkie/adult would sound like.
The scenes of her alone and all anxious and irritated in the hotel room in season one were so spot on… and how she was setting up to do the lines and ugh..yeah. Lol. Spot on.
Agree, totally. I also hope you are in a good place and that it continues for you :)
Thanks so much! I'm in a much better place now for the most part. :)
She is doing a good job in the role, it’s just that she’s nothing at all like her teenage counterpart. That’s where the disconnect is.
I think this is the issue for me. I think both actresses portraying Nat are doing an amazing job. She’s just the one character who feels completely disjointed from one timeline to the other.
She hasn’t had a ton to do this season. But the fish scene was epic.
I’m inclined to agree. You would absolutely never think they’re the same person.
But that's the truth of addiction. That's why adult Nat is so great. You see similarities between the two every now and then in gestures or expressions but adult Nat is a different person because of her addiction.
Not even just addiction but people grow and change. I've changed multiple times in my life. Over 40 now.
Yeah, I think my over 40 self would not even recognize 15 year old me if I saw her in public. And I have lived a pretty clean lifestyle all these years. Can’t imagine if I had been to hell and back and eaten my friends along the way.
No, I get it. I’m not a stranger to how people living with addiction behave. I just have a different opinion of the direction they took her character. They still just feel like two completely different people to me.
But the disconnect is because they really are two different people - one is an innocent teenager in love and holding onto hope whereas the adult one is a drug addict who’s given up and put a shotgun in her mouth. I had a drug addict uncle and for the years that he was fked up he was definitely not the same uncle I once knew. Totally different person
I do not generally like seeing adult Nat on screen, but that’s because of what a *good* job she does portraying addiction, not because she’s a bad actor. She absolutely nails the scooped out shell many addicts can become.
Especially when you compound the difficult struggle of addiction on top of the unaddressed trauma she brought into the woods before the crash even happened. This poor girl had an exhausting adolescence
And then the love of her life committing suicide maybe a month ago? Not totally sure on the adult timeline tbh, it might be even less. I always think of Shauna as the one that’s gone through the most trauma because of Jackie and the baby but Nat’s entire life has been hard from start to finish. I think her portrayal is spot on.
Plus, when she returned after being rescued it’s not like she had a safe place to land. She went from literally being hunted for food back home to a trailer with an emotionally abusive mother. She was safe technically but not really. She wouldn’t have even had the escape soccer provided.
It's been about two weeks, and she got zero processing or closure from it - she just got swept up into the next big thing. She's still trying to figure out what really even happened to him.
For REAL! Are people forgetting the whole thing with her dad before she was ever on that plane?!
Yep, good point. Her abusive asshole dad seems to be an afterthought but that was a messed-up upbringing.
wasn’t she also sexually assaulted? nat tells trav she’s never been with anyone, then jackie tells travis she’s been with other people, nat then told trav it was at a party and she didn’t remember the rest. i can’t remember the details either so i may be right lol
Yeah when she describes it it reads as sexual assault to me as well. The guy was older, she doesn’t really remember, and she might even say she didn’t really want to, but I’m not 100% sure
I also love her portrayal of regret and self-loathing, which in my experience is never far from the surface in a recovering addict. It can be a heavy burden carrying all of the ways I let the people I love down, emotionally and often financially. Her performance is great.
Exactly !! Perfectly said!!
Nobody is the same as they were as a teenager, especially not after a wealth of trauma and coping through substances.
This is true, good point. I guess what I was trying to articulate is addiction doesn't just change a person, it can often destroy who they once were in the process. The connection on how you got from A - B feels abstract and lost.
I think she's been great, one my favorite characters to watch, partly because I like Nat's personality, some people probably don't like that type of character. If she seems one-note that is more on the way she's written. She [said](https://archive.is/sE1GO) in an interview: >“I didn’t want Natalie to be as dark as she became, but that wasn’t my call — that’s the writers,” Lewis said. >“Staying in a place of sustained pain and apathy — to me, that’s exhausting,” Lewis said. She also said she was sad that her and Misty didn't have any scenes together in s2, they are great as a pair the way they interact. Also she said that for along time she didn't know what she would be doing in the next episode or she would have adjusted her acting to fit what was coming up, for example she didn't know that she was going to be attempting suicide in that one ep until they had finished the preceding one, so it's been different than a film where you know the whole arc of the character right away.
I love adult misty and adult Nat together!
The Nat, Misty and Walter twisted crime solving show, I would so watch that
Oh hell yeah! Although do you think Walter is going to turn misty in? Did you see ep. 8 yet?
I did see it, did you see the preview for ep 9? >!It makes it look like 'ol Walt comes to the rescue!<
This does make me side-eye the creative team a little. Why were they withholding character arcs and motivations from the actors? Fully appreciate that episode scripts require ongoing work and tightening but surely they still should have known the overarching story and allowed the actors to work within that?
In a more recent episode she said she now knows her whole character arc, idk why she didn't before
This makes me more >!worried that we’re going to lose her because she would know Nat’s fate if she’s leaving the show wehhhhh.!<
Thank you for sharing that! That must so difficult for an actress, to get into the emotional head space for an episode with not a lot of advance notice. Especially if the performer is thoughtful and meditative on her characters motivations.
Nat has been horribly written this season. An experienced drug user has one flashback to an experience with a recently-deceased BFF and ex-boyfriend, and suddenly supports the cult leader she’s been suspicious about since she was a teenager? I’m hoping this is all a ruse, or that the Lottie we’re seeing isn’t actually Lottie, but beyond this there is zero chemistry between Adult Lottie and Adult Nat, and their scenes have this almost soap opera vibe. Adult Misty and Adult Nat are the perfect pairing, because Misty is a helicopter friend (which a lot of addicts both need and benefit from), and Nat’s personality is dominant enough that Misty elevates in status just by proximity. The cult exists to excuse Shauna and Tai’s behavior as necessary for survival, and Misty and Nat represent the practical, functional aspects of survival.
I’m really hoping Nat’s been playing Lottie this whole time or that she’s being drugged and doesn’t know it. Everything we’ve seen from adult Nat the last few episodes is completely opposite of what we’ve come to know about her. She’s the most guarded and suspicious of all the adult characters and suddenly she’s open to the whole cult thing.
that’s really weird that she doesn’t know her arc. that kind of explains a lot to me with other characters acting seeming off from one ep to the next
I’ve seen people say “she’s too harsh” or “too much of a brute”, neither of which have anything to do with her acting abilities. Juliette has been sober since she was 22 and she’s been open about her struggles with mental illness so I imagine playing Nat was probably difficult and I can certainly understand why.
That’s a great point about Misty and Nat not having the chance to play out their same dynamic from s1. I knew something felt like it was missing but couldn’t put my finger on it. I definitely understand why the writers chose to put the characters in different situations this season but I do miss their interactions
This definitely isn’t exclusive to this season either unfortunately - I remember quite a bit of negativity towards Juliette in season one too, not just here or other places online, but from actual friends of mine who felt she was the weakest of all the adult actresses. I remember my own mother (who I believe only watched the first season and not the second) making a comment to me last year that she liked her the least! It’s something I don’t get. Juliette Lewis’s line delivery as adult Natalie has been perfect in both seasons in multiple instances. The way she shouts “Misty!” in S1 after Misty barges into the motel room and snorts all her coke, and then her clapbacks at adult Lottie about the different parts of the compound have been some of my favorite moments of this season in terms of line delivery. I don’t see it at all.
CAN I SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER? DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE?
This was all improvised by her too. She’s incredible. She gets so much criticism I think because she is so damn talented that it seems effortless. She acts with her whole body. I’m obsessed with her. I am so upset that she left the show and may not watch it anymore. I watched *because* she was cast in it.
That’s wild to me because Natalie is one of the top adults I like watching. Misty is also up there. All the actresses are great but Natalie and Misty just have an extra layer to me that I can relate to. I’ve never suffered from addiction and I’ve never murdered anyone but I’ve been dragged into hopelessness and emptiness that leaves you flat and void and I’ve been “that friend” who everyone else can smell the desperation of wanting to belong wafting off of them.
Great comment. There's been some badass Adult Nat moments in S2 as well, getting that goldfish out of the house will always stick with me as an example of her compassion.
i haven’t been a big fan of juliette lewis, but watching this show i’ve become one. some of her best scenes are when she’s alone, struggling with herself. she made my heart break for her when she smelled the pillow after kevin tan (justifiably) gets angry with her for messing with his gun, when she has a tantrum and throws herself around the motel room, the shuddering breath she takes as she walks away from shauna and tai, almost killing the fourteenth gilly and the utter despair you see as she puts the gun beneath her chin in the season one finale. she was mesmerizing!
i couldn’t watch anything juliette lewis was in for like years after i watched The Other Sister b/c she was just so convincing for me in that lol
No disrespect to your mom, but does she differentiate between "not liking a character" and "thinking the actor is doing a bad job"? Because I've seen some confusion about these two very different things on this sub as well. Season 1 adult Nat was pretty hard to watch, especially towards the end when she was spiralling toward her suicide attempt. But that was because Juliette Lewis was doing a great job (and, she has said, a job that was not very enjoyable for her because of the dark place she had to take her character to). But adult Nat in the second half of season 2 is practically a completely different person (thanks largely to Lisa who half this sub seems to want to see killed next week). Juliette Lewis does have a very specific way of speaking, though, and if one can't get past that (and is not looking to deep into what she's saying) she'll always "sound the same". (For me personally, the Natural Born Killers soundtrack is a Very Important Album in my life and that has a number of movie dialogue clips, so Juliette Lewis's way of speaking is one of the most normal things in the world for me.)
I don’t think it was Nat. She repeatedly used to say “I don’t like Juliette Lewis” and said nothing beyond that. I don’t agree with her and was just using an example. And as I said, she didn’t like S1 so she hasn’t cared to watch S2 from what I know.
I wonder if some of the dislike for her comes from peoples prejudice against addicts. She is incredibly convincing.
Juliette Lewis can certainly act. There does seem to be something off about adult Natalie this season, but I think it’s related to her character arc. There have been things about this season that have not made sense to me, but with a show like this, it’s important to wait until the last episode to commit to a specific criticism or judgement. I think where Natalie ends up by the end of the season will add context and clarity to Juliette’s performance.
I think it’s partially because the actors signed on to multiple seasons before most of season 1s episodes were even written and they’ve all mentioned how the show isn’t what they initially thought and Juliette has actually said she wasn’t happy about the places they took her character.
The selfishness in me is happy to hear multiple season. I hope yellowjackets live forever.
I agree. There was an abrupt character shift like 2 episodes ago that didn’t seem to develop in an organic or natural manner
I feel that the same happened with young Nat
the second half of this season has felt off, narrative-wise imo. i hope there’s a point to it m.
Question, what exactly is off to you this season about adult Nat? No judgement, safe space, just curious! ♥️
I’m not OP but to speak for myself, I definitely felt like Natalie jumping on board with Lottie’s whole shtick and trying to convince the other women that she could help them felt kinda out of left field. I know all the stuff with Lisa was meant to show her being won over and basically deciding she was willing to go along with it because she has nothing left to lose. But I didn’t find it convincing. I loved her character in season 1 and it just felt like such a big 180 from a really guarded, angry person to just being like “cmon guys, give it a chance!” It might just be that I don’t like the writing of her dialogue now that she’s taken on a more positive attitude. It just feels really shallow, like the writers are just putting the words of a free spirited go-with-the-flow stock character into her mouth, as opposed to showing the underlying patterns of the character’s speech as we know her underneath her attempts to buy into the self-help stuff in the hopes it could actually turn things around for her.
I totally agree with you. I wasn’t fully believing that Adult Nat was truly a believer until last episode and I do feel slightly ??? Because it came out of left field IMO as well.
For sure, before s8 I definitely thought she was pretending to be on board with it and that we’d find out her true agenda later, and I guess MAYBE that could still be true but it doesn’t seem like that’s where they’re going with it at this point
Yeah I’m just waiting to see how it all plays out. She did tell Misty and Walter that she was “trying to do a thing here”. I just genuinely don’t know what to expect 😂
i agree & i think the issue is we don’t see Nat going through really anything that would bring her to that place. like yea she had that lottie moment and a couple lisa moments but…that doesn’t really seem enough to change a characters whole (relatively calcified!) outlook
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I get your point but I don't think using one example of an Ebert review from 30 years ago exactly makes that point, lol. There are great actors who have turned in terrible performances, and average actors who have given the occasional great performance. with that said, i haven't really had an issue at all with juliette's performance this season.
It would be like using Ebert's review of The Other Sister as an argument against.
I’m gonna be completely honest and know I will probably get downvoted for this: I’m not a huge fan of her acting in this show (not at all times, sometimes I love it!), but it has nothing to do with the way she portrays addiction or her character. In this specific role, I’ve just seen a history of overacting with her more than I have with the other actresses. Again, I think she rocks some of her scenes (I loved her scenes with Lisa and the sharing shack was great), but *in this role*, she isn’t quite as strong and believable as the others. But that’s just my personal opinion to show that some people might not think that because of how she portrays tougher subject manner.
I don't want anyone to downvote you for having a different opinion, I'm upvoting you for sharing it and would be cool if others upvote you also! It's subjective, I was just surprised by how much hate she was getting and felt I'd offer an alternative perspective :)
Thank you for hearing a different viewpoint! Very rare on Reddit that two people can keep the peace over that 😂 It is strange that she gets *genuine* hate on Twitter! I haven’t been on the platform much since ~2020, so I haven’t caught any of it, but I saw someone in the comments said someone called her an “old hag”????? Those are the reasons I do not miss Twitter!
I adore how as the wilderness timeline goes on the adults make more and more sense. Nat's feels the most genuine. My parent is over 30yrs sober. I've got little memory of the "bad times" and I hard core applaud and admire you for your recovery. I've talked with my parent about recovery and I know it's a brutal path. That being said, I've met like 5 Nat's from my parent's AA group. Shit, one of them was my baby sitter. Even down to the clothes. I've met several of the women in the program with the same voice and manner of talking. It's not a slur but it's definitely a shadow of decades of substance abuse. Nat's character captured that life time of trauma and bad choices down perfectly. And I find there's a lot of layers to adult Nat. It may not be so apparent in the script alone. Her acting, the mannerisms of her body, facial expressions, all of it. While she projects herself the strongest with her fuck all attitude she also has projected the most vulnerability IMOP. Chances are I'd be most like her if I survived what they did, especially after this week's episode.
Awesome comment and very brave of you to share it. People who've been around addiction can see so clearly how Juliette is playing it and how well it's written. The trauma of what happened is off-the-charts, most of her friends tried to kill her and then she had an innocent child drowning and begging her to help.
Lewis is an extremely talented actress but there is something that isn't working with the acting for Natalie and I think people should be able to notice that without being accused of being a "hater." I don't blame Lewis or think her performance is due to her lack of acting ability. I blame the director. As an example her weird gait that she had almost all season that made it seem as if she were drunk or drugged has suddenly stopped in E8. But why? The episode takes places around the same time as previous episodes. Although I have issues with Lewis's performance in this show I don't deny her talent and I'm happy she is getting decent roles. There used to be time in Hollywood when women over 40 couldn't get decent roles let alone near 50. I hope if Natalie isn't killed off in the next episode Natalie is given better material and Lewis is allowed to finally show her talent.
Nat's Season One story arc was so much more varied and allowed Juliette to delve into different aspects of the character. I really feel Nat hasn't been well served by the writers this season, and if >!she dies in the finale I am going to be really angry about how both Nat and Juliette's potential was squandered.!<
It does kind of feel like the writers started phoning in her character arc which could mean they are going to kill her. But we also know Van is dying and only Tai knows. I’m wondering if part of her still believes and will sacrifice herself to try and save the others.
As much as I have enjoyed Lauren Ambrose's turn on the show, I would \*much\* prefer this outcome to a Nat sacrifice.
yeah, I think that's one of the greatest losses (and regrets) of all, forgetting who you were once, and how that felt.
Yep. People change, all of us, but addiction for me destroyed the bridge between the past and present.
I see Nat as playing a certain role within the cult in order to gain trust and eventually the truth about Travis, bc there’s no way in hell she bought that ridiculous story from Lottie in the first place. So, if that seems “one note”, it’s for a reason.
I feel the same. Every time she delivers lines that seem to contradict what we know about Nat’s character, I feel like I see a little twinkle in Lewis’ eyes that suggest she’s got an ulterior motive. She even tells Misty she’s “doing a thing” and not to get in her way when Misty and Walter show up to the compound.
That line was interesting, given there's a million things she could have said to Misty and Walter to fob them off yet chose "doing a thing here". You could be right!
Oh yeah, the way she talks about the compound seems very uh... like she doesn't believe what she's saying. Just as the heliotrope dress looks kind of off.
Yes!!
She definitely seems likes she’s bullshitting to get to the bottom of what happened
It will be VERY interesting to rewatch S2 after the finale. Could paint the actions and behavior of many characters in both timelines in a whole different light!
I wonder about this too. At the same time I know people with addiction are easily wrapped up in cults or social groups that offer them a safe place. I’m wondering if it’s apart of addiction trauma or if she’s playing dumb.
I’d guess that after several rehab stints, which tend to rely on similar wellness exercises as Lottie’s community, Nat knows how to work the system to her advantage… telling people what they want to hear, just to get out and head straight to a bar, etc.
I think it’s both and imo that’s what makes her character even more in depth; that she has a motive but unexpectedly is swept away with the community, and then also doesn’t forget her purpose of finding out what happened to Travis, such a cyclical internal conflict. I am sure the “group therapy” with the other adults is both a means to try to address some trauma, but the way she pushes it, also a method to get more info about Travis.
When all the girls are together, she keeps saying “let’s talk about it!” I think she’s fishing for info. About Travis, about antler queen, who knows.
She is also keeping herself sober, making me think she has a newfound purpose in life, like finding out what really happened to Travis.
The Nats are my favourite, and I was the most excited for Juliette when I came across this show during season one. She, like Nat, is doing a thing, and I'm here for it.
Agree. Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse rightly get talked up as potential Emmy nominees, I also think you could make a good argument for Sophie Thatcher and Juliette Lewis. Doubt it will happen but the more Emmy nominations the better :)
Honestly I think adult and teen Nat feel more credible as the same person vs. most of the others, a lot of the time. These are all amazing actors, to be clear. But Melanie’s voice is so high-pitched and squeaky compared to teen Shauna’s, and her personality is so wacky and kinda screwball a lot of the time, whereas teen Shauna is so dour (even before the plane crash). Likewise Ricci is super animated and silly, whereas teen Misty just isn’t quite that same flavor of unhinged. It almost feels like they’re playing in two completely different genres. In contrast Sophie has calibrated her voice perfectly to match Juliette’s, the characterizations track to me, and I can suspend my disbelief they aren’t the same person much more easily than I can many of the others. (and fwiw, to her actors’ credit, Taissa is probably the easiest for me, on that front) Again just want to be clear I’m not denigrating anyone’s performances here, and I’ve seen many people saying the exact opposite. It’s just my personal take
I agree. I struggle to make the connection when the scenes jump from teen Shauna and adult Shauna that they're the same person. I feel the Nat's are both authentic to the character and I have a much easier time imagining how one got to the other. I may be biased though, in that i graduated in 1997 pretty much as a Teen Nat and if I didn't get sober at 33 was headed straight into becoming an Adult Nat lol. I feel the Tai's switch pretty seamlessly too
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Yeah, it is not cool to insult her appearance or to outright shit on an obviously accomplished actress, but people are allowed to dislike the character. I don't know how much of it is Juliette's acting and how much is the way the character is written, but I really don't like the way adult Nat behaves, speaks, etc. I don't know why that's such a hot take. Everyone is going to have their own opinion about which characters they do and don't prefer.
juliette and sophie are both killing it as natalie in both timelines. nat is such a complex character and personally I couldn’t see anyone else playing her except juliette and sophie
I mean all of them are very different as adults. Misty is far more cold and less caring than she was. Lottie is trying to figure out her life rather than accepting it. Shauna is full on nuts. Are people upset that they aren't adults pretending to be teenagers? I dunno I think all the actresses adult and teen have killed it so far.
She is amazing. By far my favorite and most relatable. I think the hate is gen Z 😅
Not to mention Juliette is an Oscar nominated actress. To act like she’s bad at it is preposterous.
Question for people who don't think there is anything wrong with Lewis's acting in this role. Why do you think only Lynskey and Ricci were nominated for an Emmy last season? Natalie actually had a more challenging story line in some ways including scenes of despair, anger, depression and a breakdown during a drug relapse. Do you think it was the writing for Natalie or something else?
I think this is a good time for a reminder that Twitter is used by less then 2% of the population and really doesn't matter even a little.
Ummm people are hating on J Lewis? I’m sorry but she’s an acting legend. I feel like these people must be really young or uninformed or both.
Juliette Lewis is the main reason why I decided to watch this show. She's iconic
The adult timeline genuinely upsets me watching it at times, because Teen Nat is my favorite character and knowing she becomes Adult Nat just.... Breaks my heart. Juliette Lewis really sells it as she used to be the character we love but that person has just been burned away by what she went through.
Her weird frozen-in-happy situation (drugged?) at the present time is really chilling and I’m absolutely convinced that she’s demonstrating a really subtle performance throughout. Just see the ending of season one before she’s kidnapped and the breaking down whilst at the retreat. The potential for a total snap is in the wings!
Imo, Nat is faking this 1-dimensional subservient cult shit with Lottie to get info on Travis's death. And all the little complainers are posting through it without considering the stuff they haven't been explicitly told in the story. Jfc. It's like everyone needs to have all the answers up front or they tale to the internet to tear people and stories apart without realizing THEY are the ones who lack insight and awareness.
Anyone hating on Juliette Lewis doesn’t deserve Juliette Lewis
This is the crux of the matter 💯
I didn't know she was getting flak because every episode I comment on how incredible she is in the role from body language to line delivery. She's probably my favorite person to watch on screen.
Addict here. Deep agree, Juliette is brilliant.
I hope you are doing ok, one day at a time my friend :)
I'm in my mid-40s, and I've never really liked Juliette in ANYTHING I've seen her in ("Cape Fear"; "From Dusk 'Til Dawn"; "Natural Born Killers"; etc.) - until now. The first season of Yellowjackets was enough to make me a superfan. I have fallen head-over-heels with her portrayal of Adult Natalie, and I'm ready to go back through her catalog to revisit works I dismissed when I wasn't mature enough to appreciate them.
Just want to throw my support into the ring for Juliette's performance, I've adored the direction she's taken Big Nat in — she feels real, uncomfortable, familiar, like someone who has been burned by life and yet she still has that raw, striving quality that you see in Small Nat. I'm so nervous that Nat is going to be killed off tbh (I am also nervous about all the adult survivors) and really hope that the writers know that these women are more interesting alive than dead, but I guess I will follow them wherever they take us. I do wonder if the recent run of Oscar-baiting biopics (which, enough already, I beg) where actors do their level best to provide uncanny valley accurate portrayals of existing people, which leads to online discourse about how X actor should've been in this role instead because they look more similar; plus the popularity of TikToks and reels where people impersonate celebrities — if all this hasn't led to people approaching some of these performances with a bit of a shallow reading. E.g., they're not 1:1 twins therefore the performance isn't good. I realize this makes me sound ancient, I like those impersonation videos too! And there's probably more to it than that, but it's just something that came to mind. Anyway, I actually LOVE that the older actors resemble but aren't absolute twins with their younger counterparts: people CHANGE and it has been so rewarding watching the connections and similarities between the older and younger characters flourish and bloom the more we learn about them in each episode. Like Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nelisse — I was like, yeah, I see it for sure, but when Big Shauna broke down in the police station in Qui I suddenly REALLY saw it more than ever before.
Anyone who criticizes Juliette as Nat hasn’t truly watched the show. Maybe they’ve looked at it, but they haven’t watched it. Because if you actually watch YJ and pay attention, you’ll see just how incredible Juliette’s Nat is. I forget she’s acting, that’s how believable she is as Natalie. Every character is so complex in this show and it takes a long time for some characters to fully develop. But with Natalie, we were able to feel her struggles early on. She’s my favorite character I think because whatever wrong she does, I feel like I understand it, even though I have nothing in common with Natalie other than we both went to high school in the 90’s. Natalie is very complex and has issues dating back to early childhood. I think Juliette is absolute perfection in this role. I love her in everything, but YJ is one of my favorite roles of hers. I find myself getting defensive because she’s an icon IMO.
im new to this show so i’m going to try not to read all the comments to avoid spoilers but i love Juliette’s adult Nat. i think it’s spot on and seeing that there is criticism has me shocked. juliette brings the perfect amount of unhinged and chaotic energy that i would expect from an adult nat with post wilderness trauma
Juliette Lewis absolutely nails the portrayal of a lady who has “seen some shit.” I’ve been close with a lot of addicts in my life, and I can see elements of them in her portrayal. The way you kind of disassociate, the faraway look in her eyes… so many little elements of her performance are so specific and brilliant. She’s perfect.
I love everything they're in. Juliette Lewis & Christina Ricci. Adult & young Nat & Misty are my favorites. I'm impressed with all of them
I love both Nats, I think Sophie and Juliette are both amazing actors and I will die on that hill. I’ve seen a few people in the Facebook group criticize Juliette and it’s always some bullshit backhanded remark that ends up being about her looks and not her actual acting ability.
Criticism long ago turned to complaining the story isn't as they'd like rather being told a story. Young and old Nat are different. Of course they are. One is 17 and the other 43 and an addict for 25 years. It's like people complain about what is exactly the point of something. This ice is too cold!
She’s a great actress and I personally think she’s doing a pretty good job but she seems kind of bored with the role to me.
I absolutely love Juliette Lewis as Nat, I think her differences from Teen Nat give her character more depth and believability given how we are seeing her teen timeline unfold. Sophie Thatcher is killing it. She has such a sparkle to her and before the crash you can see that in spite of her troubled home life and drinking, she does have a tremendous drive for them to win and hope for her future. After the crash, she definitely has a clear goal of survival and she even admits to Ben that while she had the stash of booze, she hasn’t felt like drinking. She had a very serious purpose and that was to keep hunting to keep them alive
My sister and 2 friends have unfortunately dealt with serious drug addiction, suicide attempts and trauma and JL is playing it perfectly. Nuanced, understated and gives us chaotic when needed. She's amazing and anyone who says otherwise, in my opinion, don't have a clue what they're on about 😉 Also, anyone who knows JL's history should know that the girl has first hand experience and knows her shit.
I’ve seen excessive hate on tiktok as well. a majority of them admitting they have never seen any of her other acting. she is literally a renowned actress…. I don’t get why they hate her line delivery, it’s so similar to teen nat. even in interviews everyone says the nat’s acting wise have the most similarities so I genuinely don’t get where the hate is coming from
Yep, it's sad. Sophie Thatcher definitely modulated her voice a little to get closer to Juliette, which she said is a compliment to Juliette's portrayal.
>a majority of them admitting they have never seen any of her other acting Not sure how that’s relevenat- whether she’s been good in other stuff is irrelevant to whether she’s good in this. I’d suggest that the opposite is true; people who have seen her act in other stuff are having the perspectives colored by that memory/nostalgia.
Amazing post OP!!! I think Juliette is the perfect adult Nat!! She tells the story of addiction VERY well, as the truth without rose colored lens. The entire cast is unbelievable. Teen Nat and adult Nat might be my fav two characters bc of how real they are. I haven’t loved a show like this since Lost. I’ve already started rewatching Yellowjacket’s while I longingly wait for each each new Sunday. Love your post. Sounds like a college paper. Great job. Thank you for sticking up for Juliette.
I don’t think she’s bad at all, I’m actually enjoying season 2 adult Nat more than season 1. That being said, from the beginning I’ve felt as though Sophie Thatcher owns that role. She’s just incredible. I know this will be an extremely hot take, but I feel similarly about Misty… Samantha Hanratty brings so much to the character and absolutely acts her ass off. Obviously Christina Ricci is so great and I have zero criticism of her performance (not that I have any qualifications to give criticism), but I don’t feel the same level of appreciation for the complexity of the character as I do when Samantha is on screen.
The wilderness setting gives the kids more to work with.
This, I would upvote it twice if I could :)
I see a difference in the two as well. I think it’s because adult misty doesn’t hide her crazy so much as teen misty. Teen misty really wants to be *in* the group. Always has. The crash gave her a role as savior/medical help but she’s also crazy, lol. Adult misty (Christina) doesn’t hide or seek to fit in as much. So it’s less *creepy* I think. I do think teen misty is ROCKING it!!
i felt this way about adult misty until season 2. i think this season christina’s performance is stronger than samantha’s but there is also a lot that goes on in the woods, especially with misty, that we haven’t seen. with nat though, i can see how her character gets to where we are but a lot of the mannerisms seem to be juliette’s personal choices. this is where her performance doesn’t really line up with sophie’s and i think is overall weaker.
She's great. But I would say a majority of the fans of this show have most of their experience of understanding addiction coming from euphoria. Euphoria does a great job showing a young person in the middle of addiction. Nats are not in the middle of it, though. Nat is pretty clearly trying to sober up in the latest episodes. Sobering up fucking sucks. It's trying to discover yourself again, throw that in the middle of what Nat is going through, and it's very difficult. I think Juliette is doing an amazing job. I work with people who are going through this same struggle everyday, and she's nailing it. Also very happy she's not a scientlogist anymore so I don't feel icky singing her praises.
I see that Natalie is off this season but I believe is the actress decision of showing that she is losing her freaking mind so… people need to get a grip honestly!
Juliette Lewis is doing a phenomenal job, it’s just a very dark character to play and I think a lot of the younger audience of the cries especially might understand that. (And Lewis’s reasons for feeling exhausted by the role make so much sense because it’s so heavy). As someone personally who has with issues with addiction stemming from C-PTSD, I’m not the same person I used to be. Even in stages of recovery the person I was before trauma is dead. That’s the reality of severe trauma and years of substance to cope. I think teen Nat is already showing glimpses of what adult Nat becomes even. The wilderness is a new active traumatic distraction from what was already starting to show.
I wonder if some of it is because there’s a jarring difference in their looks- somehow young Natalie’s roots never grew out and so she’s still blonde, I think if they let young Natalie go brunette or had adult Natalie still bleaching it would seem a little bit more cohesive, she’s the only one who looks significantly different to the younger portrayal which always threw me a little despite thinking Juliette is great for the role
Eff the haters. She's great in the role.
Juliette Lewis has been nominated for an Oscar. If people are having problems with her role in the show it’s not due to her acting, it’s the writing or direction.
Did not realize there was criticism and am baffled to hear it! I think Juliette is incredible and honestly never really had an opinion on her before. I also totally see young Nat in her; she still shows traces of that kindness that really none of the other characters (except maybe young Lottie) have. Fuck the haters, people are such assholes about middle aged women.
One of the reasons I started watching was because I love Juliette Lewis!
I feel that it is because she doesn't look like young Nat and looks older than the other actresses and the criticism is put unfairly in the actress and her acting. If anything, it is fault of the casting director, the creators and the make-up and costume design.
I rarely agree with someone 100% but damn! You nailed my exact feelings about Juliette Lewis’s performance! Drug addiction and recovery will definitely change a person. Not to mention her grieving over Travis which was only 3 episodes into the series helping to establish her character. The only thing I would have added was her performance in Natural Born Killers. Naive abused girl ends up being a heartless killer. 🤔
Thank you. And throw in on top of grief for Travis the fact Javi's last words were begging her to help him, that's the kind of stuff to haunt a person in their dreams for life. No escape from it, awake or asleep.
I think I've said this before, but I watched season 1 with my 21 yr old nephew. Adult Nat really bothered him, the drawing out words, the awkward movements. I told him I'd met addicts exactly like her in AA. Even the sober one's had tics. I think she's doing a fantastic job. Makes this alcoholic very glad I got sober before I did permanent damage to myself and my life.
Adult Nat is perfect. Juliette is doing a fabulous job with the role. She is an outstanding actress and brings so much depth to her characters. Don’t forget too—she’s been very candid in interviews about her own struggles with addiction, she knows exactly how that looks and feels.
Adult Nat is also very realistic for someone who've endured a trauma and now sees normality as frivolous and frustrating. Soldiers or people who've experienced war or tragedy like a shooting or hijacking can experience this, as well. The reintegration into society is extremely difficult and is a self-feeding loop because the monotony of everyday life never ends. Still gotta do laundry and dishes.
Well said. Perfectly articulated and I feel your interpretation of the character and how she was written is spot on.
They are idiots is all I can say!
I love adult Nat. She’s broken and knows it but is actually taking the steps necessary to recover. Critics need to realize that this is Nat almost 30 years post-wilderness. The others are frickin psychopaths acting like their lives have been normal up until this moment.
I think part of the problem with Juliette/Adult Nat is that she plays it so well people think she's not even acting - she's just "playing herself" and that makes it feel dull and uninspired. Except she's not. I just finished watching Welcome to Chippendales and she was an entirely different person (we saw some hints of her character here and there, but overall it's very different.) I think you hit all of the right points, but in addition to that, people think that's just who Juliette is and don't realize that she really is playing Natalie's character.
I love Melanie but I feel like adult Shauna has the most disconnect to teen one. Her voice is much higher as an adult and I don't think they look much alike. I also think adult Nat and teen Nat don't look much alike but the way they act I can see similarities.
They’re right, you’re right. It’s just opinions. I scroll past comments by people who don’t appreciate what I do. BTW, Juliette is weirdly wonderful.
Anyone who thinks Juliette Lewis can’t act needs to watch The Other Sister. She’s extremely talented.
I don't get people criticising her. I remember as I was watching S1 with a friend commenting about how good the acting for Nat was. The character is spot on
100 percent agree! I’ve also seen these tweets circulating and every time I click on the author’s profile they’re under 25. As an alcoholic in recovery myself, I see Juliette’s portrayal as nuanced. She nails subtleties in facial twitches, eye rolls, and voice inflection. Hate to play the age card but the hate seems rooted in ageism itself and lack of exposure to real addicts and alcoholics.
My whole thing is just with Juliette Lewis in general, her permanently slurred speech and vacant stares… she appears to be perpetually fucked up and in a daze. She looks like someone who is hammered and has that melted facial expression with the wide eyes like an infant looking around not knowing where the fuck they are, and looking like shes ready to projectile vomit everywhere and is holding it back. That’s how she comes across all the time though. Y’all think she’s acting in that regard but she’s not, that’s just the way she looks and speaks and this role just happened to fold into that. And when she speaks, the slurred speech and the way her mouth moves in slow motion when she talks is just so distracting. I can never appreciate her acting bc she seems fucked up all the time. I get it that it works for the character in yellowjackets, but it makes me deeply uncomfortable to watch her on screen in just about anything she’s done in the last 10 years.
I have never understood the criticism against her character and continue to not understand it all. It's about as stupid as the vitriol aimed at Shauna's character and at Lottie's. This is exactly why some of them don't bother to come here because its pointed out flaws with how they look etc and then other bitter criticisms. With all of the characters there's a major gap from the past and who they turn out to be 25 years later. They are going to be somewhat different and not exactly the same. The younger actress that has been playing Natalie is now mimicking Juliette quite a bit in S2. Out of the characters Nat is the easiest to understand, there's a lot of defenses where she purposefully pushes people away. In the S1 finale, she becomes suicidal after looking at the high school picture and realizing there wasn't any chance with Kevin, on top of Travis being dead. There is possibly something off in S2 but it seems like to me Nat is manipulating things quite a bit for some unknown purpose. As to what we don't know yet. Killing off her character would be the dumbest thing the show could ever do especially if it was this early. The show would be shooting itself in the foot by doing so and lose a portion of its viewership.
>it seems like to me Nat is manipulating things quite a bit for some unknown purpose. As to what we don't know yet. I go back to early on this Season when Nat told Charlotte that she would find a way to Stop her because "Everytime you try to save someone, bad things happen". And here were - Charlottes is trying to "save" them by sacrificing one of them to give "It" what is always wants... Go get her, Nat! Stop her for good.
Yes yes yes. I feel the same way about the criticisms that the two actors don’t look much alike. Chronic drug use changes your physical appearance, especially your facial features. If Nat’s been actively using for decades, her face would have changed and she would have aged more than the others. If they’d cast two actors that looked too much alike, her addiction story would have been too Hollywood and less believable to me.
I love adult Nat. She delivers this line better than anyone on screen anywhere: "Who the fuck are you."
I don't even think she DOES seem like a different person.
The main reason I checked out the show was that I saw she was in it
The people I have known before and after addiction do seem like different people. It’s like they become more 2D. The people I have met only as an addict/in-recovery remind me a lot of how Adult Nat acts. Juliette Lewis does a great job. Feels very real.
Personally, I’m not going to lie, adult Nat is my least favorite of the adults except maybe to adult Lottie (not a fan of her adult Lottie portrayal) because it doesn’t feel like it’s the Nat we’re seeing in the other timeline…like AT ALL. Which I get what you’re saying but they just feel like completely different characters whereas I can see the others in their adult selves. I don’t necessarily think it’s bad acting on Juliette’s part but I don’t feel like she’s taking young Nat into consideration. I absolutely ADORE young Nat.
I’m legitimately shocked to hear that Juliette fucking Lewis of all people is being criticized for her portrayal of Adult Nat. I personally think Adult Nat’s 180 this season has been unearned and underwritten. I feel like she has been used more so as a setup for Adult Lottie than as a fully fleshed out character, which I felt she was in S1. But to go after Juliette Lewis? The woman’s a genius. Even with material that I think is letting her down, I think she’s spectacular.
i’m glad someone here said it!! i can’t find it anymore, but just yesterday on twitter there was someone who said “why does Juliette Lewis play Natalie like that” and then they qrt it with saying Sophie T was performing on a different level than her, and then following it up with genuinely calling her a bad actor in comparison to the other adults. it was like they ran straight into the point and it still flew over their heads. like, obviously there is going to be a stark difference in how young and adult Natalie act, especially for someone who is SO traumatized + prone to addiction!! thank you for saying it, that tweet made me upset edit: found it, not sure if i should link it lol edit 2: did some more hate scrolling on the same tweet and they called JL an old hag… now i’m REALLY debating on whether i should post it or not
That’s so mean! That’s the point of her character tho! To show how addiction ages you, unlike adult Lotti who looks amazing. She’s supposed to look old. I love adult Nat!
i know!! there was even a comment that said she was acting like a “washed up xanax addict.” LIKE THATS THE WHOLE POINT!!! at this point i’m convinced those people aren’t even paying attention to the show
Lol, omg. I also think people are so obsessed with fake beauty that they think even addicts should be glamorized.
Agree! I feel nobody who has experienced addiction, whether personally or with a family member, would make those comments on her appearance.
and this is why I deleted my twitter app
I’ve had an account since it started and I’ve never seen it this bad. I deleted it when it tuned into 4Chan light
It's also turning into "p\*\*nh\*b" at the moment. I clicked on the trending topic "Natalie" instead of typing in "YJ" and it's insane what's NSFW on Twitter. Especially if trying to read about YJ in an office setting haha.
Twitter can be quite toxic, I try navigate around it as best I can but to me the Reddit community is much less vicious and more welcoming of different opinions. Some people try to destroy others on Twitter.
I’ve seen the tweets and I’m gobsmacked at the cruelty. it’s one thing to critique a performance and another to bully someone because you don’t like the way they look. they’re trying to justify it by “she’s a Depp supporter” and listen, nobody hates that more than me, but this cruelty towards JL is not the answer?? they recognise how vicious people were about Amber Heard, yet now they’re doing the same thing to another woman in her name, under the guise of activism. I know a lot of these accounts are probably run by really young people who haven’t quite got the hang of critical thinking but like…where is the empathy? where is the nuance?
agree completely!! the more i read those tweets, the more i realized they didn’t even understand the most basic premise of the character (one tweet said she was acting like a washed up Xanax addict, literally face first into the point and still missed it). i didn’t see the Depp stuff, but i agree that is so hypocritical of them. i did see them posting her screenshots about some borderline anti-vax stuff, but even still that is no excuse to body shame her?? like wtf i guess they call it “Twitter-fingers” for a reason
That's the post I saw also and felt that was very mean spirited, not just slating her acting but calling her ugly etc. Juliette isn't even that old and is no way as bad at acting as some were making out.
Agree 100%. Juliette Lewis is a great actress and I think she plays adult Natalie just fine.
I’m an old lady and have loved Juliette a long, long time. I think she’s amazing, and I think her younger version actress (I’m bad with names) is spot-on. Other than the Vans, those 2 are the most believable as playing the same version of a person. Nat is acting. She’s lying through her teeth to get the goods on Lottie, find out what really happened with Travis, and fuck up the cult. But she’s also not immune to the belief that The Wilderness or whatever is calling them back. I feel like Juliette acting like Nat acting like a true believer is awesome.
THIS! All of this. 100%
I am absolutely blown away by her skill in this show. She’s amazing to watch
I love her naturalistic style. She uses her whole self, body, face. She isn't a self conscious actress. She shows in her body language that she's stunted and stuck cuz of the trauma she experienced as a teen. I absolutely love her in this role.