Juliette Lewis 'prefers music to acting'

Juliette Lewis has admitted that she prefers music to acting.

Speaking to The Independent, the Whip It star explained that she took a break from acting to focus on her music career.

"I had to give up movies," she said. "That's what I had to do. All I wanted was a future that allowed me to make records - all this primal energy people respond to in me and my characters is in my music, ten times more."

Lewis explained that she agreed to star in Whip It because she was "re-evaluating" her life.

"I had been on the road for two years and my band was breaking up," she said. "The spirit of the band was over and I also wanted to make a different-sounding music.

"This was a very intense period. There I was, re-evaluating my future. It was like, 'Aha! Now is the perfect time to do a movie!'"

Lewis, who has just released her solo album Terra Incognito, said that she is now planning to return to music even though she was initially nervous about it.

"I've laid the groundwork for a really searching album and I've toured the world three or four times over," she said. "In the beginning I wasn't secure, because you don't know if people are going to show up or if you are going to sell out venues.

"Initially there is a curiosity factor because of Natural Born Killers or Cape Fear which pulls in an audience - but that's not what keeps people coming back."

Lewis will tour the UK later this month.