Juliette Lewis on 'Memphis Beat': 'I love the blend of genres'

Juliette Lewis returns to the small screen Tuesday, June 29 on "Memphis Beat," the new procedural with a twist from TNT. Zap2it caught up with Lewis amidst her European tour with her band, The Licks, to talk about her guest spot on the show.

When asked what was intriguing about the role for her, Lewis explains, "I was so excited. Jason Lee is a friend of mine and he said do you want to be a part of ['Memphis Beat'] and I looked at the script and I was really blown away by the writing. For me, for my character specifically, she's always hiding something."

"I love the blend of genres," Lewis continues. "There's just so many elements to the show ... I haven't done anything dramatic in a while and I just love my drama, so it was really fun to play this character full of pathos and despair and so much subtext."

"Memphis Beat" is set (obviously) in Memphis but it shoots in New Orleans. What was like that for the actress?

"It was really exciting to shoot in New Orleans. That city just has such a good vibe. You immediately feel it," she gushes.

Lewis hasn't done television in a long time and has always been discerning about the shows she does. What made her want to go back to TV?

"Series are just getting better and better with how interesting the characters are these days. You find the material is really taking risks, there's just more interesting characters and room to explore complex plots and storylines," says Lewis. "They're way more layered than you ever saw them before. The mash-up of genres where you get these dramatic shows with a comical edge on them is really exciting. I will probably do more TV."

So what about "Memphis Beat" specifically? Would she come back if she was asked?

"Yes, absolutely," Lewis declares. "I had so much fun doing it. I just love really rich emotion and stuff that's challenging. I'm just trying to deliver something that's as honest and visceral as possible in any character that I do ... Hopefully there's room that my character could return, but nothing's set in stone."

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Photo credit: TNT