Juliette Lewis: Women need fighting skills

Juliette Lewis thinks it's important for women "to learn to fight".

The 41-year-old actress started working in the entertainment industry in 1987, when she was just 14 years old.

As a youth she gave up a lot of hobbies to concentrate on her acting career and, in hindsight, Juliette wishes she hadn't done that.

"I wish I had picked up an instrument when I was younger. I wish I had gotten into athletics. I had really liberal artistic progressive parents who let me quit everything," she told Variety. "I quit karate. I quit piano. I quit dance. It goes on and on! All those things I quit because I got mad I wish I had stayed with. It's hard being a beginner when you're older. I'd tell myself to stick out through the rough spots and pick up an instrument — and learn karate. I think it's really important for females to learn to fight."

But nowadays Juliette really appreciates the work she does for a living.

Acting provides her with the diversity she needs to maintain happiness in her life.

"There's that adage; You never have the same job twice. I like that. I love variety — pun intended," she shared. "The lesson I've learned is to value and treasure the experience, not the outcome. People are everything — the exchanges between people, the energy we share, the creativity. I feel really lucky that I'm in a line of work where I can use those creative energies."

Juliette will next be seen in a live-action reimagining of hit Eighties cartoon Jem and the Holograms, which is due to reach theatres in October.