# In 1991, Drew Barrymore lost a role to Juliette Lewis. 10 years later, they were on opposite sides

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1991-drew-barrymore-lost-a-role-to-juliette-lewis-10-years-later-they-were-on-opposite-sides/
- Published: 2026-10-26T02:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-26T04:09:39+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/drew-barrymore-lost-1991-role-to-juliette-lewis/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Lewis won the *Cape Fear* role Barrymore auditioned for.
- Barrymore later got a role Lewis wanted.
- The actresses shared their casting near-misses on Barrymore’s show.

## Summary

Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis repeatedly auditioned for overlapping film roles, with one winning parts the other had considered. Their near-misses show how casting choices can shape performances and films, and the pair later discussed the pattern together on Barrymore’s talk show.

In 1991, Lewis was cast as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese’s *Cape Fear*, earning an Oscar nomination; Barrymore had auditioned for the role. Lewis later missed out on the lead in *Riding in Cars with Boys*, which went to Barrymore, and Barrymore also recalled auditioning for *Natural Born Killers* and reading *What’s Eating Gilbert Grape*. The two first appeared together on screen in 2009’s *Whip It*, Barrymore’s directorial debut.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.