Jamie Lee Curtis is Hollywood royalty, no doubt. The daughter of two genuine movie stars in Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and the goddaughter of industry legends Lew and Edie Wasserman, she proved she could be a star (and now producer as well) in her own right, and in her own way. And now, like her parents before her, she has received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All At Once — ironically the same category in which her mother was nominated 62 years ago for Psycho.
Considering the vast range of roles in Curtis’ filmography I would say it is about time, and as she tells me in this week’s edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side, it is one of the great thrills of her life. In fact, she has also made history joining the exclusive club of other famous families — Fonda, Dern, Redgrave and Huston — in having three members nominated over the decades.
We talk about her long-lasting career, and she is not ashamed to even tell her age, which is 64; in fact, when I bring up the Beatles song “When I’m Sixty-Four,” she surprises me with her answer and a Jamie Lee Curtis ritual associated with it. Of course, with even more success now at this age following the recent Halloween trilogy and finale for Laurie Strode, plus massive hits like Knives Out, many new projects on the front burner and now this Oscar nomination, you don’t have to guess what the answer is to the musical question, “Will you still love me when I’m 64?”
During our talk we span the length of her career in front of the camera — from her first appearance in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Quincy to such beloved films as A Fish Called Wanda, Trading Places, True Lies and countless others — to other highlights such as the series of children’s books she wrote, and new ventures like producing. She even offers a couple of scoops and a suggestion that she has an idea for a sequel to her Freaky Friday that co-starred Lindsay Lohan.
Of course, we also talk about what that Oscar nomination means and what happened the day she found out. We start though with a story about a phone call from Halloween director John Carpenter and the dark thought going through her head as she answered it.
To watch our conversation and to get the “actor’s side” from Curtis, click on the video above. Join me each Wednesday during Oscar season for another episode of The Actor’s Side.
