Watch out, Michael. She's here to kick your ass.
"I've been in show business all my life, but as an actress I have never been overly driven."
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958 in Santa Monica, California) is an American actress.
The daughter of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Curtis first rose to prominence in 1978 as the Slasher Movie Final Girl in Halloween. She then appeared in a string of horror movies in the early '80s, which further cemented her status as a scream queen.
Nowadays, she's better known for her roles in drama and comedy films as well as her appearances in a series of commercials for Activia Yogurt. She's also a vocal advocate for women to embrace aging and to wear their wrinkles and gray hairs with pride.
Curtis is married to the Anglo-American actor and filmmaker Christopher Guest, the 5th Baron Haden-Guest, so she is allowed to use the aristocratic title Lady Haden-Guest if she wants to.
She has also written various children's books illustrated by Laura Cornell, such as When I Was Little: A Four-Year Old's Memoir of Her Youth and I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem.
Curtis earned her first Academy Award nomination at age 64 for her supporting performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, ultimately taking home the trophy on Oscar night.
Her filmography includes:
- Columbo, episode "The Bye Bye Sky-High IQ Murder Case", (1977)
- Halloween film series as Laurie Strode:
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween II (1981)
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) note
- Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
- Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
- Halloween (2018)
- Halloween Kills (2021)
- Halloween Ends (2022)
- The Fog (1980) as Elizabeth Solley
- Prom Night (1980) as Kim Hammond
- Terror Train (1980) as Alana
- Escape from New York (1981) as the narrator and the voice of a computer
- Road Games (1981) as Hitch
- Trading Places (1983) as Ophelia
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) as Sandra Banzai note
- Perfect (1985) as Jessie Wilson
- Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) as Lynn Taylor
- Dominick and Eugene (1988) as Jennifer Reston
- A Fish Called Wanda (1988) as Wanda Gershwitz
- Blue Steel (1989) as Megan Turner
- Queens Logic (1991) as Grace
- My Girl (1991) as Shelly DeVoto
- My Girl 2 (1994)
- Forever Young (1992) as Claire Cooper
- True Lies (1994) as Helen Tasker
- The Heidi Chronicles (1995) as Heidi Holland
- House Arrest (1996) as Janet Beindorf
- Fierce Creatures (1997) as Willa note
- Virus (1999) as Foster note
- Drowning Mona (2000) as Rona Mace
- Pigs Next Door (2000) as the voice of Clara Stymington
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer And The Island Of Misfit Toys (2001), as the voice of Queen Camilla
- Freaky Friday (2003) as Tess Coleman
- Christmas with the Kranks (2004) as Nora Krank
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) as Vivian Ashe
- You Again (2010) as Gail
- From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) as the voice of Ryoko
- Veronica Mars (2014) as Gayle Buckley
- Scream Queens (2015 — 2016) as Dean Munsch
- Knives Out (2019) as Linda Thrombey
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) as Deirdre Beaubeirdra
- Haunted Mansion (2023) as Madame Leota
- Borderlands (2024) as Patricia Tannis
Tropes associated with her work:
- 10-Minute Retirement:
- She has hinted at or even announced her retirement a few times, but continues to act in film and television. Christmas with the Kranks in 2004 was supposed to be her final film, but she came back after a quick break with a supporting role in 2008 with Beverly Hills Chihuahua. She also suggested Scream Queens might be her final project, until she announced that she would be reprising her role of Laurie Strode once again for 2018's Halloween sequel.
- She's also "retired" from horror and slasher films more than once. Halloween II (1981) was supposed to be her last hurrah as a scream queen, but she returned for Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later as a gift to the fans. She appeared in 2002's Halloween: Resurrection, which directly followed H20's events, under contractual obligations. She then distanced herself from horror once again until 2015 with Scream Queens, and later 2018's Halloween sequel.
- Action Girl: She would probably qualify as one in True Lies and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later.
- Actor Allusion:
- A proxy example. Scream Queens (2015) recreates the shower scene from Psycho - which her mother starred in.
- A straighter example in Christmas with the Kranks. The theme from Halloween plays briefly at one point.
- A Fish Called Wanda also recreates a scene from Halloween with a character popping up from behind her.
- Actor-Shared Background: She portrays Laurie Strode in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later as an alcoholic. She herself was an alcoholic who became sober in 1999.
- Awesome, Dear Boy:
- Her decision to come out of her horror retirement and reprise her role of Laurie Strode in 1998 was made as a gift to the Halloween fans.
- Her reason for starring in Knives Out — when she heard that Daniel Craig was not merely "attached" but confirmed to star.
- Similarly, she leapt at the opportunity to be in Everything Everywhere All at Once when she was told that she'd get to act opposite Michelle Yeoh.
- Billing Displacement:
- In The Fog she's billed second when she's arguably the least important of the leads. She's billed before Tom Atkins, who plays a more prominent role.
- In Halloween II (1981) she has prominent billing, yet only twenty-five minutes of screen time. The TV cut restores many of her scenes that were deleted.
- Career Resurrection: In the '90s and 2000s, she was written off as a fading scream queen. Although she had some hits, such as Freaky Friday (2003), she took several years off. It truly began with her return to comedy in Scream Queens (2015), for which she eventually won a Golden Globe. Then she returned to the franchise that made her famous with Halloween (2018) to critical and commercial acclaim, with the film both becoming the highest-grossing slasher since Scream (1996) and setting a record for highest gross led by a woman over 55. Even the lacklustre reception to its two sequels was untarnished by hits like Knives Out and Everything Everywhere All at Once, the latter of the two leading to her winning her first Oscar at the age of 64.
- The Cast Show Off: Prom Night (1980) has a Gratuitous Disco Sequence in which Jamie does a perfect front walkover.
- Character Aged with the Actor: She plays Laurie Strode of the Halloween series across seven different movies - as a teenager in the first two, a mother approaching middle-age in H20 and Resurrection, and then a grandmother from the 2018 film onward.
- Contractual Obligation Project: Halloween: Resurrection was this, and she only appeared in it to be killed off and ensure she'd never appear in another Halloween film again (the 2018 film was a Soft Reboot that ignored all the previous sequels). She was especially annoyed by a promotional lie that she had only intended to have a 30-second cameo but asked for her part to be expanded because she "liked the script so much".
- Contractual Purity: An odd example, given that her horror films were never aimed at the "corruptible" market to begin with, but she had been typecast as the wholesome Final Girl in all her horror movies (though her character in The Fog does hop into bed with a man she's just met). So with her playing a prostitute who bared her breasts on-screen in Trading Places, and a few other sexpot roles, she was broken out of such purity.
- Corpsing:
- Claims that she could only avoid this on Scream Queens (2015) by squeezing a thumbtack.
- Her burying her face in pillows during the ejaculation scene in A Fish Called Wanda was her trying not to ruin takes.
- Creator Backlash: How she feels about Virus and Halloween: Resurrection. Likewise, she disowned a Coming of Age Story called Grandview USA.
- Dawson Casting:
- She was twenty playing the seventeen-year-old Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). And the second movie was filmed three years later but an Immediate Sequel.
- She was twenty-two playing a high schooler in Prom Night (1980).
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- Mostly averted, since she embraces going gray, but she did dye her hair red for her role in Freaky Friday.
- Says she exercised every day for True Lies.
- I Am Not Spock: Laurie Strode is a role that has been forever associated with her.
- Irony as She Is Cast: Jamie admits to not being a fan of horror films overall, and confesses that she scares easily. However, she does appreciate movies like Psycho and Halloween for their artistic merits, and is grateful for what they did for her and her mother's careers. Likewise, she had been a cheerleader in high school and was more like Lynda in Halloween than the shy, bookish Laurie.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: She got her start as a horror movie Final Girl but is far more likely to be seen in comedy these days. While her return to the Halloween franchise does still keep her in dramatic roles, she also had Knives Out and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
- Meme Acknowledgement: You know that four-panel meme of her arguing with someone
◊? She recreated◊ it with Egoraptor after appearing on Guest Grumps. - Money, Dear Boy: She held this view about Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, though she did also say that she felt the movie was fine."H20 started out with best intentions, but it ended up being a money gig. The film had some good things in it. It talked about alcoholism and trauma, but I ended up really doing it for the paycheck."
- Ms. Fanservice: While her roles in horror films were usually conservative, her later films were often the opposite. She's gotten naked a lot, and she's played a porn star, a prostitute, and a stripper. In True Lies, she even had an erotic dance scene. Scream (1996) had a scene remarking on this where the characters are watching Halloween.Stu: I wanna see breasts. I wanna see Jamie Lee's breasts. When do we see Jamie Lee's breasts?
Randy: Breasts? Not until Trading Places in '83. Jamie Lee was always the virgin in horror movies. She never showed her tits 'til she went legit. - Non-Singing Voice: She's not a singer, and did not do any of her own singing for the Direct to Video Rudolph animated movie.
- Playing Against Type:
- Her comedic turn in Trading Places after five years of being typecast as a scream queen.
- In contrast to her quirky housewife characters in later years, Scream Queens (2015) casts her as a Dirty Old Woman who murders her husband.
- Real-Life Relative: She stars with Janet Leigh in The Fog and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later.
- Real Life Writes the Hairstyle:
- In The Fog, she had cut her hair shorter by the time they needed to do some reshoots to extend the length of the film. It's easy to spot the reshot scenes because of how Elizabeth's hair changes.
- She also had to wear a wig for Halloween II to match her original hairstyle from the first film, since it's an Immediate Sequel.
- "Sesame Street" Cred: Visited the street for a playdate with Elmo in 1989.
- Silver Vixen: She's managed to look very attractive in her 60s, as the page photo strongly indicates.
- Star-Making Role: Laurie Strode in Halloween, and then later Trading Places solidified it for her post-horror career.
- Stunt Casting: She was cast in Halloween and Prom Night because of her name. In the latter, her casting allowed the movie to get the funding it needed (though it also snubbed Eve Plumb, who was the original choice for Kim).
- Those Two Actors:
- She and Dan Aykroyd play love interests in Trading Places and the two My Girl films. They also play neighbours in Christmas with the Kranks.
- She has a strong friendship with Sigourney Weaver, and the two have starred in at least one film together.
- Tomboyish Name: "Jamie" is an unisex name but for Americans, it's more known as a nickname for "James" and therefore many can mistake Jamie for a male actor by her name only. Note that her middle and last name don't help eithers.
- Throw It In!:
- During her dance in True Lies, her slipping and falling which was a genuine mistake. Arnold Schwarzenegger briefly jumping off his chair was to genuinely see if she's alright. But they left it in, since the reaction would be in-character for both of them.
- Another fall in a dance scene in the same movie! During the end credits when Harry and Helen do the tango, Helen can be seen slipping and falling; Jamie had injured her legs rehearsing and they gave out while filming the scene. She was initially annoyed that James Cameron used that take, but soon came around and realised it was perfectly in character for Helen.
- She falls (again!) in the climax of Halloween II (1981) when the explosion happens. This was because the explosion was more than what the stunt team were expecting.
- A non-falling example. Tess calling out "make good choices" in Freaky Friday (2003) was an ad-lib by her.
- Typecasting: She was the go-to horror chick of the late '70s and early '80s, initially because her mother was a "scream queen" herself, for starring in Psycho. Even then, Jamie was known for playing virginal "good girls," and was usually the Final Girl.
- What Could Have Been:
- Auditioned to play Nancy Drew in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in 1976 before Pamela Sue Martin was cast. She later had a guest starring role in one episode.
- Prom Night (1980) was struggling to find funding and Eve Plumb was initially cast as Kim. Jamie expressed interest in starring, and was ultimately cast as the lead instead of Plumb, and the film got the funding it needed.
- Helen was originally scripted to go nude for her striptease in True Lies, but she ultimately just strips down to her underwear. The Black Bra and Panties were apparently supplied by Jamie herself.
