Jamie Lee Curtis is no stranger to Hollywood. Since her film debut in 1978’s Halloween, Curtis has consistently shown the world her incredible acting range. Continuing her fantastic list of credits, Curtis presented footage from her latest film, Knives Out, during CinemaCon. Following the film’s introduction, Curtis spoke with members of the press to discuss her storied career and the future she envisions for herself.
On working with director Rian Johnson on Knives Out…
“He is a very talented guy…with a very vivid imagination and I think that’s a crucial thing particularly with a movie like Knives Out, which is a reinterpretation of the old who-dun-it. Rian has come up with a fresh new idea and a new version and I enjoyed working with him.”
On her desire to be a part of the Knives Out cast…
“Are you kidding? I got a script sent to me that said Daniel Craig. I was like okay, sure, I’ll go to Boston and work on it. There was Rian, Daniel, and then they told me I’d be married to Don [Johnson] and my son would be Chris [Evans]. I was definitely in. It was one of those things. Every person that they added to the cast. It was crazy how fun it was.”
On surprising performances during Knives Out…
“Ana de Armas surprised me. You see, I knew all of those other people and I didn’t know her. She’s magic. She is an incredible talent and I think we are going to hear a lot from her.”
Credit: Madeline Knutson
On unfulfilled career goals…
“I’m not that person. There’s not been one job that I’ve had that I ever thought I would do. Not one and that includes writing books, talking to people, dancing in my underwear in front of the future governor of California with 150 crew people around. There’s not one second of my life that I have pre-thought would happen to me…The fact that I ended up an actor is a miracle. It’s an accident and I’m just the luckiest human being.”
On her real-life role model…
“Bette Middler. She is my hero. I think she is the greatest combination of everything that you can be. She’s smart, political, and wickedly talented in so many areas.”
On her favorite role…
“I think that True Lies is just a perfect combination of everything I would do well in every way. It was just a perfect canvas and such a giant scope. James Cameron wrote it for me and he just let me do what I do. I am an untrained person who has managed to work for a long time but that movie took advantage of everything that is good about my talent. The freedom that I had to be Helen and just the very nature of it…I think that was the most complete experience I’ve ever had.”
On her favorite film directed by her husband [Christopher Guest]…
“Waiting for Guffman. It’s such a snapshot of place and time and group of people. Everybody has dreams and what I love is that all of his movies are about dreams being fulfilled. I think there’s something really exquisite about real people who get a sniff of fame and get that feeling like maybe it could happen to them. That film is such a perfect distillation of that and it was his first film like that. It’s the dreamers. We all have dreams.”
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