As the 62-year-old actress who made her film debut at the age of 20 as Laurie in the horror classic Halloween in 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis learned firsthand what it was is that of growing old in Hollywood. Fortunately, she was also prepared for the harsh reality of aging in the industry thanks to the way she affected her legendary parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.
“I am the child of movie stars. I saw my parents have their face and neck lifted, ”Curtis told PEOPLE in the 90s podcast hosts Jason Sheeler and Andrea Lavinthal in this week’s episode. “I have seen their work diminish, I have seen their fame not diminish. And the contradiction between a lot of celebrity, but not a lot of work, is really hard for people to deal with. It’s very difficult to be famous but not to do what made you famous. And that for the rest of your life you are famous for something that you did a long time ago, and you pursue that attention. “
Of course, his own career has turned out differently: Curtis has worked regularly in film and television throughout his career, from his iconic striptease in True Lies to Ryan Murphy’s horror comedy Scream Queens. , to the revival of the Halloween franchise, whose latest sequel, Halloween Kills, is due in theaters on October 15.
“I wanted to be attentive, as a celebrity girl,” Curtis explains. “And so, I took precautions, because I don’t want to be the person who yearns for work and doesn’t get it. It’s humiliating and it’s a difficult job. It all depends on your appearance. “
In 2018, Curtis revealed she became addicted to opiates after undergoing plastic surgery to fix her “hereditary swollen eyes.” And although the pills were initially prescribed, she spent the next decade procuring pain relievers in any way she could, she told People at the time.
Curtis was not the first or the only member of his family to struggle with addiction. His father, Tony Curtis, abused alcohol, cocaine, and heroin for many years, and his half-brother, Nicholas Curtis, died of an overdose in 1994. However, Jamie Lee Curtis was (and still is) determined to break the cycle.
The actress was also determined to break the cycle of age discrimination in Hollywood. In 2002, at the age of 43, Lee insisted on being photographed for the cover of More Magazine without makeup, hairstyle, and wearing only an exercise bra and underwear to speak out against the myth perfection that women believe in.
She told More Magazine at the time: “I don’t want the unsuspecting forty-year-old woman to think I’m perfect. It is such a fraud. And it is I who perpetuates it ”.
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