Jamie Lee Curtis gets candid about her potential retirement from acting. The actress made her film debut as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter’s seminal slasher Halloween in 1978, which catapulted her to fame and established her as a prominent scream queen.
However, some of Jamie Lee Curtis’ most successful roles have come outside the horror genre, experiencing significant critical success in recent years with her Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) and Emmy win for The Bear in 2024.
Talking to PEOPLE at the premiere of her new movie Ella McCay, Jamie Lee Curtis said she will “of course” retire from acting one day, though she is “done self-retiring,” referencing her recent interview with Willie Geist on the Today show, in which she said she has “probably claimed retirement four times” before.
In October 2006, Jamie Lee Curtis announced she was stepping away from acting to devote her time to her family. However, she returned in Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2007).
Instead, her plan is to “step away” from Hollywood before the offers eventually stop coming her way. Read her full comments below:
I am done self-retiring. But no, of course I’ll retire. [I have] probably claimed retirement four times. What he didn’t use was the example I was giving was my parents. So what he didn’t use was the context of that statement. The context of that statement was I watched my parents, who loved this industry, who were mega stars. I’m a little minor twilight.
They were mega, mega in their era and they were denied access to the very thing they loved to do, which was the movies, acting in the movies. And I watched both of them lose that life force because of aging and just getting older. They just didn’t have those opportunities, and it was heartbreaking.
Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of actors Janet Leigh, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 77, and Tony Curtis, who died in 2010 at 85. Jamie Lee Curtis, who is currently 68 years old, also spoke about seeing both of her parents, known for roles in Some Like It Hot (1959) and Psycho (1960), struggling to find steady work later in life:
The whole reason I’ve talked about self-retiring is, I’m going to leave before you don’t ask me to come anymore. That’s the point. I’m going to step away before you no longer go, “Hey, Jamie, come here.”
Because it’s too humiliating for me. And I was raised around it, and therefore I felt like I want to take advantage of the opportunities that I have and then always have one foot out the door.
Similarly, during her recent interview on the Today show, Jamie Lee Curtis said:
[I want to] get out before you no longer ask me to be in. I just don’t want to have the same sad feeling of missing out on the thing that gave me my life force, which was my work. I want to go like “Okay, I’m done. I’ll be done.”
There’s nothing about it that isn’t just feeling perfect. I’m so happy it’s happening now at my age. I’m trying to make sure I check my boxes off before I go, but I’m having a really good time. It’s awesome.
Jamie Lee Curtis seemingly isn’t retiring from acting anytime soon, with upcoming roles in the Prime Video series Scarpetta, the horror movie Sender, and the thriller Psychosis. Her new movie Ella McCay releases in theaters on December 12.
- Birthdate
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November 22, 1958
- Birthplace
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Los Angeles, California, USA
- Height
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5 feet 7 inches
- Professions
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Actress, Author
