Jamie Lee Curtis remembers parents fame pain

25 June 2021

Jamie Lee Curtis' parents Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh struggled to accept their careers were over.

Jamie Lee Curtis

The 'True Lies' star's father and mother were Hollywood royalty but she admits it was tough to see them both try and remain relevant and employable as they aged and the movie work they still craved dried up for them.

Jamie could see that what was particularly hard for Tony and Janet - who were married from 1951 until 1962 - was that their fame didn't diminish in the same way that their work did.

Speaking on the 'PEOPLE in the 90s' podcast, she said: "I'm the child of movie stars. I watched my parents get face lifts and neck lifts.

"I watched their work diminish, I watched their fame not diminish. And the contradiction of a lot of fame, but not a lot of work, is really hard to navigate for people. Very hard to be famous but not be doing the thing that made you famous. And that for the rest of your life, you're famous for something you did a long time ago, and you chase that attention."

The 62-year-old actress admits she was wary about following in her parents' acting footsteps when she launched her own career in case she couldn't live up to their reputations.

She said: "I wanted to be mindful, as the daughter of stars. And so, I was hedging my bets, 'cause I don't want to be the person pining away for work and not getting it. It's humiliating and it's a hard business. It's all about what you look like."

Jamie's concerns proved to be unfounded as following her lead role in 1978 slasher flick 'Halloween' she became established as Hollywood's leading 'Scream Queen' with parts in horrors such as 'The Fog', 'Prom Night' and 'Terror Train'.

She then went on to star in hit films such as 'Trading Places', 'My Girl', 'Freaky Friday' and more recently Rian Johnson's murder mystery 'Knives Out' among many other movies.

Jamie reprises her role as Laurie Strode to battle psychopathic killer Michael Myers once again in 'Halloween Kills', which will be released in cinemas in October.