Despite being one of cinema’s most recognisable scream queens, Jamie Lee Curtis has admitted that horror films aren’t something she personally enjoys watching.
Speaking at SXSW, the actor reflected on her complicated relationship with the genre that defined her career. “I don't really love it. I'm not joking; I'm not into it,” she said, adding that while she respects horror, “it’s just not my genre, not my thing. I owe my life to the genre, but I don't have to pretend that I'm a genre girl, and I love it."
Curtis, who rose to fame as Laurie Strode in the Halloween franchise, also shared her thoughts on how the genre is finally receiving wider recognition. Referring to recent accolades for films like Sinners and Weapons, she said, “The fact that it's a genre that now is getting more understanding and appreciation – of course I'm happy. It's fantastic that the academy is moving along with that and changing and growing, like any good institution.”
The actor returned to the iconic franchise with Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green, but revealed she wouldn’t have committed had she known it would expand into a trilogy. “If they had come to me and said it’s going to be a trilogy, I don’t think I would have said yes,” she admitted.
Instead, Curtis turned the opportunity into a strategic career move by negotiating a development deal with producer Jason Blum. Explaining how it came together, she said, “While we were editing and doing the mix, David said, ‘You know it’s a trilogy’. I was like, ‘Uh, no’. I went to Jason Blum and said, ‘I have some ideas… How about a little development deal?’ And I owed him two Halloween movies, so what was he gonna say? Jason Blum gave me a vanity deal.”
She also joked about Blumhouse’s reputation for cost-conscious filmmaking, remarking, “Jason Blum is notoriously cheap. How do you make low-budget movies? You don’t pay people."
Jamie Lee Curtis can currently be seen sharing the screen with Nicole Kidman in Prime Video's Scarpetta. She has Russell Goldman's Sender in the pipeline.