My Forever Crush: A Love Letter to Jamie Lee Curtis
- 4 days ago
- 10 min read
Jamie Lee Curtis is one of my favorite actresses of all time. No question. Period. End of sentence. She was my first massive crush as a teenager. I’m talkin’ about full-blown, head-over-heels, heart-goes-thump-thump level stuff, from the moment I laid eyes on her in Halloween in 1978 when I was 13 years old. I mean, come on.
The minute she stepped on screen as Laurie Strode, I was done. Cooked. Smoked. Hopeless. I fell in love hard, and here's the kicker, I never fell out of love. Still haven't. Never will.
Jamie Lee Curtis is my forever crush, and this isn’t just some adolescent nostalgia, it’s decades-deep admiration, respect, and affection for an actress (and person) whose career has been nothing short of fascinating.
Let’s talk about that career, because it deserves a standing ovation. We’re talking about an actress whose filmography spans decades and genres: horror, comedy, drama, action, indie, TV sitcoms, sketch comedy, children's films, political thrillers, you name it, she’s done it. And not just “done it," she’s owned it.
This woman started out as the daughter of two of the most iconic stars in Hollywood history (Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) and still managed to carve out a unique identity, going from “Hollywood royalty kid” to full-blown Oscar-winning legend.
Yes, that’s right. She is now an Oscar and Emmy winner. At age 66, nearing 67, she’s having one of the greatest late-career renaissances I’ve ever seen. She’s producing films, heading her own production company, making bold choices, starring in projects that matter, elevating the material with every performance, and doing it all with ferocity, humor, and unmatched charisma.
Her current output might be some of the best work of her entire career, and that’s saying something for someone who’s been lighting up the screen since the Carter administration.
Now, of course, she got her start as the Scream Queen: the original final girl. Between Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, Road Games, and more, she ruled late ’70s and early ’80s horror like a queen on a blood-soaked throne.
But unlike most actresses who got pigeonholed in that era, Jamie Lee broke out hard. It all changed with Trading Places... boom, the world realized she could do comedy, she could do drama, she could do horror, she could do anything.
And by the way, it’s ironic as hell that in all those early slasher flicks, where every other actress was stripping down, Jamie didn’t. But then in Trading Places, her breakout mainstream movie, that’s the one where she bares it all. Go figure. Hollywood.
Her transition from horror to legit actor was seamless. She was perfect (pun intended) opposite John Travolta in Perfect. She held her own, and then some, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies, giving us one of the most iconic striptease scenes in cinema history while still being hilariously, heartbreakingly human.
She was incredible in Dominick and Eugene, Forever Young, The Tailor of Panama, and even managed to elevate lesser material like Virus or Christmas with the Kranks by just sheer force of personality.
And then she came back to horror like a boss with the Halloween reboots, completely owning the legacy she helped create.
And let’s not forget the small screen. She was fantastic in Anything But Love with the late, great Richard Lewis. Hilarious on Reno 911, surprisingly great on New Girl, and brilliantly self-aware and wicked in Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens, where she absolutely skewered her own persona and reminded us all how much fun she could be.
She’s not afraid to make fun of herself, she knows exactly who she is, and she always delivers with gusto, even when the material doesn’t deserve her.
Her personal story? Equally compelling. Married for decades to Christopher Guest (yes, that Christopher Guest. Spinal Tap, SNL, comedy icon), mother of two, proud, open, and honest about her battles with addiction.
She’s sober, vocal about it, and an inspiration to anyone (myself included) who’s walked that road. She uses her voice for good: speaking out on politics, human rights, sobriety, and helping countless charities. She’s raised millions for causes that matter.
And the best part? She does it all while being this whip-smart, funny, no-BS, totally unfiltered force of nature who lights up every talk show she appears on. She’ll say anything. She doesn’t care if it ruffles feathers, and I love her for it.
I even had the honor of meeting her back in 1990 when she was promoting Blue Steel. I interviewed her and director Kathryn Bigelow for a WGN radio show, and there’s a photo of us together (seen at the top of this post) that I treasure like a family heirloom.
She was kind, cool, real, (not to mention very flirty) and exactly the person I hoped she would be. It was one of the greatest moments of my professional life.
So yes, her output hasn’t always been perfect. There have been flops. Some movies that made no money. Some shows that didn’t last. But who cares? That’s called having a career.
She’s had highs, she’s had lows, she’s overcome real-life demons, and she’s emerged better, stronger, wiser. She’s Hollywood royalty who earned her crown. And now, in her 60s, she’s more respected, more beloved, and more Jamie Lee Curtis than ever.
Which brings us to this list. With Freakier Friday currently in theaters (a sequel that exists purely because Jamie Lee made it happen) I figured now was the perfect time to reflect on her amazing filmography and pick my 10 favorite performances.
These are movies where she either starred or had a supporting role, but each one showcases her incredible range, her commitment, and her unique presence that has made her an icon.
So here we go. My 10 Favorite Jamie Lee Curtis Movies. Ranked, revered, and infused with admiration from a guy who’s been madly in love with her since 1978. My forever crush. The one and only. Jamie Lee Curtis.
TOP 10 JAMIE LEE CURTIS MOVIES (in order of preference):
This is it. Number one. The performance of her career. Love Letters is a small, low-budget, Roger Corman-produced drama directed by Amy Holden Jones, and it is devastatingly good. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a young disc jockey in L.A. who discovers a hidden stash of love letters, written by her late mother to a married man.
This revelation shakes her identity and pushes her to live out that same kind of affair, starting one with a married man played by James Keach, all while taking care of her alcoholic father (a heartbreaking Matt Clark). It’s raw, it’s messy, it’s painful, and it’s real.
Jamie Lee took the role for just $25,000 (after Trading Places, mind you), because she wanted to act. And act she does.
This is a fearless, full-nudity, no-holds-barred performance that strips away every Hollywood illusion and shows us a woman unraveling in search of truth and connection. It’s the kind of acting that punches you in the gut. Brave. Brutally honest. Unflinching. She carries the entire film, often in agonizing one-on-one scenes that leave you breathless.
This is, without question, the best performance Jamie Lee Curtis has ever given. It’s drama in the rawest, most uncut sense. If you haven’t seen Love Letters, track it down. It’s a masterpiece hiding in plain sight.
This is one of the most intense thrillers of the '90s and another performance that proves Jamie Lee is not just a scream queen or a comic foil, she’s the real deal. Directed by the great Kathryn Bigelow in her gritty, early pre-Hurt Locker phase, Blue Steel follows Jamie Lee as a rookie NYPD officer who guns down a suspect during a robbery and then gets entangled with a psychotic man (a terrifying Ron Silver) who becomes obsessed with her, and her gun.
This movie is dark and visceral. Jamie Lee has to go to some seriously messed up emotional places here, she’s vulnerable, tough, confused, angry, and desperate all at once.
And the family dynamic is intense too: Philip Bosco plays her disapproving father, Louise Fletcher her broken mother. It’s a movie about women being dismissed and underestimated and fighting through that darkness with ferocity. Clancy Brown is great as her partner, but it’s Jamie Lee’s show all the way. She anchors it with a performance that’s explosive, subtle, terrifying, and human. I love Blue Steel. It’s one of her best.
The best Halloween sequel. No contest. Jamie Lee Curtis came back after twenty years, after leaving the slasher genre behind, after refusing to talk about Laurie Strode, and delivered one of the most honest portrayals of trauma I’ve ever seen in a horror movie.
Laurie is now a headmistress, living under a fake name, battling alcoholism, and constantly haunted by the memory of that one night in Haddonfield back in ’78.
Directed by Steve Miner with tight suspense and style, this movie gave depth to Laurie Strode. She’s not just a scream queen here, she’s a damaged survivor. And the alcoholic subplot isn’t just a plot device.
Jamie Lee was dealing with her own alcoholism at the time, and it shows. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s personal. It turns a simple slasher into a powerful psychological drama wrapped in horror. This should have been the end of the Halloween saga, because it’s that good. She’s that good. Emotional, badass, broken, strong. H20 is a masterclass in genre reinvention.
The one that started it all. The movie that introduced us to Laurie Strode...and to Jamie Lee Curtis. She was just 19, and yet she delivered a performance filled with authenticity and heart. You believed she was a shy, bookish babysitter. She didn’t play a stereotype, she created the template. The final girl. The scream queen. But she gave Laurie vulnerability and strength in equal measure.
The scenes between her, Nancy Loomis, and P.J. Soles have such warmth and realism, you feel like you’re eavesdropping on actual teens. Halloween is obviously one of the greatest horror films ever made, but it works because you care about the characters, and Jamie Lee is the heart of it all. A landmark role, a breakout moment, and a performance that changed the horror genre forever.
This one caught me off guard. Yes, it’s a Pamela Anderson comeback vehicle (and she’s good) but Jamie Lee steals this movie. As the aging showgirl mentoring Pamela’s character, she delivers a performance that’s rich with pain, history, and grace.
Every scene she’s in glows. Every line has depth. She’s heartbreaking. There’s a dance scene, set to "Total Eclipse of the Heart," that just kills. Pure emotion. It’s not even subtle.
The movie itself is clichéd. The script’s not great. It follows predictable beats. But Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista (as a gruff but kind bouncer/manager) give it heart. They elevate it.
Jamie Lee, in particular, gives one of her best recent performances here. She's weathered, wise, funny, and vulnerable. It’s the kind of late-career supporting role that reminds you why she’s a legend.
Comedy gold. Wanda is a smart, fast-paced, ridiculous British farce, and Jamie Lee Curtis holds her own and then some against heavyweights like Kevin Kline (who won the Oscar), John Cleese, and Michael Palin. And here’s the truth: she’s funnier than all of them. That’s right. Funnier than Kline. Funnier than Python.
As Wanda, she’s sexy, sly, scheming, and hilarious. She uses her charm like a weapon and pulls off complicated comic timing with ease. She’s the object of desire in the movie, but she’s also the smartest person in every room. This is the film that proved she could do comedy as well as horror, and she does it better than most. Should’ve been nominated. Should’ve won. She’s fantastic in this.
Barely in it. Just a couple of scenes. But man, does she make an impact. Queen’s Logic is a little-known gem about a group of guys in Queens going through emotional arrested development.
Jamie Lee plays a woman who essentially calls out the bullshit. Specifically Joe Mantegna’s bullshit. She’s like this symbolic figure, a wise, tough, no-nonsense angel sent to slap some sense into these man-children.
She’s sharp, funny, and otherworldly. Like she transcends the rest of the movie. Her performance is so precise and powerful that it elevates the scenes she’s in to a whole other level. This is one of those “small but mighty” roles, and if you can track this one down, you’ll see one of her most underrated performances ever.
I’m not a huge fan of Knives Out. It’s overpraised, kind of smug, and honestly just a slicker version of those old Agatha Christie mysteries. But that said, Jamie Lee Curtis owns every second she’s on screen. She’s the matriarch of a rich, dysfunctional family, and she plays it with this biting, hilarious sharpness that slices through the BS around her.
The rest of the cast is good (Don Johnson, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, fine) but Jamie Lee is the standout. She’s funny, dark, commanding, and totally unforgettable in a sea of quirky characters. It’s not one of my favorite movies, but her performance? It’s a keeper.
This was the breakout. Her first big Hollywood movie. A massive hit. Directed by John Landis and starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy at their peak, and yet Jamie Lee still makes her presence known.
She plays the classic “hooker with a heart of gold” trope, which isn’t the best-written role for a woman, but she elevates it. She makes it charming, funny, and completely watchable.
And she held her own against two of the biggest comedic powerhouses of the time. Trading Places is a holiday staple now, and it remains one of her most iconic and funny performances.
I’ll admit it...this one’s a personal choice. It’s not a great movie. It’s flawed. But man, do I love it. Shot in the Midwest, filled with local actors (including a young John Cusack), and starring Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell, Grandview is a coming-of-age story with a strange, demolition derby twist.
Jamie Lee plays a small-town woman running the derby and having an affair with a younger man. It’s messy and weird, but she’s amazing. Emotionally grounded, beautiful, and heartbreaking.
This came out at the height of my Jamie Lee Curtis obsession in the summer of ’84, and I was full-on in love. The movie may be clunky, but her performance is rock-solid. I had to include it. It’s my list.
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