The brutal advice Terry Gilliam gave Jamie Lee Curtis: “I felt very little and insecure”
It’s approaching 50 years since Jamie Lee Curtis delivered her star-making performance in John Carpenter’s seminal slasher Halloween, but it took the actor a lot longer to overcome the insecurities of trying to carve out a sustained career in a place as ruthless as Hollywood.
As the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, she obviously had certain advantages that other aspiring stars didn’t, but she still made her own name. Initially typecast as a scream queen, the second-generation star knew that she wasn’t going to enjoy much longevity by constricting herself in the horror genre.
Fast forward four and a half decades, and Curtis is now one of the most well-respected veterans in Hollywood, one who’s worked with some of the biggest names of the modern era and accumulated an impressive haul of an Academy Award, a Bafta, a Primetime Emmy, two Golden Globes, and a number of unforgettable turns in a wide array of films covering everything cinema has to offer.
However, as far back as the early 1990s, Curtis was starting to find herself approaching a crossroads. She’d outgrown horror and comedy wasn’t as appealing as it used to be, which left her questioning what was the best route to take in order to further her career. Fortunately, a guardian angel appeared in the form of Terry Gilliam, someone who isn’t known for sugarcoating things.
“I was once on the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, and I remember feeling that I had to be smarter and better than I was, being surrounded by this tremendous array of talent,” she explained to Variety. “I felt very little and insecure, and I ran into Terry Gilliam, who’s a filmmaker and a very interesting guy.”
There are few battles Gilliam hasn’t fought or wouldn’t fight, so when Curtis came to him for advice on how to navigate her future, he didn’t beat around the bush: “He asked me what I was doing, and I said, ‘Well, I really feel like I should be focusing and much more serious about my work.”
Gilliam didn’t have the time for such flowery self-assessment, so he cut right to the chase: “Why don’t you stop trying to be such a fucking good actress and just do what you’re good at?” Funnily enough, he was right on the money. Curtis was in danger of becoming so preoccupied with the perception she held among her peers that she hadn’t even contemplated the tried and trusted ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach.
Curtis served on the Cannes jury in 1992, and considering she’s been a regular fixture on screen since then without sacrificing her identity, it would be accurate to say Gilliam’s no-nonsense advice was precisely the kick up the arse she needed to sort out her professional priorities.
