Jamie Lee Curtis has opened up about the deep connection she feels with her late mother, screen icon Janet Leigh, admitting that despite efforts to avoid following in her footsteps, she has come to recognise many similarities between them. The 66-year-old actress, daughter of Leigh and fellow Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, shared that her appreciation for her mother has grown over time, while earlier disappointments have faded. Reflecting on her family, Curtis noted how proud her mother was of her achievements and her husband Christopher Guest’s career, and how thrilled she had been to become a grandmother.
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However, Curtis believes that her mother, who passed away in 2004, would have strongly disapproved of her appearance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. She explained that, by modern standards, she now enjoys a level of freedom that simply wasn’t available to women of her mother’s generation. Curtis, known for embracing roles that challenge traditional standards of beauty, suggested that Janet Leigh would have struggled to accept some of her recent choices, particularly those that deliberately depart from glamorised norms.
The actress expanded on this by contrasting generational attitudes towards body image and appearance. She described her mother as a stunning beauty whose life and career were shaped by the visual expectations of her era. In contrast, Curtis expressed pride in embracing ageing and authenticity, even when that means appearing onscreen with her “tummy sticking out” or in vulnerable, unfiltered moments—such as in her upcoming film The Last Showgirl.
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Ultimately, Curtis believes that her journey towards self-acceptance stands in contrast to what her mother may have experienced. She acknowledged that while her mother may have found it difficult to witness her choices, she now sees her own growth as a form of liberation. For Curtis, accepting her body and breaking free from imposed ideals has been a meaningful step—one that, while perhaps difficult for her mother to understand, marks a powerful evolution between generations.
