Jamie Lee Curtis Credits Breakout ‘Halloween’ Role For Giving Her The Life She Has Today (EXCLUSIVE)

She rose to fame as a scream queen in the cult classic Halloween, but off-screen, Jamie Lee Curtis exclusively told Closer Weekly, “I live a very quiet, private life! I’m married to a very quiet guy.” So when Closer caught up with her on Sept. 8 at the Midnight Madness premiere of her new Halloween movie at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was the enthusiastic crowd that was screaming. 

“This is all sort of funny and amazing,” she said, waving to fans. “I love it! I’m going to be 60 and I’m at a movie — that I’m in!” Jamie has appeared in six of the 11 films in the horror franchise and she credits landing the role of terrorized babysitter Laurie Strode in the 1978 original for “basically [giving] me the life I have today.” The new movie focuses on three generations of Strode women who are still battling the supernatural boogeyman Michael Myers. But the horror on-screen is far from Jamie’s happy — and very full — life. 

She’s just published her 13th children’s book, is writing her first screenplay, and looking forward to celebrating her November birthday with husband Christopher Guest, 70. “[We] are opposites,” she said. “We have been for 33 years, and we always will be.” But they’ve made it work because they’ve followed a rule she learned 20 years ago when she got sober: “Don’t leave,” she explained. “There’s a recovery phrase that says, ‘Stay on the bus… the scenery will change.’ It can apply to almost anything.” 

As she faces 60, Jamie is proud that she’s learned to “shed my own limitations and perception of who I am,” she said, so the future doesn’t worry her. She leaves the screaming for Laurie Strode. “Life is tough for everybody. That’s why we go to the movies! So we can scream and laugh, and then go home.”

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