Jamie Lee Curtis Has No Secrets

Jamie Lee Curtis knows a thing or two about letting out a good scream. Producing an ear-piercing, glass-shattering shriek is an art form that doesn’t come easy — but she’s had time to perfect her craft.

From the harrowing howl triggered by her own reflection in Freaky Friday to her stomach-turning screech in the Halloween series, she’s become the ultimate scream queen, honing a recognizable bellow that lets audiences know things are going sideways. And now, she’s getting another opportunity to it show off, courtesy of Prime Video’s new comedy series The Sticky. What’s the key to unlocking this intense self-expression?

“I don’t have any secrets,” Curtis tells me matter-of-factly over the phone. Usually I’d be suspicious of such a statement, but coming from her, it feels completely true. “The secret is not having any — being transparent. I just squawk and squeal like a seal, without you having to throw the ball in the water to get me to make that seal noise. I just make it naturally.” (Yes, this is how she talks.)

During our 20-minute long conversation, her inherent uninhibitedness is almost jarring, with a zeal for life that pulses through the phone. Answers turn into extensive monologues. Stories conclude with inspirational life lessons. Sentences are spoken with exclamation marks, and any semblance of an A-list discretion is replaced by disarming playful banter. It seems this is someone who, despite spending decades in an industry that breeds insecurities, has no barriers built up. And she’s proud of it.

“I am the same girl I was when I was 19 years old on the set of Halloween,” Curtis says. “My ongoing life motto is: ‘Life is for living and die alive.’ I’ve always been this girl; I’ve always been looking for a creative home for this girl.” With her latest on-screen endeavour, she’s found an outlet once again.

Premiering on December 6, The Sticky is inspired by the headline-making maple syrup heist of 2012, in which more than $18 million worth of golden sweetener was stolen from Quebec’s national reserves. Trailing the line between serious and stupendously silly, it’s the perfect canvas for Curtis to play. She was originally attached as just a producer, but when she was offered to play a seasoned hitman with no heart, she, of course, said yes.

Her character, Bo Shea, is a crassly-cursing, door-banging badass with a roughed-up aesthetic. An immediately imposing presence, she dresses the part of a weathered villain, sporting a leather jacket, shaggy dark hair and statement cane — which Curtis notes was her idea. “I said, the truth is, she’s been in gun battles. She’s been in knife fights. She’s been thrown off of a cliff. I knew I needed a bar fight scar down the side of her face, and I needed a cane.” Her brief but memorable appearance is a fast-moving ride that ends with a classic Jamie Lee Curtis scream. In other words: just the kind of project she’s looking for.

“I am known for being a very emotional person… I love people, I love the human condition — and I love that Bo doesn’t give a shit about any of it,” Curtis says. “She doesn’t care! She has zero emotional intelligence.” It’s this type of weirdness that gets her excited for a role, and despite many decades of experience, her enthusiasm has only expanded.

Take Freakier Friday, the sequel to the iconic 2003 film coming in 2025. True to its name, it is extra odd — with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan joined by two more characters for the body swap shenanigans. (As Curtis puts it: “It’s more people on the freak ride!”) What did she take away from the experience? “I remembered how much I love doing this. You know, it’s fun to pretend to be 15.” she reflects. “I relearned was how fun it was to do body swapping, because I hadn’t done it in 22 years.”

And while looking back is nice, Curtis is clear she lives for the present. An outspoken advocate against ageism, the 66-year-old actor is quick to challenge the idea that getting older somehow slows you down. For her, it’s been the opposite. In recent years, she’s secured an Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, starred in the final instalment of the beloved Halloween franchise and even achieved the highest internet accolade: immortalization as a meme. To this day, the energy she brings to every space is rare and raw in a way that feel quintessential to Curtis.

When I ask how she embraces change as she ages, her response is characteristically no-nonsense. “Babe, have you seen my face?” Jamie Lee Curtis retorts. “Embracing? It is what it is! I am who I am.” It’s an outlook similar to her attitude on seemingly everything else. No secrets. No special sauce. No mystery. For Jamie Lee Curtis, being open is much more interesting.