Jamie Lee Curtis just received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute — the cherry on top of her already glittering career.
The drama school awarded Curtis, 65, the honor at its commencement ceremony on Saturday, August 10, for her contribution to film.
“A moment like this demands respect for the institution and the longevity of my life as an artist – and I claim it,” Fucking Friday star tells PEOPLE at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theater in California.
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“You’re going to make me cry,” she adds. “But now at my age I can claim the word ‘artist’. I didn’t before.”
After a decade in the industry – launched by her role in the Halloweenwhose director, John Carpenter, introduced her at the ceremony — Curtis says she now identifies as “an artist with a capital ‘A'” — a title that has long resonated.
Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter at the AFI Opening on August 10, 2024.
Michael Kovac/Getty
Discussing the importance of honorary degrees given her family tree — which includes movie star parents Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis — she tells PEOPLE, “Nepo babies are an easy way for people to tell you that you don’t deserve your success. And I’ve been aware of that my whole life. ”
“I didn’t run away from it,” she adds. “I’m not under the illusion that it didn’t have an effect and an impact. But at the end of the day, none of that helps you when they say rolling and action. At that point the art takes over.”
“I didn’t know I was originally an artist, but I know I’m a creative person,” she says. “I’m a girl with ideas, and I’ve been a girl with ideas from the beginning. I’m a marketer. I’m a publicist… I’ve written children’s books, I’ve written screenplays, I’ve directed.
Now, the mother-of-two says, “My legacy is less acute” because “my art has trumped that.”
“I am in a place of great historical significance and my daughter is here with me,” she continues. “The legacy is that I am a mother and a friend and a colleague. And so I think that all of that, of course, has an impact, but it is less acute.”
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And, Curtis explains that her “legacy” is still ongoing — and will be until she can no longer work.
“I’m more in my own body and my own mind and I don’t have any fucking time to waste because I’m going to be dead soon,” she tells PEOPLE. “And I’m not saying that like, ‘Oh, that’s a cute, silly thing.’ I say, I tell you: I am [65]. My mother died at 76, my father at 85. I have no fucking time to waste.”
“And this is an example of establishing the solidity of my being and my mind,” Bear adds the star. “And now I just have to hurry and I’m in a hurry right now.”
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Jamie Lee Curtis accepts her honorary degree from the American Film Institute.
Michael Kovac/Getty
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In its own words, the AFI Conservatory awarded Curtis a Doctorate of Fine Arts, an honoris causa degree, for “distinguished contributions to the art of the moving image,” according to a press release.
“Jamie Lee Curtis is a supernova born from the union of two stars — an icon whose fearless approach to her craft and fearless dedication to driving culture forward define excellence in our modern age,” said AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale.
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Curtis won the 2023 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything everywhere and at once and will reprise her role as Tess Coleman in the upcoming sequel to the 2003 film. Fucking Friday together with Anna Coleman Lindsay Lohan.
The film, which hits theaters next year, will follow Curtis and Lohan’s mother-daughter duo as they switch bodies with two teenage girls. She also stars as Dr. Patricia Tannis in the recently released film Borderlands movie, based on the popular video game series.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education