Jamie Lee Curtis: Her 10 Best Performances
Celebrating one of the most badass women in cinematic history.
This past weekend marked a huge milestone moment in cinema, as Halloween scored the biggest US opening weekend ever for a film that stars a woman over the age of fifty-five.
It just so happens that that woman also happens to be one of the greatest actors of the past forty years, the Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Ever since her debut in a little independent horror film known as Halloween (have you heard of it?) back in 1978, Curtis has remained a vital part of the filmmaking business, dabbling in just about every genre you can imagine. She's a horror icon, a comedy legend, and a talent that is single-handedly capable of raising the quality of an entire film.
With the massive success of Halloween 2018, there's never been a better time to look back on Curtis' career and appreciate exactly how many incredible performances she's given.
10. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
As a film, Halloween H20 is a hit-and-miss affair.
On the one hand, you have wonderfully bonkers sequences like the third act, which features Laurie Strode driving Michael off of a cliff and beheading him. On the other hand, you've got the entire rest of the film, which spends too much of its runtime focusing on uninteresting teenagers and trying way too hard to be a Kevin Williamson joint.
Thankfully, Jamie Lee Curtis' performance falls distinctly into the former category. Returning to the franchise for the first time in nearly twenty years, Curtis brings a weariness to Laurie that gives way too flat-out rage in the third act.
This works really well, giving Curtis the chance to become the killer, and the moment that she finally cuts off Michael's head features an incredibly understated yet powerful reaction from Curtis, as she allows the peace and fallout of her actions to wash over her all in one shot.
Another highlight of her performance in this film is that she gets several moments with her mother, film legend Janet Leigh, the best of which is an open heart-to-heart in which Leigh gives Jamie Lee some 'maternal' advice. It's a tender moment between real-life mother and daughter that works incredibly well.