NEED TO KNOW
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At the premiere for her new movie, Ella McCay, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, Jamie Lee Curtis discussed her intentions to “step away” from working in Hollywood before she feels she is no longer offered work
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“The whole reason I’ve talked about self-retiring is, I’m going to leave before you don’t ask me to come anymore,” she tells PEOPLE
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Curtis’ new movie Ella McCay is in theaters Dec. 12
Jamie Lee Curtis is opening up about her intentions to retire from acting.
“I am done self-retiring. But no, of course I’ll retire,” Curtis, 67, tells PEOPLE at the Tuesday, Dec. 9 premiere of her new movie Ella McCay in Los Angeles. On the red carpet, Curtis referenced her recent interview with the Today show’s Willie Geist, in which she said that she has “probably claimed retirement four times” before.
“What he didn’t use was the example I was giving was my parents. So what he didn’t use was the context of that statement,” Curtis says. “The context of that statement was I watched my parents, who loved this industry, who were mega stars. I’m a little minor twilight.”
“They were mega, mega in their era,” she continued, “and they were denied access to the very thing they loved to do, which was the movies, acting in the movies. And I watched both of them lose that life force because of aging and just getting older. They just didn’t have those opportunities, and it was heartbreaking.”
Jamie is the daughter of actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis: her mother Leigh died in 2004 at 77, while her father Tony died in 2010 at 85. In recent months, the Freakier Friday star has discussed her experience watching both Psycho star Leigh and Some Like It Hot star Tony struggle to find consistent acting work toward the end of their lives.
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Jamie Lee Curtis on Dec. 9, 2025
“The whole reason I’ve talked about self-retiring is, I’m going to leave before you don’t ask me to come anymore,” Jamie, who attended Ella McCay‘s premiere with her husband Christopher Guest, tells PEOPLE. “That’s the point. I’m going to step away before you no longer go, ‘Hey, Jamie, come here.’ “
“Because it’s too humiliating for me,” she adds. “And I was raised around it, and therefore I felt like I want to take advantage of the opportunities that I have and then always have one foot out the door.”
The Academy Award and Emmy Award winner similarly told Today‘s Geist, 50, that she wants to “get out before you no longer ask me to be in” during her recent interview. “I just don’t want to have the same sad feeling of missing out on the thing that gave me my life force, which was my work. I want to go like ‘Okay, I’m done. I’ll be done,’ ” Jamie said in that interview.
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Jamie Lee Curtis on Dec. 9, 2025
When Geist noted that Jamie has experienced significant critical success in recent years, she added, “There’s nothing about it that isn’t just feeling perfect. I’m so happy it’s happening now at my age. I’m trying to make sure I check my boxes off before I go, but I’m having a really good time. It’s awesome.”
Curtis’ new movie Ella McCay is in theaters Dec. 12.
Read the original article on People
