As the daughter of screen legends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis has worn the nepo-baby badge her entire life, but from her film debut in John Carpenter’s 1978 classic, “Halloween,” she’s been charting a course for herself in spite of preconceived notions.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, while receiving an honorary doctorate from AFI this weekend at the TCL Chinese Theater, Curtis shared the stage with Carpenter and recognized his involvement in helping her shape a name for herself, as well as the educational struggles she endured on her path to realizing her purpose.
“We did ‘Halloween,’ and it made all of us famous, but Jamie Lee especially,” said Carpenter as he presented Curtis with her Doctorate of Fine Arts. “She became the queen of horror movies; I’m not sure she wanted that. I’ve watched Jamie’s career through the years and watched her grow as an actress, and finally, finally, she won an Academy Award — and rightfully so. She is an amazing talent.”
Returning the praise as she took the podium, Curtis said to Carpenter, “Thank you for my entire life, John. I’m telling you now, without you, none of this…thank you, thank you.”
Addressing the faculty, students, and families in the audience, as well as her own friends and daughter who came out to support her, Curtis called herself an “underachiever,” expressing her belief that “she is not supposed to be here” receiving this doctorate.
“I was not a student. I couldn’t learn,” Curtis said. “The delivery system didn’t work for me. Today you’d diagnose me with something, but then, I just didn’t learn, I couldn’t figure it out. And somehow, I ended up in an institution of higher learning with my 840 combined SAT scores. Combined. You add the two together.”
Curtis went on to explain how she “became an actor by accident,” just as her parents had before her, and that while formal education can help, it’s not always the most important thing.
“You don’t have to have a degree to be an artist. It helps to have knowledge, but it is not a requirement,” said Curtis. “I am the representation of an accidental artist, and yet I stand fully in my body, in my mind, in my soul, as one now.”
Offering some hard-earned wisdom, Curtis told the graduates they should keep their minds “free.”
“Let it express itself,” she said. “Because when you express yourself freely, you end up becoming John Carpenter, and then you end up changing the world and changing the lives of people like me.”
Tying things back to her beginnings and desire to create an identity for herself, Curtis closed her speech by recognizing the work the graduates had before them and pushing them to embrace it.
“Don’t get lazy,” she said. “Don’t think you deserve something more than you’re going to get. Fight for it, work for it. Save the universe, please. God bless you all.”
