‘I Totally Get It’: Jamie Lee Curtis Admits She’s A ‘Nepo Baby’ During Awards Speech

Katie JerkovichFebruary 27, 2023

Jamie Lee Curtis said Sunday that she was a “strange person.” “nepo baby” When she was presented with the award for outstanding performance by a female actress in a supporting role at 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The 64-year old is the daughter of Janet Leigh and actor Tony Curtis. During her acceptance speech for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Curtis said despite being born to famed stars, she is an “actor,” and she “loves” it.

“My parents were actors,” she explained. “And I married an actor. I love actors. I love acting. I love the job we get to do. I love being part of a crew. I love being part of a cast. … It’s such a beautiful job.”

“And I know you look at me and think, well, nepo baby, that’s why she’s there,” she added. “And I totally get it. But the truth of the matter is I’m 64 years old and this is just amazing.”

We love you too, @jamieleecurtis! pic.twitter.com/N8MkACPSpr

— SAG Awards® (@SAGawards) February 27, 2023

The “Freaky Friday” star also talked about getting her “SAG card” when she was 19 years old after she “signed a seven-year contract to Universal Studios and starred in an ABC TV series called the ‘Operation Petticoat,’ which was based on the movie that my father, Tony Curtis — nepo baby! — starred in.”

Curtis said when she was fired from the show a year later, she thought her “life was over. But the good news is that if I hadn’t been fired from ‘Operation Petticoat,’ I would have never had the opportunity to audition for a little tiny, no-budget horror movie called ‘Halloween.'”

The “nepo baby” comment stems from a 2022 article in the New York Magazine that noted a connection between those in the entertainment industry and the children of celebrities.

Curtis was one of serval who hit back at the term, despite not being named.

“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby,” Curtis shared. “I’ve never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on ‘Quincy’ as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars. The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”