Working in the film industry for decades, Jamie Lee Curtis is a very well-known name. She has appeared in some of the best horror films ever produced, namely those in the Halloween franchise. After winning the Career Achievement Award from AARP The Magazine in January 2023, she took to her Instagram to remember one of their old collaborations. At the age of 50, she was featured as the magazine’s topless cover girl – causing an uproar from fans and followers.
A lengthy career
Curtis initially studied law for a year in 1976 before dropping out to go into acting. Her first major gig was as Lieutenant Barbara Duran on Operation Petticoat. Her film debut was in the original Halloween movie, a move that would provide her with numerous more franchise roles in the coming years. Although she’s acted in multiple genres, she’s best known for the many horror roles she took on between 1978 and 2022.
Throughout her film career she has been nominated for, and won, various awards: a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in Trading Places, a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in A Fish Called Wanda, a Golden Globe Award for True Lies, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Her TV career is also impressive, with a Golden Globe and a People’s Choice Award for Anything But Love, a Golden Globe nomination for Scream Queens, and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Nicholas’ Gift.
Topless appearance
Having established herself as a tour de force in the industry, she was asked to pose for the May/June 2008 issue of AARP The Magazine, which she gladly agreed to. It was shot by acclaimed photographer Andrew Eccles, who had Curtis – just shy of her 50th birthday – tastefully pose topless in a pool. Curtis took to her Instagram to remember the moment and the varied reactions of the public.
She said, “people lost their MINDS that I was TOPLESS! A perfect statement about how weird people are about older people having any sexuality whatsoever.” At the time, the photo was generally poorly received, and the consensus seemed to be that it was because of her age. When she shared the photo recently, however, her fans were thrilled. Many complimented her in the comment section for not letting society’s ideas about age stand in her way.
Aging gracefully
Ironically, the article that accompanied this 2008 photoshoot was heavily centered on aging in the film industry, a topic that Curtis assuredly had many thoughts on. She told her interviewer, Nancy Griffin, “I want to be older. I actually think there’s an incredible amount of self-knowledge that comes with getting older. I feel way better now than I did when I was 20. I’m stronger, I’m smarter in every way, I’m so much less crazy than I was then.”
This was not a standalone remark. She has been vocal in many interviews about wanting to age gracefully. She declared, “Getting older makes you more alive. More vitality, more interest, more intelligence, more grace, more expansion.”
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Aside from her verbal positivity about aging, Curtis has physically expressed this by appearing in more nude photoshoots in the years following the initial AARP publication. In a 2022 New York Times photoshoot, the then 63-year-old posed completely naked behind a rock, and then in a pool wearing a bathing suit and fishnet stockings.