Jamie Lee Curtis has looked back fondly on some of her less acclaimed roles, following her win for outstanding guest actress at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys. Curtis, who recently collected the trophy for her buzzy role as Donna Berzatto in season two of FX’s The Bear, revealed at the ceremony that she “never thought in my life” that she’d be enjoying success this late into her career, thanks in large part to her previous role as an Activia spokesperson.
Fans of the actress will remember that she spent years promoting the food company’s yogurt line, appearing in multiple commercials talking up its stool-softening and laxative benefits. While the commercials might’ve led to something of a stain on her career, Curtis has since reminisced on their role in the trajectory of her career, which now includes half an EGOT with an Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once and this most recent Emmy win for The Bear.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” Curtis told reporters after collecting her Emmys trophy. “I’ve sold yogurt that makes you s**t for seven years, and I just never thought in my life that I would get to do work at this level of depth and complexity and intelligence.” The Halloween star went on to describe her last few years of success as the “thrill of my creative life,” before commending her fellow nominees in the Emmys category.
Curtis’ win is impressive not just because of her previous laxative credits, but because of the competitiveness of the category. Curtis beat out the likes of Olivia Colman, who also appeared in a guest role in The Bear, as well as Hacks’ Kaitlin Olson, Only Murders in the Building’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig. Incidentally, Wiig actually spoofed the very Activia commercials Curtis appeared in during a skit on the sketch show ten years ago.
Curtis appeared as part of one of the more talked-about moments from The Bear’s second season, portraying the erratic mother of Jeremy Allen White’s Carmen in an episode titled “Fishes”. The star-studded episode also featured Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, and Bob Odenkirk, with Curtis later describing her appearance as “the role of a lifetime.”
In other Lee news, the actress is gearing up for the release of Freaky Friday 2, the long-awaited sequel to the 2003 original that will see her reprise her role as body-switcher Tess Coleman opposite Lindsay Lohan’s Anna Coleman. That nostalgic role alone is enough to make up for any previous poo-related credits, and the fact that Curtis earned a major payday for those Activia commercials is truly mother behavior.
After all, even Hollywood icons can sometimes feel a little clogged up.
Published: Sep 9, 2024 03:39 am