Adept at drama, comedy, and action, Oscar®-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis can do everything, everywhere, sometimes all at once. Early on in her diverse career, she made her name as a “scream queen”. In various thrillers and horror films centered on women in peril, she played a multitude of resilient characters forced to defend themselves against the threat of male violence.
Written by Debra Hill and John Carpenter, and directed by the latter, the massively influential Halloween (1978) is a masterclass in suspense. In her first film role, Curtis is an empathetic anchor as an innocent babysitter pitted against a knife-wielding entity of evil. Released twelve years later, Blue Steel (1990) plays like a companion piece to Halloween. In Kathryn Bigelow’s psychosexual thriller, Curtis is once again faced with a murderer who draws power from—and takes pride in—possession of a phallic weapon. Here, it’s a gun stolen from a crime scene. Featuring Curtis as a rookie cop in one of her most transformative performances, Bigelow’s film is an intense provocation. Exploring how easily men can be rattled by a confident woman, director and star illuminate a toxic, patriarchal culture in which the male ego proves as potent a threat as any serial killer on the loose.

Adept at drama, comedy, and action, Oscar®-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis can do everything, everywhere, sometimes all at once. Early on in her diverse career, she made her name as a &#8220;scream queen&#8221;. In various thrillers and horror films centered on women in peril, she played a multitude of resilient characters forced to defend themselves against the threat of male violence.
Written by Debra Hill and John Carpenter, and directed by the latter, the massively influential Halloween (1978) is a masterclass in suspense. In her first film role, Curtis is an empathetic anchor as an innocent babysitter pitted against a knife-wielding entity of evil. Released twelve years later, Blue Steel (1990) plays like a companion piece to Halloween. In Kathryn Bigelow&#8217;s psychosexual thriller, Curtis is once again faced with a murderer who draws power from&#8212;and takes pride in&#8212;possession of a phallic weapon. Here, it&#8217;s a gun stolen from a crime scene. Featuring Curtis as a rookie cop in one of her most transformative performances, Bigelow&#8217;s film is an intense provocation. Exploring how easily men can be rattled by a confident woman, director and star illuminate a toxic, patriarchal culture in which the male ego proves as potent a threat as any serial killer on the loose.

Nerves of Steel: Jamie Lee Curtis

NERVES OF STEEL: JAMIE LEE CURTIS

Adept at drama, comedy, and action, Oscar®-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis can do everything, everywhere, sometimes all at once. John Carpenter and Kathryn Bigelow made exemplary use of her talents, with intense portraits of resilient women defending themselves against the threat of male violence.

Adept at drama, comedy, and action, Oscar®-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis can do everything, everywhere, sometimes all at once. John Carpenter and Kathryn Bigelow made exemplary use of her talents, with intense portraits of resilient women defending themselves against the threat of male violence.