Jamie Lee Curtis: ‘I Want To Have A Little Fun, Before I Die’

Jamie Lee Curtis is particularly well known to horror fans, but the 57-year-old actress has a long list of credits to her name. Starring in films that span the genre rainbow from comedies to horror, Curtis has done something to appeal to everyone’s tastes. Looking back on that prolific career, which includes her often comical portrayal of Dean Cathy Munsch on Scream Queens, Jamie says it’s all about enjoying herself these days.

Jamie Lee Curtis Describes Her Scream Queens Experience In Her Own Words

When asked why she was interested in doing Scream Queens, the daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh will always say she just wants to have fun. In fact, Jamie quotes the 1994 Sheryl Crow hit as her life mantra.

“I live by the song lyric, ‘All I want to do is have a little fun before I die,'” Ms. Curtis told the Los Angeles Times, as she recalled Crow’s hit “All I Wanna Do.” “That is me. I want to have a little fun before I die. That is why I said yes to this role.”

It wasn’t always that way. Ms. Curtis reveals she was almost the one actress to say no to an offer from Ryan Murphy. She admits she hadn’t seen much of Murphy’s previous television work, so it wasn’t so much for not liking his work. The Halloween actress explains that she had an issue with shooting in New Orleans, when she had a husband and a teenager in Los Angeles.

As Ryan has said in his own interviews, there never would have been a Scream Queens without Jamie Lee Curtis and his reaction to her rejection was made with many capital letters via email. Ms. Curtis reveals that Murphy worked out a filming schedule that would allow her to be home with her family for 10 days for every four days on set in New Orleans.

Scream Queens Gave Jamie Lee Curtis Her All Time Favorite Lines

Jamie talks about her character, Dean Munsch, in the most loving terms, as though she could be speaking of a sister or a particularly close friend. Curtis mentions the characters flaws and poignantly observes how things could have ended for Munsch, alone and desperate for attention. Ms. Curtis says Scream Queens could have ended the character in a sad, pathetic way, so she’s grateful that the dean was left with much more promise. Jamie says she finds that inspiring.

Speaking of Cathy Munsch, Curtis reveals that the character has given her some of the most memorable lines of her career.

“…And there was one particular line that Dean Munsch says when she’s in the mental institution. I read that line and I texted Jane Lynch [of Glee] and said, ‘I think I am channeling Sue Sylvester.’ I sent her the line. She snorted. She actually texted ‘Snort.’ And, of course, it turns out that [Scream Queens co-creator and writer] Ian Brennan was the go-to writer for Sue on Glee.”

As it turned out, taking on that Scream Queens role gave Jamie Lee Curtis more perks tgan even she could have anticipated. Earlier this month, just as the freshman series aired its season finale, the 2016 Golden Globes nominated Curtis for Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series. While some might question the sense of this, considering how much more screen time and bigger laughs were received by Emma Roberts and Lea Michele, Jamie proved to be the backbone of Scream Queens, on and off camera.

The 2016 Golden Globes are scheduled for January 10.

Headed for a May 19, 2017 theatrical release, Jamie Lee Curtis will star in Spychosis, an action/comedy from director Gabriel Schmidt.

[Featured image by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images]