Jamie Lee Curtis Shares Her Horror-Free Halloween Plans: 'I Have Retired My Pumpkins' (Exclusive)
"I am bowing gently to others who are taking up the mantle," the 'Halloween' actress tells PEOPLE
Jamie Lee Curtis might be known as the "Scream Queen," but she doesn't have any plans to celebrate Halloween this year.
While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala on Saturday, Oct. 5, Curtis — known for starring as Laurie Strode for more than four decades in the Halloween movies — insisted she "no longer" feels the "pressure to go all out" on Oct. 31 despite her iconic role.
"I have retired my pumpkins. I have hung up my butcher knives. I have stepped away from the vehicle. I am bowing gently to others who are taking up the mantle," Curtis, 65, said.
The Freaky Friday star isn't even planning on decorating her house for the holiday this year.
"Nothing. Zip," she insisted, adding that "Nobody comes by our house except my neighbor and we do that at like three o'clock," so she won't feel the pressure to answer the door to anybody.
"My children are old enough now that they don't want me to decorate for them. So no, I'm just gently stepping into the darkness," Curtis jokingly told PEOPLE, referencing her two daughters Ruby, 28, and Annie, 37; whom she shares with screenwriter husband Christopher Guest, 76.
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The actress first appeared on screens as Laurie in the original Halloween flick back in 1978. She made her final appearance in 2022's Halloween Ends.
The John Carpenter classic famously introduced horror fans to Michael Myers (a.k.a. "The Shape"), with the original movie spawning 12 additional films; many of which Curtis starred in. The franchise has made more than $1 billion through the years and counting.
Despite the franchise's success, Curtis doesn't celebrate Halloween by watching herself in the movies. "No, what kind of life do you think I have?" she joked to PEOPLE.
Curtis' comments come after she spoke about being known for her Halloween role in a PEOPLE essay in 2022.
"You call me the Scream Queen. I don't call myself that, but I get it. Not the queen part. The scream part. But what you may not know about me is that I scare easily — and often," she insisted at the time.
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In July 2022, ahead of the release of the last instalment of the film's franchise that October, Curtis spoke to PEOPLE about saying goodbye to the character.
"Well, you know, endings are a bitch, and endings are very difficult to do in a very satisfying way," she said.
While discussing wrapping the project earlier that year, the star said at the time, "The last shot [filmed] was [part of] a night shoot and I was in a car — it was a close-up of me in the car. And when we got out of the car, it was 4:30 in the morning and there was the picture of my face on the screen."
"I realized that was the last image of Laurie Strode after 44 years of portraying her," Curtis added. "Isn't that amazing? And it felt very satisfying."
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Read the original article on People.