Jamie Lee Curtis shares pure reaction to first Oscar nod

Jamie Lee Curtis — the self-proclaimed cheerleader of the 2023 awards season — had a pure, upbeat reaction to her first Oscar nomination in a long career in Hollywood.

During Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, the genre film star earned a supporting actress nod for her unrecognizable role as an overzealous IRS clerk in All At Once.

“LOOKS A SURPRISE!” the 64-year-old wrote, sharing a photo of herself covering her mouth in shock as she watched the early morning nominations announcement.

Curtis wrote that one of her oldest friends — 2001 Academy Award winner Debbie Oppenheimer — texted her at 5:15 a.m. to say she was sitting outside Curtis’ house and asked if she wanted company, while following the announcement.

“There she was in pitch black, freezing, cold in a parka. She walked in and sat with me as I sat with her on the day she was heading towards the Oscars, the year she won. We held hands. I didn’t even know she was taking pictures,” Curtis added, sharing a series of pictures Oppenheimer took to document the “Halloween” actor’s reaction to the movie nods.

“First is the moment I hear my name and then the thrill of my girlfriend, Stephanie’s legal name @stephaniehsu, and the rest of the nominations and then best of all, a loving hug for my husband. No filters. No fake. Just the truth of a moment of joy captured by a friend,” she wrote.

Actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams read the 10 Best Picture nominees Tuesday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

(Jay L Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Then, in a succinct tribute to her husband Christopher Guest’s work in 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap, she added, “Hey @everythingeverywheremovie we were to 11!”

Everything Everywhere All at Once indeed topped the 95th Academy Award nominations with 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan) and the Original Screenplay.

Curtis was nominated alongside her Everything colleague Stephanie Hsu, Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Hong Chau (The Whale) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin).

The Knives Out star also said Tuesday that she’s “always felt very much like an outsider looking in, yet always so grateful for all the opportunities” she’s had.

“Being a part of this beautiful film that has just received so many awards for our talented, ragtag crew of artists is the highlight of my professional life,” she wrote, sharing a picture of the Everything cast and a photo of her acting parents , Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. (Jamie Lee Curtis, whose own career has spanned four decades, was name checked in New York magazine’s Vulture magazine’s inescapable “Nepo Babies” feature last month. Though she described herself as “an OG Nepo baby” at the time, she defended herself she also looks at her work and that of other celebrity children.)

“Because this is a film about a family of immigrants and their struggles in life, I immediately think of my parents, children of immigrants from Hungary and Denmark, whose families came here and sacrificed themselves for their children to achieve their dreams,” she continued.

“I can only imagine how it would feel for her and her parents to hear that their daughter/granddaughter was nominated for an Oscar this morning. I am stunned and humbled and excited by our little film that could and did and continues to do and does and does based on today’s nominations.”

Earlier this month, the ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ and ‘Trading Places’ actress became an instant meme when she boisterously celebrated her co-star Yeoh’s first Golden Globe win during the ceremony on Jan. 10. Shortly after, she revealed her positive COVID-19 diagnosis, which forced her to step back from some of Hollywood’s relentless awards-season engagements.