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A little over a year after she landed The first OscarsA month ago, she received her second Emmy nomination for the show effect Bear, Jamie Lee Curtis Now she can add the title “Doctor” to her long list of achievements.
The star was honored Doctor of Fine Arts It was presented by the American Film Institute on Saturday during the film school’s Class of 2024 graduation ceremony. Halloween director John Carpenter personally presented her with the honor, noting, “We did Halloweenthe movie that made all of us famous, especially Jamie Lee. She became the queen of horror movies; I’m not sure she wanted that. I’ve followed Jamie’s career over the years and watched her grow as an actress, and finally, she finally won an Oscar – and deservedly so. She’s an amazing talent.”
“The first thing I want to say is thank you, John Carpenter, thank you for giving me life. Thank you for giving me your whole life, John,” Curtis said to the audience as he took the stage at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
She went on to admit, “I shouldn’t be here,” explaining that she wasn’t a good student, “Today you would diagnose what was wrong with me, but I just couldn’t learn. I couldn’t figure it out. Somehow, I ended up getting into a prestigious institution with an 840 combined SAT score and a D+ grade point average.”
“To you graduates, I represent what underachievers can achieve. I am an artist. I can tell you that today. I couldn’t tell you that when I was 19 and didn’t know what I was going to do. I can tell you that I became an actor by accident. My parents became actors by accident.” Everything happens at once the star said of her mother Janet Leigh and father Tony Curtis.
Curtis also said she doesn’t “pretend to be an intellectual” or consider herself a cinephile, but a film buff. She recalled trying to shoot a horror movie with a Super 8 camera, which she wrote and directed, “about a housewife who gets eaten by plants in her house. I swear I made this movie.” The star added: “You don’t have to have a degree to be an artist. It helps to have knowledge, but it’s not necessary. I’m the poster child for being an artist by accident, but I’m now fully standing as an artist in my body, my mind, my soul.”
She went on to offer some advice to the graduates, telling them that their personal thoughts are the most precious and to “let it be free, let it express itself, because when you express yourself freely, you end up being John Carpenter, and then you end up changing the world and changing the lives of people like me.”
Curtis concluded by encouraging everyone to “stay open, stay free, stay engaged, stay absolutely passionate. Don’t be lazy, don’t think you deserve more than you deserve. Fight for it, work hard for it. Please save the universe. God bless you.”
With the honorary doctorate, Curtis joins an esteemed group of past American Film Institute Honorees include Angela Bassett, Kathryn Bigelow, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Nora Ephron, Jodie Foster, Kathleen Kennedy, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Paul Schrader, Quentin Tarantino, Lily Tomlin, Cicely Tyson, John Williams and Michelle Yeoh.
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