Jamie Lee Curtis became the original scream queen when she first starred in John Carpenter’s Halloween back in 1978, which later became one of the longest-running horror movie franchises of all time. Since then, Curtis has appeared in more than 80 movies and TV shows. She’s also written multiple children's books, started two podcasts, and won an Academy Award for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Over her career, Curtis has made good friends with many celebrities, from her Freaky Friday co-star Lindsay Lohan to none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, who she worked with in the movie True Lies.
But if there’s someone she’s especially close to, it is Jake Gyllenhaal. After all, Curtis has called herself Gyllenhaal’s celebrity godmother on more than one occasion.
However, the Halloween star has admitted she’s reluctant to star in a movie with Gyllenhaal. Despite this, the actress still asked her godson to collaborate with her on a very special project.
Jamie Lee Curtis Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Self-Proclaimed Celebrity Godmother
Jamie Lee Curtis claims to be Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s celebrity godmother. But how did she come up with this? Well, it turns out that Curtis has been friends with the actors’ mother for a long time. So, it was only natural for her to form a strong relationship with Jake and Maggie.
“I knew him as a babe, I knew him as a small kid,” Curtis told Entertainment Weekly of Jake Gyllenhaal. “So, when he actually started show business, I said, ‘Look, I’m your celebrity godmother. Just relax. It’ll be all good.'” In a 2022 interview with Newsweek, the actress explained exactly what this entails, "I said to him one day, 'I'm your celebrity godmother. I will be here for you in any way I can to help you navigate all of this. Because I don't want anything from you.'"
Curtis and Gyllenhaal are so close that they even lived together for some time during the COVID lockdown, as the actor and his girlfriend, Jeanne Cadieu, moved close to Curtis during that period, “He lived with me during COVID for almost a year. He and Jeanne lived in the house next door that I have. And so there was also that. For a minute," revealed in an interview.
She also admitted they use this time to bond, doing many things together, such as “singing, acting, sourdough,” the actress explained. “And he did that test where you do a handstand against the wall and take your shirt off and put it back on.”
Jake Gyllenhaal Convinced Jamie Lee Curtis To Reprise Her Halloween Role For The Reboot Movie
Jamie Lee Curtis promised Jake Gyllenhaal to help him navigate the movie industry, but the Brokeback Mountain star has also helped Curtis with her career. In fact, Gyllenhaal is responsible for getting Curtis to reprise the role of Laurie Strode in the 2018 Halloween reboot.
“I was sitting in the exact place I am sitting right now when my phone rang, and it was Jake Gyllenhaal,” Curtis told SFX. “I picked up the phone and he said, ‘Hey Jame, my friend David Gordon Green’—who he had just worked with on the movie Stronger—would like to talk to you about a Halloween movie.’ That was in 2017, in the summer. The last thing I thought five years ago that I would be doing would be a Halloween movie.”
Ultimately, Curtis appeared in three more Halloween movies, helping bring this beloved horror film franchise to an end. “And here I am, having now completed three of them with a fantastic creative group of people. That has not only been satisfying for me personally and creatively, but it has launched me creatively into a whole other world. I have a creative life now, because of the Halloween movie, and the success,” she admitted.
Jamie Lee Curtis Was Reluctant To Work With Jake Gyllenhaal In Letters From Camp
Despite their closeness, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jake Gyllenhaal have never starred in a movie together. But they did work together on the actress’ podcast series Letter from Camp, although Curtis was initially reluctant to ask her godson to collaborate with her on this project.
“I was nervous about asking Jake,” Curtis admitted to Newsweek. “Because I don’t want [our relationship] to be transactional.” This is also why she’s reluctant to star in any movies alongside her godson. “I don’t ask him to come to movie premieres. I don’t ask when people do long lead interviews in magazines, and they always say, ‘Well, can we call Jake? Can we call Arnold Schwarzenegger to get quotes?’ I say ‘no, you can’t call Jake,’” she said.
The only reason why Gyllenhaal did voice-over work for Letter From Camp was simply by coincidence. “During COVID, he arrived in Los Angeles and needed a place to stay so he moved in to this house next door I have. He ended up staying there for four or five months,” Curtis recalled. “He came over one day, and I had this kind of look on my face. And he was like, ‘What’s going on with you?’ I was like, ‘Is there any way you would consider voicing this?’ Within a second, he was like, ‘Yes, of course. Oh, my God. Oh, how fun. Who is he? What do I get to do? What’s he do?’ And he immediately turned him into a character.”
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