'Nepo Baby' Jamie Lee Curtis Slammed For Claiming Her Big Break in Hollywood was an 'Accident' and Nothing to Do With A-List Parents
Jamie Lee Curtis has sparked online backlash for claiming her Hollywood career was a simple 'accident.'
Oct. 29 2025, Published 7:45 p.m. ET
Jamie Lee Curtis has been slammed for claiming her big break in Hollywood was an "accident."
RadarOnline.com can reveal the veteran actress, 66, told how she fell into the industry after struggling at school.
Curtis Had 'No Intelligence' in School
Curtis claimed she flunked school which gave her the incentive to try acting.
But critics were quick to point out her A-list parents — Hollywood legend Tony Curtis and Psycho star Janet Leigh — were undoubtedly a major reason why she entered the industry and branded her a "Nepo Baby."
During an interview this week, the Oscar winner described herself as someone with "no tangible abilities. I was a D+ student – C- if you graded on a curve. I was a cheerleader."
She continued: "I was kind of a weirdo. I was this girl at 16, full of energy and personality. But I had no intelligence. You know, I wasn't an athlete, I wasn't in the plays. And I became an actor by accident."
Showbiz 'Break'?
Curtis says a pal recommended that she audition for an episode of 'Nancy Drew Mysteries.'
Curtis explained that her big break in showbiz came after a family friend in Beverly Hills recommended that she audition for an episode of ABC's Nancy Drew Mysteries.
The friend sent her audition tape to Universal Studios, and she was offered a contract almost immediately.
"They called me the next day, and they offered me a contract. I dropped out of college and became an actor, bringing in $235 a week," she said.
But her take on how she made it big sparked a backlash online, with many taking issue with the way she downplayed the influence of her superstar parents.
"Being the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis might have had something to do with that," one commented.
Critics Rip Curtis Over A-List Parents
The star's parents, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, were major players in the industry.
Another wrote: "She’s a nepo baby… she just explained exactly why people sometimes have issues with nepo babies… because (by her own account) she had no business, experience, or talent to be there in the first place."
"Is she trying to imply that she got where she is due to grit and determination? Why do they all forget they were just handed the game by their parents?" asked a third.
Another pointed out that John Carpenter had cast Jamie in Halloween because of her mother's part in Psycho.
"I read once Carpenter cast her for the novelty of having Marion Crane’s daughter in a horror movie. They figured it'd be a draw," they wrote.
Overlooking the influence of her parents sparked an online backlash against Curtis.
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The producers of Halloween have indeed admitted in the past that Curtis landed the role due to her parents' fame.
Halloween producer and co-writer Debra Hill previously said, "I knew casting Jamie Lee would be great publicity for the film because her mother was in Psycho."
Even Halloween's executive producer Irwin Yablans had admitted that Curtis was hired due to her famous mother.
"We hired Jamie Lee for that reason," he said in the Halloween documentary, A Cut Above the Rest.
The actress bagged a role in 'Halloween' off the back of her parents' fame.
He added: "Who, incidentally, would have been the best choice anyway. She turned out to be a fine actress."
Halloween ended up being Curtis's big Hollywood breakout and led to her starring in a string of horror hits like The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, along multiple Halloween sequels.
She eventually won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023.
