Jamie Lee Curtis held nothing back for her latest film.
The Halloween star chatted with Entertainment Weekly about playing an IRS inspector in the new sci-fi film Everything Everywhere All at Once, noting she wanted to look as "real" as she could. For the role, she explained, she refused to "conceal the reality" of her body.
"In the world, there is an industry — a billion-dollar, trillion-dollar industry — about hiding things," Curtis said. "Concealers. Body-shapers. Fillers. Procedures. Clothing. Hair accessories. Hair products. Everything to conceal the reality of who we are. And my instruction to everybody was: I want there to be no concealing of anything."
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Curtis added, "I've been sucking my stomach in since I was 11, when you start being conscious of boys and bodies, and the jeans are super tight. I very specifically decided to relinquish and release every muscle I had that I used to clench to hide the reality. That was my goal."
Co-director Daniel Kwan also told EW that while "everyone assumes that her belly in the movie is a prosthetic," it's "actually her real belly," and he was "grateful that she was allowed to just let it out." The film's other director, Daniel Scheinert, also noted the look of Curtis' character was based on a photo of an actual IRS auditor the crew found online.
"Jamie was like, 'That's incredible, please let me be her — please, please, please, please,'" Scheinert said. "And that photo became the reference for the hairdo and the outfit."
On Instagram, Curtis shared a photo of herself in the film ahead of its Friday premiere at South by Southwest, noting, "I have never felt more free creatively and physically." The movie, which stars Michelle Yeoh, is set to hit theaters on March 25.
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