As a self-described “OG Nepo Baby,” Jamie Lee Curtis has some thoughts on the current conversation.
Earlier this month, New York magazine published its sprawling cover story about “nepotism babies,” spotlighting the many actors, musicians, and celebrities who have famous parents or relatives.
The story has sparked a widespread debate about how privilege and lineage can play a part in finding success — especially in the notoriously tight-knit community of Hollywood.
Now, the 64-year-old Curtis is weighing in. The actress is the daughter of legendary actors Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) and Janet Leigh (Psycho), and she shared a lengthy post on Instagram Friday sharing her own experiences.
Curtis readily admitted that ever since her first acting role on Quincy, M.E. in 1977, she’s had certain “advantages,” but she also rejects the “snide remarks” and assumptions that just because a person has famous relatives, they automatically “have no talent whatsoever.”
“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old, so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby,” Curtis wrote. “I’ve never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on Quincy as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars.”
“The current conversation about Nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt,” Curtis continued. “For the record, I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don’t pretend there aren’t any, that try to tell me that I have no value on my own.”
Curtis most recently appeared in this year’s Halloween Ends and Oscar contender Everything Everywhere All at Once, and she closed her post by urging readers to “be kind.”
“It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever,” Curtis added. “I have come to learn that is simply not true. I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work. I am not alone. There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist.”
