Stop Chasing The Shiny Things with Jamie Lee Curtis

I've been waiting patiently to do my thing. Yeah, yeah. Biting my time. And I have, I have suited up and shown up for lots of different work. I did commercials when no, but I mean, I won an Oscar and I sold yogurt that missed you shit for six years. This episode is brought to you by shipped. Hey, you. Craig Robinson. Michelle Obama, how you doing? Good, always good to be with you. Oh, it's so nice to be here. It's been raining a bit. You know, it has been and you speaking of rain. So, you know, we had the kids here. They're all gone. Kelly's gone. I'm now by myself again. Oh, and I was enjoying sitting outside of my Airbnb because I've been. Did you sit outside? No, it's been raining. Oh, because it's been raining. So you've been trapped alone. I've been inside, but I haven't had zero to do because my Airbnb has a pool table. Oh, yeah. So I've been working on my game. Have you really been? I've been working on it. Is it a good solid pool table? Yeah. Oh, no. It's a real pool table. It's a real pool table. And I realized that I haven't played pool in forever. So I'm terrible, but it gives me something to do when I'm there by myself. But you also said that this is a famous place that you're staying this time. Yeah, it's Orson Welles home. The former home. Former home. Yes, yes. A lot of historical stuff inside. Do you know if it's been passed down? Like, does Airbnb give you a bit of a history? Did you know that? No. Because how did you know that it was Orson Welles? I didn't know until I walked into the place. So when the folks at Airbnb give me a couple to choose from and typically I choose the one that's closest to the office. And that's what I did. I didn't really do much research. And then I walk in and there's memorabilia everywhere. It's really cool. That's cool. A Turner classic movie guy. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's like you're in heaven. Yeah. You are in heaven. I am in heaven. Well, speaking of the classics, our guest today is a classic beauty, personality, all the above. It's gonna be a great episode, y'all, but Craig is gonna do the formal introduction. Yeah, I'm gonna do the formal introduction for Jamie Lee Curtis, who is an actress known for her roles in many iconic films, including the Halloween franchise, a fish called Wanda, Freaky Friday, Knives Out, and most recently, the last showgirl in Freaky or Friday. In 2023, she won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in everything, everywhere, all at once. And we got to say hello, and I am so looking forward to spending time with Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie! Yes, you go to her first. First. Welcome, so happy you're here. Hi, Biggie. I've been here before. Welcome to IMO. I like it. Hi, that was a nice introduction. How? It's always weird for me. I'm sure it is. It's weird. Yeah, yeah. Because you said the Halloween franchise, I was like, it wasn't a franchise. It was a 17 day shoot in Pasadena and Hollywood for $300,000 in 1978. It wasn't a franchise. It was a gig that was so great because my name was on every page. You know what I mean? That was the new thing about it. That's what Halloween was for me at that time. 19, I was like, are you kidding? Yeah. So it's funny that it's, you listen, I'm sure you both have that. Where you hear as we're older now, you hear things and you go, really? That's me. That's totally agree. I totally agree. And you want people to, it's like, okay, okay, that's enough. That's enough. Well, yeah, it just doesn't, because I don't relate to it. That's right. That's right. I honestly don't relate to any of it. I only relate to sort of the immediate moment here with you. I was at Children's Hospital of San Angeles before I came here. That became an immediate moment to me. I do not look back. But it speaks to your character too. Yeah, I was gonna say. You're not taking yourself like, ah, you know. That's clear. The second you meet, someone meets you. I mean, that was like, oh, she's real. Yeah. I mean, she's a real person, a real woman. But that's so strange to me because it's a, I understand that the industry, that the whole concept is not real. It's that magical, well, you're talking about Orson Welles. I mean, that idea of a Turner classic movie nerd. Like that lore of what that is in Hollywood and the speakeasies. And yes, I know some of those houses in Hancock Park that had the speakeasy built into behind the wall. But I live the life of a human being. So I'm a chop wood carry water kind of gal. So I've never understood that the idea of not being real, of having some fake thing, it would make me crazy. Well, a lot of people would say you were the, you know, you were the daughter of Hollywood, right? Of that image. Of some level, sure. But that's what people would say. What do you think kept you grounded in the- Janitely, okay. My mother was from Stockton, California. Her name was Jeanette Helen Morrison. She lived in a garage with her parents. And she became, you know, it's too long of a story, but she was discovered by Norma Shear, silent film star who, there was a long story. There was a photograph of my mother at a motel where my grandfather was the manager of a ski motel at a ski resort, not ski resort, at a ski place. And Norma Shear was married to a skier. And they stayed at this motel and saw the picture when she was checking out and said, who's that? He said, that's my daughter. She said, may I have the picture? Took it to Hollywood. They called for her. She became an actress, changed her name to Janet Lee and starred in a movie with Van Johnson right away in whatever year it was, 1948, I believe. And that began her career. But she was from a really rough childhood in Stockton, California. She raised me. I feel like I'm watching Turner Classic right now. See, my sister doesn't know that you did this on Turner Classic to introduce the whole story of your mom. And I've got goosebumps right now listening to you. You have to remember that was my mother. My mother was Jeanette Helen Morrison from Stockton, California. My father was Bernie Schwartz from New York City. Now, Bernie Schwartz became Tony Curtis. He adopted the fake life. Got it. Now, he did it with spirit. He did it with some style. He bought mansions and art collections and had a kind of grandiosity about him. He was charming. If he walked in a room, he would be a little bit like, hello, and he would walk to tell hello, I'm Tony. And people would just be like, ah, and he lived a little bit like a prince. So he lived this fake reality. Of course, died a drug addict. My mother lived a very real life and stayed real her whole life. Her book that she wrote was called There Really Was a Hollywood, which tells you everything that for her, that idea of there was something magical that she then entered. I grew up in Los Angeles, California on a dirt road with a donkey and it's stable. It wasn't ours. Next door, you know what I mean? I grew up a Southern California kid. Like you're talking about kid. I grew up not in a fancy life at all. And so my mother is the... Were you aware of who your mother was? You know what, you become aware of it. I guarantee you, I don't know about your family life, Craig. I didn't do my homework. No, that's okay. I was in Chicago yesterday. So I did not do my homework, but I don't... Well, I'm telling you the truth. I hear you, yeah. I'm sure that your daughters have had to deal with the fact that people know who your parents are before you walk in a room. Or as you walk in the room, that's the first thing that is said. I understood that to some degree as I became... Yeah. You know, a teen. I don't think as a kid, I knew anything. But I think as a teen... That's about right, yeah. You understand there's something. But remember, there was no internet. There was television. My parents were movie stars, not television stars per se. They weren't coming into your house. And their movies didn't show on television. So it wasn't like I... Like they were in the movies and then the movies went away. Oops, sorry. And then the movies left town or whatever their movie was. And then they went on to the next one. So their fame, their presence just became attached to me, but not because I had any clues to really what that meant, what they did. I'm interested, because I think I am fascinated with parenthood and how people get things right. And I'm just... What did your mom do right in terms of your day to day, the messages that she sent to you that help keep you grounded? I think it was just the way she lived and just the way she interacted with people. I think she never lost that sense that she was... That it was a miracle that she became janitly. And that impoverished childhood. She had a lot of sadness in her family life. Her father took his life when she was first married with Tony Curtis. Her father took his life. She had a lot of sadness. I think there was obviously alcoholism in the family. So she had secrets. I think though just that that was her. She was the nicest person. She would talk to every person. And I think that just really... It wasn't a specific thing. I mean, we grew up, as I said, in a very normalized life. We had early bedtimes and chores and bikes and played outside. And neighborhood friends. There was no neighborhoods and a lot of fantasy play, but that's just what kids do. So I think it was just the normalized life that she didn't... But I certainly didn't come up with this. Someone way smarter than me came up with it. That the... Being a parent, that if you're successful, it's the only thing you're successful at that ends in separation. Like everything else, the whole success is based on the staying and holding it and clutching it. The goal of a parent is to actually separate into separate ideologies, separate physical lives. And hopefully there's nice interactions, but people are allowed to have their own minds. Because having your own mind is dangerous. Or to some, it's perceived as dangerous. Well, it's dangerous because you're challenging just through the idea of having your own ideas is going to challenge the status quo. And that to me is the great gift of my evolution. Is that my mother's gift? I don't know. I don't know if my mother would love the mind I have. Do you know what I mean? Like I may have challenged some of the... Like I guarantee you right now, I can tell you right now, if my mother had been alive during everything, everywhere, all at once, she would not have liked. I mean, I don't think she would have liked the movie. And I'm not speaking ill of my beautiful mother. I think that would have challenged every norm because in her years as an actress... Being an actress meant a facade. Very much about what you looked like and how women were perceived in their bodies. And I think my mother would have, it would have been very challenging. Hey, Mish. You ever notice how even tiny choices can feel really personal? What we buy at the grocery store, the little preferences we don't want to budge on, it's not random. It's how we take care of ourselves and the people we love. You and I both know our family has opinions about everything. And somehow those little choices end up saying a lot about who we are and how we care for people. You know about me and Sardines, right? What about you and Sardines? You don't remember this. I was hoping I'd catch you off guard with this. I love Sardines. It's my comfort snack. I remember our dad loved Sardines. And that's exactly right. And I enjoy eating them on a club cracker, but you remember that. And I enjoy eating them on a club cracker, but you remember him eating them on saltines? Yes. Yes. With mustard. With mustard, that's exactly right. And I don't do the mustard anymore. You're not following tradition. No, but I am also not following the saltine crackers. Do you remember the fact that we couldn't use Ritz crackers because we had to save those for special occasions? Yeah. Well, now I got all the salt. I got all the Ritz crackers I want, but it tasted really good and he let me try it and I loved it. And now my kids prefer their chips and cookies, but it really feels good when Kelly grocery shops and she remembers to grab Sardines just for me. And they're good for you. Yeah. Yeah. So if I'm ever craving Sardines and Kelly or myself didn't grab them at the store, I can appreciate having a way to get them delivered to me quickly. 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There's people who don't like that. Billie Jean, Effing King. That's right. I mean, just the way she challenged. Yeah. You know, that's... And it's a scary proposition to some of the men that are used to being in complete power. Of course. Yeah, it's like, don't have your own mind, have mine. Well, that's so what happens is we become our own people because I'm not Tony Curtis. That's right. I don't walk around whole. Yes, I'm from Jamie. How are you? But I'm flirty, like he was. Wicked flirt. So you... You know, I am not... You develop pieces of... Yes, you make your own life through the trial and error and experience of others and a lot of error. So I don't think I think getting sober gave me a lot of that. I've been married, gave me a lot of it, being a parent, gave me a lot of it. Obviously, big time, having... I hate this word. It's just awful. The word I don't like is accomplishment. It's like, it's hard for me. So I am having a lot of external accomplishments at a very late age. And when you asked what was the sort of causation, what were the factors, I've been waiting patiently to do my thing. Yeah, yeah, biding my time. And I have suited up and shown up for lots of different work. I did commercials when... I won an Oscar and I sold yogurt that missed your shit for six years. And it's a good laugh line. Yeah. I use it a lot. But you have to remember, I did commercials. I was 26, 27, maybe 28. I had done a fish called Wanda. One day my phone rang and they said, hey, Hertz rent a car. Somebody called me and said, hey, they're looking for a female business executive to run through airports. You've been asked to do it. What? Why did they understand that I can sell something? I don't know. I was an actress. I wasn't Jamie. I hadn't established my Jamie Dumb. Do you know what I mean? I just was a young mom, a young act, married person. And I had been in a couple of movies. Now you can imagine when I was offered to do commercials for a probiotic yogurt that helps regulate your digestive system with Bifidus regularis. You remember. Dude, I remember every word I've ever said in any movie, ever anywhere, every word. Wow. Everything. But my point is, I guarantee you, someone was like, really? You're going to do yogurt commercials that helps you poop? And then it became parodied on SNS. And then Kristen Wiig did the parody. That's when you kind of go, oh, OK. That's interesting. Now we're talking. Because now you're in the mix. When you do a commercial and someone parody is on television on SNL, you're now part of a cultural. So all of a sudden, that has never been a problem for me. But that wasn't your plan? I had never had a plan, Michelle Obama. Did you have a? Well, maybe you did. I kind of did. I did up until. You're a total effing G. So I mean, you're just like G with a capital big ass G, man. So yeah, I'm sure you had a plan. I didn't have a plan. I can spell plan. Well, since you didn't have a plan, when you were younger, I read you wanted to be a cop. Well, by the way, Greg. Yeah. I got into college because my mother was the most famous person that had ever gone to the college. And like, let her in. Somehow. My application that had an 840 combined SAT score, and I believe a C minus was probably graded on a curve to give me a C minus GPA. I don't know what it was. Somebody who's a brainiac will tell me what a C minus GPA is. Right. It is not good. Somehow the University of Pacific and Stockton, California thought I'm your girl. Yeah, right. We want her. They can see past the application. I had no business. They can see past the application. I had no business in higher education. I should have gone to a trade school. I'm not joking. I really am not an intellectual, and I don't pretend to be one. And I had no business in college. I majored in criminology and minored in being a little sister at a frat. I mean, seriously. So when did you think, all right, then I'll go in the family business? But I would never think that, Craig. Right. Look at this. I'm telling you right now. What are you? Yeah. It was not the girl. You have to remember, my mother was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I've seen. Yeah. Tony Curtis? I know. Holy moly me. They were beautiful. Yeah, but you. I was cute. You know what? And I'm just telling you, Michelle. So the idea that I would go into the movie business where this is your life, I had no discernible talent. I don't do accents. I'm not that girl. I never went to drama school. I'm just a living creature who's developed over these low many years. And my point is, it was the last thing I thought I would do is be in show business. And it was an accident. And it's boring. And it's a long story. But it's not boring. But let me ask you this, because there are a lot of young people listening out there in the world who believe the same thing about themselves. Like there is nothing, obviously, that I have. And I want to ask, what was it that you tapped into in the midst of all that that kept you going? Because right now, there are a lot of kids who are like, I don't see my future. There's nothing. I'm not pretty enough. I'm not this enough. I'm not really talented enough. So they quit or they don't push. I, what was your driver? What was the thing in your head that said, I'm going to figure this out? I'm going to not tell you the story of how I became an actor, which was boring and literally was an accident. And you've told the story. Right. I became an actor because somebody I knew randomly said they were looking for Nancy Drew at Universal. And I was home at Christmas. And I was like, OK, I was lucky. So a lot of it has to do with luck, Michelle Obama. I had no clue. I didn't have a clue. I just followed the next thing. I didn't. But I have a very strong work ethic. And I'm curious enough to ask questions. I want to know things I don't know. I can say I don't know. And how do you do that? I have no training. And yet. Did you ever have any training? No. So what did you what were you learning as you, you know, you went about your acting ability? Like what when what light bulbs were clicking for you as you went along or were you just fully like comes up? It's like, read this and go do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm an emotional person and I. I would like to say I'm a empathetic person. I I if there's anything in me is that I have an understanding that life is hard for people. And a deep level of empathy, which why I tear up in it is that it's so it's so absent these days because our leadership isn't showing it, you know. I know. So it's really nice to. See it in action because it's out there. It's out there everywhere. Yes. And there are people, there are beautiful people. There are just I mean, I had a colonoscopy recently. Please tell us more, Jamie. Heidi's Heidi right now. Heidi's like, I swear to God, this is what just happened in the back room with Heidi Schaefer. You literally just went like this. Well, we at the table have all had colonoscopy. I had a colonoscopy recently. The twilight thing is pretty good. So I just so you know. First of all, I write notes to my doctor with that I somehow can twist around and write them in eyebrow pen, you know, eyeliner pencil on my butt. You don't I do. And I write arrows pointing and I say this side up. I write. Thank you, doctor. I won't name him. Thank you, Dr. M. For going to medical school. You get that all on your butt. I also bring a hundred dollar bill and I say, listen, if the anesthesiologist wants to dial the propofol up just a little bit and the honey's gone. When I wake up, just put it out. Because yes, sorry. But that's not why I brought up my colonoscopy. But I do. Again, we digress. I do. For those of us who have had it, it's like that's hilarious. I do draw diagrams and arrows. Never thought of that. Remind them never thought of that. And I still go. I still go to Walter Reed to the military doctors. I think I think that might be a good one for my next colonoscopy. I'll send you a picture. I took a picture last. Please do that. I'm not going to show it to anybody. The reason I brought my colonoscopy was that the nurse. Who greeted me at six a.m. To put her in the IV and to get me prepped before the team comes in. I'm talking to her and she's young, beautiful, Hispanic, young girl. And I said, you know, as we do, you have kids. She said, yeah, I have three. And I said, you have three kids. I said, where are they right now? She said, they're at my sister's. I said. She said, I dropped them there before I come to work. It was six a.m. Yeah. She's waking up three little kids every day. She said five days a week. She says, I said, what time did you get them up? She said four fifteen every day at four fifteen. She wakes up her three kids and she's put their school clothes in the backpack in each of their backpacks. And she takes them to her sisters in their pajamas and then they go back to sleep at her sisters. And then her sister takes them to school. Every day, five days a week. You see, I didn't have that. I I I I don't work that hard and I don't have that life. That wasn't my life with my children. But I'm aware. Yes, that that's really the life going on around me. I was just a children's hospital, Los Angeles. Yes, you want to spend a day and understand how hard people are. Everyone should go to a children's hospital, volunteer to Children's Hospital and see how dedicated those teams are to the. So for me, not to belabor the point, I think it's just simply I'm aware that life is hard. My favorite quote is from the Princess Bride. Life is pain, highness, and anyone who says differently is selling something. And it's it's really well. And it's something to be mindful of. You don't get something for nothing in this world. And anybody tells you, I don't care if he's the president or not, you don't get something for nothing. You know, there's, you know, there's a cost to life. Of course. You know, there's a cost to making sure everybody has health insurance and there's a cost to all of us to make sure that that nurse could possibly have some more reasonable, affordable child care while she's serving other people. There's a cost to all of us to have a clean environment. You don't get to do it without paying taxes or shorting your taxes. You don't the fundamental idea of being human. Oh, well, of any religion. Oh, well, any religion. That is the cornerstone of it. Yes, it is. Help each other. Yes, it is. Love thy neighbor. Yes, it is. Welcome someone. Be open. Put your hand out. Reach back. Help somebody up. Pull them up. It's it's the nature of for me. And that's not I mean, my parents were, you know, good people, but it wasn't. It's just the experience of being alive this long. And I mean, I don't have any other way of doing it. I I I am a worker amongst workers. It's not that's not just a recovery phrase. Yeah, that's been my vibe for a long time. I would have required our crew here where name tags so that when I walk in the room, you know my name. I don't know yours. That there's an imbalance. OK, that's a good idea. No, but but that's an imbalance. And right away, it puts me. Yeah. I mean, I'm the one sitting here at the table with you all. But like, I don't know your name. Like it like that feels imbalanced to me. And on work that I do as a as a as the leader of a show. Yeah. That's a requirement. So I mean, I have some I have a lot of opinions. I'm just opinionated. Well, it's a good thing you're on IMO because it's all about opinions. I I I. 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Everything showed up quickly, fit perfectly in the space and immediately made the house feel more put together. Find furniture, decor and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. So, Jamie, you recently. So you're, I get into that very late night DJ voice. It's like wood craig. At what point in your career did you start sort of aiming for stuff that you were like you're talking about I'm doing things now that are for me? Accident. Same way I'm an actor. Accident. I'm telling you now. I was sent everything everywhere all at once. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever read. I didn't understand a word of it. I still don't. I need to watch it two more times. I didn't understand a word of it. And my agent sent it to me. I had made the Halloween movies in Charleston, Wilmington and Savannah. OK. So all of those movies were made away from my family. I have two children. I have a dog who loves me more than any human on the earth. And I have a husband and family and friends. And all I do is leave town to work. OK. And I was sent a script. And it first thing it was shot in Los Angeles. So it was shot in CME Valley, Los Angeles, which is not it's outside the TMZ. So it's it's far enough away that they could get away with making it. But it was still Los Angeles. I was still going to sleep in my bed. Two, it was starring Michelle Yeo, who's getting her star today, even though I know this is months later. She is actually right now getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Michelle Yeo. And three, they gave me enough money to pay cash flow. And I said, yes, those were the three reasons I didn't understand it. You weren't angling. You wasn't. I didn't know nothing. I just said, OK, but I knew her. You understood. I met Deirdre's Deirdre. I know her. This is someone who's unloved, untouched. I understand the power of your job that when someone has a job like that, it all of the slights of humanity that has come your way as an unattractive, unlovable human being. All of the slights that come with those two descriptions. And my job is to say, fuck you. No, you're going to have to do all that again. Oh, no. Oh, no. This is my payback. I'm. And so that was her life. And the key to Deirdre Bobirdra. Was if you see the movie again, she has beautifully manicured hands because I realized that was the only time she ever was touched. Yeah, my point is. That was made in 38 days in Seamy Valley in January of 2020. We wrapped the movie the day covid started. So whatever Monday, March 16th was the last day of the shoot 2020. And the movie didn't come out for two years. Yeah. The movie came out in March of 2022. And then it won nine Oscars or seven Oscars in March of 2023. Now, if you think for one second that you had a plan driving to Seamy Valley at five o'clock in the morning to go to an empty office building that used to be the countrywide savings and long campus. Sexy and not have trailers because we used offices in the building as our dressing rooms. And you're making a movie about the multiverse. And you think, oh, yeah, that's that's this is my chance. Oh, man, this is gonna. So this is a whoa. So what goes through your mind when that when this when that happened is in, you know, and you're like, what? I remember exactly where I was sitting. I remember what I was wearing when Heidi and Rick, the assistant, called and said, I have Rick and Heidi for you. And I was like, oh, OK, hello. You go, hi. I was like, hi, what's up? He said, hey, listen, we wanted to talk to you. We had a conversation today with a 24 release in company. I was like, yeah. They said I said about what they said about the campaign. I was like, the campaign for what? And they said, well, you know, we want we want to make sure that they're including you in the campaign. I was like, I can't say what I said. I can't. Right. Yes, you can. I can't say. CBS isn't going to fire me. No. Mm hmm. Well, isn't that what they do? That's what they do. Yeah, apparently. But not here. Not here. You know, I said, fuck you to both of them. I was like, stop it. Stop it right now. There is no campaign. They said, well, we just want to make sure that, you know, they're going to do a big push for the movie. I was like, OK, whatever, look it. Just back off. Anyway, that became an insane. And it's it's it's really a thing. Yeah. And it's it's a really mind swimming. And I did everything I could the whole time to go. This isn't me. Yeah, like just not. I didn't want to read anything. I didn't want to have people whisper things in my ear. I hated it. Yeah. And I the I never in my life. You have to remember. I the last thing in my life I ever thought would ever happen would be that I would be nominated for an Academy Award. That just was never in the cards. That was never anywhere in the work I did. It was just that was what other people had happened to them, not me. And I am telling you that morning, that morning and this I got covid at the Golden Globe. Thank you, Colin Farrell. And I know we've worked it out. Anyway, he gave me covid at the Golden Globe. So I had been homesick with covid and it was the day of the nominations. And I'm telling you, I had like a lot of people texting like you so excited. I was like, shut up, go away, stop. And then I woke up that morning and I went downstairs. Now, my husband of a long time makes really funny movies. And one of the movies he made was a movie called For Your Consideration, which is a parody of the season of shiny things. It's the whole idea of this weird little movie. Somebody whispering in somebody's ear that they're going to get an Oscar nomination and then what happens, Catherine O'Hara, that great weird. He can do that with her face. Sweet girl, we just lost her. What a week ago. Anyway, I know this is later, but that wasn't tape or anything. She had this weird ability to make her face look like that. And so, but you know, and what happens to people, the mind game that goes on. That's what the movie is about. My husband made that movie. So that morning of the Oscar nominations, you know, my husband said, what are you doing? I said, well, I'm going to get up and watch the thing. He said, why? I said, you know why, honey? A, I have to exercise you in your movie. I can't. This is this is my life. That was a movie. I said, I'm not a character in a movie. I'm a person. I said, I'm aware that there's enough chatter that there is a chance that that would happen. I don't think it's going to happen, but I'm telling you, that's a possibility that it could happen. And here's the story. This will delight you. I've been an actress for a long time. The only person I know who won an Oscar is Deborah Oppenheimer. And on the morning of the Oscar nominations. I was like, I get up really early. So I was up at four and then I make coffee or whatever. And then at like five, the thing starts at five thirty. So like at five ten, I looked at my phone and there was a text from Deb. And it said, I'm sitting outside your house. I have my computer with me. If you don't want me to be there with you, I'm fine where I am. But I'm here. But I'm sitting outside your house. And I opened my gate. And there she was. And she was sitting in her car with a pillow and her computer. And she came in and sat with me. And when my name came up on that screen, I didn't know she was doing this. My friend, Deborah Oppenheimer, was taking pictures secretly. And she kind of held her phone because I could not believe it. And the real moment of disbelief was when they called my name and then they called Stephanie Xu because, you know, she was my daughter in the movie, but she was the other actor in the movie. And it would have felt wrong to me. Right. Right. Because she has fantastic in the movie. Anyway, that was the moment of real exuberation. But I have it all on film. Oh, my gosh. That's the last thing I ever thought would happen in my life was that moment. Right. The rest of it was not like the rest of it. The night of it. I went with my husband. We sat. I literally this happened. We were sitting in the front row at the Frickin Oscars. And there was Michelle and Key and Steph. And then the Daniels were over there and I kneeled down. We were in the front row. I saw I saw and I kneeled down in front of Michelle Yeo and I looked at her and I said, Michelle, where are we right now? She said, what do you mean? I said, Michelle, where are we right now? She said at the Oscars. I said, uh-huh. And why are we at the Oscars? She said, because we made a movie that people liked. I said, uh-huh. And where are we sitting? And she said in the front row, I said, OK, great. Just checking to make sure I'm awake, like aware. And then I went down the line, sat kneeled in front of Key. Key. Same thing. Steph, same thing. Be aware. So when I say there, we were in the front row. It was literally you had already won. It was like, yeah. Key, Steph, all of us were like, wow. How did we get here? How did we get here? Yeah. And then, of course, the miracle of all miracles is that we won. You are so the anti superstar. I mean, I just don't understand it. Yeah. And I think it's beautiful. I think that's why people love you. That's why I am in love with you. Now you're flirting with Michelle. I'm a flirt. I can do it too. I can do it too. But you've you've changed the notion of what it means to age in the public eye. And I'd love for you to talk about that. Sure. Because I I'm hoping that we are ushering in all of us because I'm 62. You are 67. Yeah. We are in our sixties, which I think is the best time of life without question. And I want to talk about that journey for yourself, how you feel. It's like, you know, you're not, you know, you believe in aging. You know, you believe in the beauty of it. Like shit happens. Yeah. It happens. I mean, it's coming for all of us. But that's not what Hollywood is all about. You know, here's the problem. It's not just Hollywood. It's also it's true. Technology is also social media. It's also filtering. It's also it's what we used to call air brushing is now just filtering. It's all fakery. It's just the fakery. It's the cosmaceutical industrial complex, which is. As insidious in many ways as the military industrial complex is about money. Yeah. So it's just about fucking money, right? And it's the idea that you're going to tell someone that this is going to change you and make you better and therefore better means you'll be more loved, you'll be more successful. So it's this it's this cycle of bullshit. But it preys on our base insecurities. You know, and for many people, it's what they look like. Now, I've never been pretty and I'm saying it out loud. I'm not been. I went. You've never thought you were pretty. I wasn't pretty like that. I wasn't pretty the way girls are pretty. I was cute. I was cute. I can look good. I can fully look good. But it's but that was not you weren't the traditional notion. That was not my ticket. Yeah. And that's very important for me because that was never the thing I relied on. I have succumbed and have talked about it many times to trying all the things. I've sucked the fact I've cut the fact I've tried to do the things that people do that everybody's doing and it doesn't work. There are many things that happen when you say it doesn't work. It doesn't work, first of all, because of the self-esteem issue, because you ultimately are looking in the mirror and realizing you've used something outside of yourself to change something to make you quote better. But you're not better because you're still the same person before as you were before. I think it actually makes you feel fraudulent. And I think it creates self-hatred. And for me, accepting that I look the way I look is part of self love. Now. P I did that magazine as you know, years ago, more magazine took off my clothes. And the reason I did that is because I was a cover girl of magazines. And again, people were comparing themselves to me the same way I would compare myself to someone else. And I know what it feels like to look at a picture of a beautiful woman and go. Why is it? What's wrong with me? Yeah, I've got like really, I'm never going to look like that. And so I in the one thing we haven't brought up at all is that I also write books for children in the books I write for children are about things. It's they're not just nothing, they're about issues and topics that plague children as much as they plague adults. I'd written a book about self-esteem. It was called I'm going to like me letting off a little self-esteem. It was about self love. How do you get it? Esteemable acts is how you get self-esteem. It's back to your question of young people. They don't feel like I don't know what to do. Do something for someone else. Boom. There you go. The dopamine hits. You're like you're filling up with goodness. It changes the way you do. So I'm promoting a book for children about self-esteem and I was doing the cover of more magazine and I realized I was a liar. Because if I was if I was paying attention to what I wrote, I wouldn't have done plastic surgery. I wouldn't have done my perception. So I said, you know what? I'm going to take a picture of me in my undies with no good light, no makeup, no hair, I'm going to stand there, oh, not at all. And you're going to take my picture and then you're going to let me get all dolled up, but you're going to have to print those two pictures side by side. And you're going to have to say how long it took, how much money it took, how many people were involved. And then I'll do that. And that was something that was in 2001. We're in 2026. I've heard of. But that was even then the understanding that what we're selling is fraudulent. It has only gotten crazier. And by the way, I'm not proselytizing. I know that some people take have like I know there's a lot of weight loss questions out there right now. If it actually helps people be healthier, God bless them. Working on your mental health doesn't happen all at once. It happens in moments. One conversation, one deep breath, one session at a time. Growth therapy makes it easier to begin. As a coach and an athlete, I've always believed taking care of your mind as part of taking care of your overall game. You train consistently, you build the right support around you, and you give yourself space to work. You build the right support around you and you give yourself space to improve. Therapy can be part of that routine. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, growth makes it simple to find a therapist who actually fits you. They connect you with thousands of licensed therapists across the US with virtual or in-person sessions, including nights and weekends, you can search by insurance, specialty, identity or availability and start in as little as two days. No subscriptions, no long term commitments. Just pay per session on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, growth therapy is here to help. Growth accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about twenty one dollars with insurance and some pay as little as zero dollars, depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com slash IMO today to get started. That's growth therapy dot com slash IMO. Growth therapy dot com slash IMO. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Well, Jamie, we have a listener question. As Jennifer Lewis said, I talk too much. Way too much. I do. But you're in between two opinionated women, which is we have a listener question. A G. A G. G. My G. I'm telling you right now. Sorry. That's OK. Craig, what do you want? I'm going to start saying that one. Craig, you to hear our listener question from Madeline and maybe offer some opinions. OK. We have a question from Madeline in Boston. OK. I am entering my senior year of college and it feels like my generation is unsure what the point is in a time and world that is full of greed, unfairness and loneliness. How do you find purpose and drive to work towards your interests and goals when it often feels like there are only certain roots to be successful and sustain a happy lifestyle from Madeline in Boston? Well, I mean, please. That's that's the question, right? Purpose. That's right. Purpose. Ultimately, it's fine purpose that. When you say or or are feeling that that you can't find your path to the purpose. My experience with people over and over again is put yourself in the path of anything. Put yourself in the path of love. Put yourself in the path of work. Put yourself in the path of purpose. Like again, volunteer. You want to feel purpose, go to a children's hospital and offer to volunteer to be one of the helpers that work in hospitals. The need is great out there in the world. I think finding your purpose is putting yourself in the path of it. You may not know what it is. It may not as I am a living example of that nothing in my life represents what I thought or had even a fantasy. My life would be I had no idea. I didn't have a purpose. Keep your mind open. And so for me, that's you find your purpose by putting yourself in the path of it. Yeah, I just feel like people keep thinking purpose is going to come to them. That's right. Love is going to come to them. Work is going to come to them. Success is going to come to them. And it is not you have to go to it for it. Yeah, you have to go for it. I love that. I'd want what's our question? Madeline to also think very carefully about how we how she's defining purpose, right? Because I think that's some of the confusion these days because purpose in this day and age right now, this moment in time is fame, money, you know, more. It's it's all it's all stuff. It's acquiring. It's it's superficial. So when when we talk about purpose, I think we are talking about. We are talking about something much more altruistic, you know, the dopamine hit that comes with engaging with other people, you know. So I want her to think beyond stuff. Even, you know, go to school, get your degree if you can afford it. You know, have a good career, you know, you know, be able to support yourself. But I know too many people who have all of that and more. The billionaires in the world, the millionaires, the people who are famous, the people who have it all, the people that you look at and think, well, I want their purpose and what they're doing isn't making them happy or whole. It's not giving them self-esteem. You know, in fact, it's doing the opposite. So I want Madeline to think about working outside of herself. And by the way, Madeline, tough name to have after Lily Allen's album. Oh, yeah. Craig doesn't understand that. You know what? I'm going to play the whole thing for you. It's going to blow your mind. It's so genius. Talk about a G. It's a G. Anyway, but before we began this, you know, I've talked a lot about like my life, but the truth is I'm also a mom. I'm a mother of two. I have raised two children from birth through uncharted waters because I had no role model to show me how to do it. And every human being is different. And there's been difference in our in our path with with our children and our children were born through adoption and our family was built through adoption. And we were talking at the beginning of the podcast. And the truth is all of this emotionality that I have, yeah, is really rooted in being their mother. Like that. Oh, my God, don't make me cry. But the truth is that the greatest lessons, the hardest days ever in my life. Ever have been being a parent. And now a grandparent. And we were talking before and I needed to call my daughter and her husband to ask if it was OK. But the idea that I would be this person at this age, excuse my French, forget the movies, forget the things, forget that. Forget the shiny things. The shiniest thing is a child. Yes. Oh, my God. The greatest gift is a child. Yeah. And getting the privilege of raising them and learning how to help someone through their life. And my husband and I became grandparents to our eldest daughter and her husband. And. It. Their baby boy was born in December. And it was it was a week after Robin Michelle. Yeah. And Robin Michelle are her godparents. And they died on her birthday. And my beautiful daughter. Who loved them. As we all did. Yeah. Managed. To be able to. Metabolize that grief and sadness as we all have had to do. Obviously. Nothing greater than their children. But as close friends and I know. Colleagues and friends and people we all admired. And then my daughter and her husband brought their son to this world a week later. And. Life on life's harshest terms and life on life's most beautiful forms. Perfect terms. And. The reason I brought it up. Is I remember where I was. The day your husband was elected president because my daughter. Called me. From a party that she and her friends were at. My daughter was in college. And I remember where I was sitting in a hotel. Talking on the phone with my daughter. About the possibility. That the world was going to change. Because of the election and because of you. You and your husband. Stepping on the road. And I remember where I was that day. And now that daughter has brought a little grandson. Into our lives and the joy. Talk about it. I never thought I never thought I would have children. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be a grandma. Yeah. A granny. Granny. I want to be granny. Granny. But so it is. I want to be a granny. I want to be a granny. I want to be a granny. I want to be a granny. Granny. But so it has just been. An extraordinary connection. And when I called my daughter today to say, hey, I'm about to do this. We have never talked about it. It's been a private matter. But we live in a world many people know in our circle. Yeah. Many people know that, you know, we're grandparents. One of these days somebody's going to say something and I am getting to say it. And when I called my daughter and said, you know, I'm about to do this thing, I think it's going to come up. How would you feel about me talking about it? Oh, my. And she said, tell her I love her. My daughter, Annie said, tell her I love her. You are loved and so respected that she would say, yes, mom, you can talk about it. To Michelle Obama. Because she's a G because she loves you. Because you represented love in the world and you brought love to the White House and and beyond. And so it's it's really thrilling to me that the first time I'm going to say to the universe that I became a granny is here with you. And that it was and that she said that I could do it because it was you. Because of what you've represented to her and her generation of young women and how much respect we have for you and your husband. And well, that's you too. You too, Craig. Thank you. But that is very strong. Because we know from the ring. And I just I'm I I. That's anyway, beautiful. That's the truth. That that is the truth for that's what she said to me for Madeline and Madeline. I'm so sorry. No, but this is the point being that like so many wonderful things have happened to all of us in the world, so many tangible things. But knowing that you can impact people's lives in that way, like that's purpose. And that's a purpose that sustained you through ugly stuff and name calling and lies. And it fills you up fully. And I want young people to understand that. Right. Like you don't like money doesn't buy that impact. You know, titles don't give it to you. It's how you show up in the world that matters. And the only thing people are going to remember at the end. That's right. And that's the shiny thing. That's to me. Yeah. Um, that's what Madeline should be working towards. We all should be working towards for sure. And that's what you and your husband worked toward. And that's the gift that you guys gave us. And that was the hope that you offered us. And I believe that you know, I know you've changed the world for the better. And I believe that. I believe that the times are going to change. And I think our better minds are going to start paying attention to the corruption, the greed, the avarice, the hatred, the misogyny, the homophobia, the the violence, the violence perpetrated by this administration in the name of America. I believe that will change. And I believe the example that we will lead toward is the example you and your husband give us. So if I get to say nothing else on this, I got to say that to your face. Thank you very much for everything that you have done for all of us. Thank you. And you too, Craig. What, Craig? Thank you. What, Craig? Hey, sometimes you just have to get rebounds. You don't score. You don't have to score. Sometimes you just play D. This is and by the way, there's your gift to Madeline. That's your answer to Madeline. That's right. Sometimes you're just the you are you are just the teammate. Yeah. Well, and you can be a good teammate. You are a good teammate. Jamie, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Powerful. Yeah. Beautiful. Ah, thank you. Being an American right now is a wild ride. The headlines come fast, but what do they actually mean for people's lives? I'm Alex Wagner and on my new crooked media podcast, Runaway Country, I'm talking to people across the nation to uncover how political chaos is shaping their everyday realities. Join me and some of the smartest thinkers in politics to ask how we take back the reins of a Runaway Nation. Listen to Runaway Country with Alex Wagner every Thursday, wherever you get our podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube.