Few, if any, horror icons have the staying power of Jamie Lee Curtis. After starring as one of the original “scream queens” in 1978’s Halloween, Curtis has perennially returned to the slasher franchise over the decades ⏤ most recently, of course, in Blumhouse’s revived Halloween series. The Knives Out actress is now celebrating a major milestone in her career, as today marks 44 years of her being attached to the role of Laurie Strode.
Curtis took to Instagram this Monday, Jan. 31, to mark the important date. Along with a comparison image of herself as Laurie in the 1978 film and four decades later in the 2018 reboot, the star shared a touching message about how much embodying the character continues to mean to her all these years later.
“I woke up early this morning and realized I’ve been inhabiting Laurie Strode for 44 years,” Curtis wrote in the post’s caption. “Her dreams became mine. Her nightmares too. Throughout it all a profound sense of gratitude to the fans that have kept her relevant and gave me employment for such a long time and I’m so f*^%ing exited by this new movie we are making.”
It’s not exactly clear what happened 44 years ago on this exact date that sparked Curtis’ walk down memory lane. It’s not the original film’s release date, as Halloween naturally first opened in October. Production is also known to have taken place across May that same year. Our best guess is that the last day of January 1978 is when Curtis landed the gig in John Carpenter’s film prior to filming beginning a few months later.
In a few short months, Curtis will be playing Laurie once again in Halloween Ends. This follow-up to last October’s Halloween Kills and the much-anticipated conclusion to Blumhouse’s trilogy is being pegged as the final confrontation between Laurie and her eternal tormentor, Michael Myers. Things are quiet on that front at the moment, but Curtis may have subtly confirmed that the shoot is underway in her Instagram post.
Halloween Ends slashes its way into theaters this Oct. 14. Jamie Lee Curtis also has two other undated movies on the way — sci-fi Everything Everywhere All at Once and video game adaptation Borderlands.