A tearful fan told Jamie Lee Curtis how her 'Halloween' character helped save his life.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who played the iconic Laurie Strode in "Halloween," had a powerful exchange during her ComicCon panel on July 20.
While Curtis was onstage promoting her return as the character in the horror film series, a fan revealed how her character gave him strength when a knife-wielding intruder broke into his home.
"I'm here today because of the way that you portrayed Laurie Strode," fan Jeffrey Scott said. "I'm a victor today instead of a victim."
Clearly moved, Curtis stepped down from the stage to give Scott a long hug. "These kind of emotions are real," she said.
In the original "Halloween" film, Strode is a smart, independent young woman with a strong moral compass.
40 years after Strode's first appearance, the rest of Hollywood seems to be catching up in casting more badass female leads. Though there's still a lot of work to be done, women have seized more opportunities to lead up Hollywood franchises like "Star Wars," "Wonder Woman," and "Black Panther."
In her new role, Curtis said, she wanted to address the systemic changes happening thanks to the Me Too and Time's Up movements, saying:
"Here is a woman who's been waiting 40 years for the person that she knows is coming back to say, 'I am going to take back the legacy of my life, I'm going to take back my narrative, and you don't own me anymore.' And that, weirdly enough, seems to be a bit of the thing in the world today."
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Curtis is showing how greater female representation benefits everyone.
She's often referred to as Hollywood's original "final girl," a.k.a. the sole survivor who inevitably stares down a movie's villain. But Curtis knows her legacy is about much more than that.
Her embrace of a fan revealing his vulnerability showed how strong female characters are role models for everyone, not just women.
Whether it's at the ballot box or the box office, we all have a role to play in transforming the narrative into one that's more inclusive — and women like Curtis are leading the way.