Jamie Lee Curtis has explained the short blonde hairstyle she wore in a 1981 television interview. “My hair had been burned off my head after getting it bleached for a movie and then a perm,” she wrote on Instagram.
The actress, 67, revisited the footage during an October 28 appearance on Today. Nearly 45 years had passed since she sat opposite Tom Brokaw on the NBC morning show.
Curtis shared the archival clip alongside footage of her recent appearance in the post, covered by Entertainment Weekly. She did not identify the movie that required the bleaching.
Her return to Today was connected to Newlyweds, the NBC sitcom that premiered October 23. Curtis helped create the comedy.
Tom Brokaw’s ‘Nothing But Curtis’ Joke Resurfaces
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The old interview took place during a busy period for Curtis’ horror career. The original Halloween was headed to NBC, while Halloween II was opening in theaters. In the clip, she told Brokaw that both were scheduled for Friday.
Brokaw brought up a joke about her prominence that weekend: NBC could stand for “Nothing But Curtis.” Curtis explained that she had heard the phrase on the radio and thought it was sweet, according to PEOPLE.
Carson Daly revived the punchline during the new interview as Curtis reacted with surprise at seeing her younger self. In her Instagram caption, she described the experience as strange and expressed her pleasure at being back at the network.
Curtis Plays Tim Daly’s Ex-Wife in ‘Newlyweds’
Newlyweds stars real-life married couple Téa Leoni and Tim Daly as Jeanie and James. The characters meet on a blind date, fall for one another and impulsively marry, leaving them to combine the families and routines they developed separately.
Curtis plays Claudia, James’ ex-wife, in a recurring guest role. Speaking with TV Insider, she drew on her own experience of a family in which former partners continued to be part of one another’s lives. “Sometimes divorce ends in very binary, separate ideas, and sometimes it just is a messy stew,” she said.
The series also gives Curtis another opportunity to work in a format she has long enjoyed. In an account published by NBC, she recalled her years opposite Richard Lewis on Anything But Love and said she had repeatedly asked her agents to find her a sitcom. She particularly enjoys rehearsing, developing jokes and working with multiple cameras.
New episodes of Newlyweds air Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC, following Happy’s Place, and stream on Peacock the next day.