Jamie Lee Curtis Says She Regrets The Plastic Surgery Decision At Age 25

Jamie Lee Curtis has always been praised not only for her acting talent but also for her unapologetic candor. In a frank new interview, the Oscar-winning actress looks back at the very personal and challenging chapter of her early career, her choice to have plastic surgery at the age of 25. It wasn't vanity or public pressure in the traditional sense that caused it, but a mean and offhand comment during the filming of her 1985 movie Perfect triggered it.

At that time, Curtis was co-starring with John Travolta in the movie and was, by everyone's standard, at the height of her youthful beauty and fledgling stardom. But not even that could ease the troubled conscience produced by Hollywood's superficial demands. Curtis opened up about a cinematographer's snide comment about her looks told to her while she filmed. "He was like, 'Yeah, I'm not shooting her today. Her eyes are baggy,'" she remembered. The statement, dismissive and condescending, cut deeply. "I was 25," she said. "For him to say that was very embarrassing."

Instead of shrugging it off, Curtis did what many women in appearance-centered industries have done she took the criticism to heart and tried to "fix" what had never been broken. "So as soon as the movie finished, I ended up having some plastic surgery," she said. But the stay was not the empowering transformation she might have hoped for. When asked how it had gone, Curtis answered without hesitation: "Not well." She regretted it the moment she said it. "That's just not what you want to do when you're 25 or 26," she said in hindsight. "I regretted it immediately and have kind of, sort of regretted it since."

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Now, all these decades later, Curtis sees that moment with a greater, wiser perspective. The experience has lent a powerful new cast to her discussion of beauty, body image, and the unfair standards women, especially girls, are expected to meet. "I've become a really public advocate to say to women, 'You're gorgeous, and you're perfect the way you are,'" she added. Curtis has also been an outspoken advocate for aging naturally, refusing to succumb to an industry-wide obsession with youth and speaking out on the dangers of pursuing perfection through cosmetic procedures. Now, her regret was no longer just about a single surgery but the message the decision had sent about who she was as a person, herself, and others.

Curtis explained that her regret extends beyond simply changing her look to the decision to do so. Not only has her body been transformed, but her heart and mind have also been transformed. By being her natural self, Curtis has become empowered, taking a stand against toxic beauty ideals plaguing Hollywood and beyond. There's an echo in her story because it's familiar in its brutality. It reminds us how a passing comment, a passing judgment from someone in power, can reverberate. It also underscores that personal decisions, particularly those made under duress, can have long-lasting emotional implications.

There's Jamie Lee Curtis for young women watching, offering an all-too-uncommon, unvarnished lens. She shares her experiences from a place of personal pain and growth, changing the story around beauty, age, and self-worth in Hollywood. At 25, Jamie Lee Curtis was still not perfect, but today, she is helping others realize that perfection was never the point. Authenticity, self-acceptance, and grit are the currency of beauty. And in embracing them, Jamie Lee Curtis has never shone brighter.