Original 'Scream Queen' Jamie Lee Curtis has reflected on one of her more iconic photoshoots.
The Halloween star spoke about a promotional photoshoot she did for the 1998 thriller Halloween: H20, which marked 20 years since the original slasher film starring killer Michael Myers was released.
Curtis made her film debut in Halloween and went on to star in six more films of the horror franchise.
One of the less celebrated movies was H20, which was generally panned by critics and movie fans alike, but did raise eyebrows for one marketing choice.
Curtis posed with then-17-year-old costar Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek, Brokeback Mountain), in a horror-themed promotional cover shoot for Entertainment Weekly. It included the stars posing in a fake pool of blood, alongside knives, and even as 'scream queens' complete with a crown made of knives as Curtis sat atop a throne, and Williams by her side.
The Oscar-winning actress shared the photo of the pair posing in the pool of blood and explained the marketing decision in a post on Instagram.
"Apparently, this was the day that H2O was released and not my first time leading a marketing charge but it definitely peaked my interest in marketing," she captioned the post.
"As soon as I knew the movie was going to be called H2O I knew that the tagline should be BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER with a nod to the trope at the time that MM was my brother and when we did the cover of @entertainmentweekly I wanted to be diving into a 'pool of blood', which proved to be more difficult pre-digital abilities and we ended up doing a 'blood bath' instead."
Curtis continued: "It was controversial because my beautiful friend, Michelle Williams, was an emancipated 17 year-old and it had two women, appearing to be naked together in a bathtub covered by blood. We weren't naked and it wasn't blood but there was a bit of a "viral" moment back then."
The actress concluded by telling her followers that "you've got to take a big swing once in a while and go big or go home."
Fans reacted to the post in Curtis' comments.
"H20 is my favorite Halloween saga movie," replied @buffalo.1985.
"Halloween 2 & H20 both STILL are the best sequels on the franchise!!" wrote @jpalmieri13.
And @meli_swenk added: "I still love this movie, and I think I might still own a copy of this magazine. What a gorgeous photo shoot of both you and Michelle 😍🔥"
In 2022, Curtis bid farewell to her Halloween legacy when she decided to leave the franchise after starring in Halloween Ends.
"I am grateful beyond words, I can't actually believe I'm standing here," Curtis said at a screening of the movie in 2022, in video posted to X, formerly Twitter.
"My legacy, except for my children, will be that I never gave up, and I think that's the most important message all of us can share in every aspect of our lives, always, forever," Curtis said.
"Never give up, never give up, never give up."
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Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
