Jamie Lee Curtis lobbied for Freakier Friday to be shot in Los Angeles and during the world premiere of the movie explained why.
Talking to Deadline on the red carpet of the Freaky Friday sequel premiere, Curtis opened up about why this film is so important right now amid all the political turmoil.
“The world is very unstable. Feels very scary for many people. Immigrants in this country are terrified. Politically, it’s really scary out there,” Curtis told us. “Usually in times of turmoil and strife, you cling to something familiar, something safe — comfort food. And I think Freakier Friday is cinema comfort food.”
She continued, “You know what you’re going to get. It’s satisfying. It’s moving. It makes you laugh and you feel better watching it. And we didn’t know last June where we would be today, and so I feel really happy.”
Curtis noted that she “lobbied to make the move in Los Angeles,” her hometown, adding, “The movie is a love letter to Los Angeles and the original movie was a love to Los Angeles. We shot in the original house and we shot all over the city of Los Angeles.”
The Freakier Friday star said that the house they shot in burned during the L.A. fires earlier this year, including the location in Altadena where they shot the pickleball tournament scene.
“We will now have a permanent record of the great beauty of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena forever,” she added. “I’m very proud that I held a line and said I will not make this movie anywhere but Los Angeles.”
The original movie starring Curtis and Lindsay Lohan premiered in 2003, and shooting the sequel more than 20 years later has the star in a very different place.
“I feel very young. I feel very alive. I feel younger today than I was 22 years ago,” she said. “I have a freedom that I didn’t have 22 years ago, and I mean that in every way, physically, spiritually, mentally, my family, my politics… All of it. I’m free. I feel like I’ve been unleashed and I’m really happy.”
Freakier Friday hits theaters on August 8.
