Boy oh boy, Jamie Lee Curtis is having one hell of a year. And at 64 years of age, she just may be entering her prime as an actor. She received her first Oscar in March, stars in Disney’s Haunted Mansion, which comes to theaters on Friday, and delivered a jaw-dropping, arguably career-best performance as Carmen’s mother in The Bear Season 2. The hype surrounding her stint as Donna Berzatto has been so real that it’s only fitting that she brought up the show in our interview for Haunted Mansion – and she got rather emotional while drawing parallels between the themes of the show and the Disneyland experience.
Given that Haunted Mansion is based on an iconic ride at Disney parks, talk of the park-going experience was inevitable. What I didn’t expect was her passion surrounding the subject, and the way it relates to one of her favorite moments from The Bear. Said the legendary scream queen,
The scene (from The Bear) about service. The scene where Richie is training in the restaurant, and the man who’s training him explains the point of what service means. And he talks about polishing the fork. If that adds to the experience for the person who has saved up their money to come to that restaurant, to have that culinary experience… That guy was saying, ‘I’m a part of that. And that makes me feel like I matter.’ And it makes me cry. And that’s what Disneyland is. People are committed to creating the experience. So that family from Ohio, whose father’s a steel worker who’s come out to California and paid that money to bring his kids to Disneyland, that those kids, when they’re driving away, say ‘that was the greatest day of my life.’
Wow, very powerful. Check out the video at the top of this article to see just how emotional she got, and why she started to tear up. Jamie Lee Curtis grew up in Southern California, and has a long history with Disneyland. Now, as she’s grown wiser and started to understand just how much people struggle to afford that experience, she’s overwhelmed by the impact it has on people’s lives. I truthfully did not see that moment coming.
The scene she’s referencing in The Bear involves Ebon Moss Bachrach’s Richie performing a series of remedial tasks like polishing forks in order to ensure folks have the perfect experience at what is said to be the best restaurant in the world. In the process, he learns about the true meaning of service. The actor was nominated for an Emmy after Season 1, and chances are that he and Jamie Lee Curtis will both get that well-earned recognition for Season 2 next year.
As for Haunted Mansion, Jamie Lee Curtis has been hyping the film in spectacular fashion, sharing glimpses at her gorgeous costume and iconic character, Madame Leota on social media. She even teamed up with LaKeith Stanfield to promote the film by working a shift at the Haunted Mansion ride, further engrossing herself in the Mansion’s extensive history.
As previously mentioned, you can see Haunted Mansion in theaters Friday! Our very own Eric Eisenberg reviewed the film as being “spooky and fun.” As for The Bear, check out both seasons right now with a Hulu subscription, and stay tuned for Jamie Lee Curtis’ inevitable Emmy speech.