Jamie Lee Curtis Speaks about Her Hungarian Roots at Oscars

On 12 March, the 95th Academy Awards ceremony took place, with absurdist comedy drama, mixing different genres, Everything Everywhere All At Once winning the most awards. The Best Supporting Actress award was given to Jamie Lee Curtis, who is of Hungarian descent, as her paternal grandfather was born in Eastern Hungary.

This was Jamie Lee Curtis’ first Oscar nomination, so it was a special pleasure for her to receive this award.

The world-famous actress is so proud of her Hungarian heritage that she sang a Hungarian song backstage after receiving the award and declared: “I love my Hungarian heritage”. However, the song and the statement did not seem to please the audience, who were silent. At the end of her speech, the actress also asked the audience ironically: “Please don’t cancel me”, referring to the cancel culture, a phenomenon in which those who are said to have acted or spoken in a manner deemed unacceptable by the liberals are boycotted, i.e. canceled. The cancel culture has already reached high-profile circles including celebrities such as J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, who has spoken out against the transgender ideology.

Jamie Lee Curtis’ father is Tony Curtis, whose parents were of Jewish descent. The actress’s grandfather was from Ópályi in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, next to Mátészalka, and her grandmother was from Nagymihály in what is now Slovakia, from where they emigrated to the United States. The actress is visibly proud of her origins, having visited Mátészalka two years ago, and her father has also visited the Hungarian town several times. An exhibition of Tony Curtis’s personal relics has been set up in the town and a café has been named after him.

Jamie Lee Curtis starred in movies such slasher film Halloween (her film debut), Halloween II, Trading Places, Freaky Friday, Christmas with the Kranks, You Again and Knives Out.

Featured photo via Facebook/Jamie Lee Curtis