Jamie Lee Curtis has weighed in on the topic of gender-neutral awards categories at Sunday night’s Oscars.
The 64-year-old won her first-ever Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The multiverse sci-fi epic, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, claimed seven prizes including three acting gongs, best directing and best picture, the biggest of the night.
Michelle Yeoh claimed the Oscar for best leading actress, fending off competition from two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett to become the first woman from an Asian background to win the prize.
Speaking in the press room after her win, Curtis was asked how it felt to be one of 65 women nominated at this year’s Academy Awards.
Describing her win as “surreal”, she said: “Obviously I would like to see a lot more women be nominated so that there’s gender parity in all the areas and all the branches.
“I think we’re getting there [but] we’re not anywhere near there.”
The Halloween actress then touched on the topic of gender-neutral awards categories, saying she approached the subject as “the mother of a trans daughter”.
She continued: “And of course, inclusivity then involves the bigger question which is, how do you include everyone when there are binary choices?
“[It’s] very difficult and as the mother of a trans daughter, I completely understand that.
“And yet, to degender the category, I’m concerned will diminish the opportunities for more women which is something I also have been working hard to try to promote.”
In 2021, Curtis spoke publicly first time about how Ruby, her daughter with director Christopher Guest, is transgender.
The 27-year-old said she never feared sharing her truth with her parents, particularly her mother, who has been a supporter of trans rights.
She said in an interview with People magazine: “It was intimidating – but I wasn’t worried. They had been so accepting of me my entire life.”
In the joint interview, Curtis compared the experience to “speaking a new language” after Ruby came out to her in 2020.
The screen star added: “It’s learning new terminology and words. I am new at it. I am not someone who is pretending to know much about it. And I’m going to blow it, I’m going to make mistakes. I would like to try to avoid making big mistakes.”
