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Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a><\/strong> is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, who made a name for herself early on in the horror genre<\/a>. Almost 50 years since her first on-screen role, Curtis is looking back at her career and confesses that she had a different job title in mind.<\/p>\n On her official Instagram<\/a>, Curtis posted a side-by-side photo comparison of herself now and her younger self back in the late ’70s. The 67-year-old actor<\/a> was roughly 19 when she appeared in one of her earliest TV roles, as a young waitress in an episode of Columbo<\/em>.<\/p>\n In 1977, she also appeared in two other popular TV series as a guest character. She played “girl in dressing room” as her first ever role in Quincy, M.E.<\/em>, and later played a character named Mary in The Hardy Boys\/Nancy Drew Mysteries<\/em>. That same year, Curtis also got two of her biggest career breaks, first as Lieutenant Barbara Duran in Operation Petticoat<\/em>, and as the infamous Laurie Strode in Halloween<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Curtis admits in her celebration throwback post that she never expected to be an actor, and thought she’d end up in law enforcement.<\/p>\n “Next year, I will I’ve been an actress for 50 years. I was never going to be an actor. I thought I’d be a cop. I was telling the story on set of my early jobs as an unnamed waitress on a Columbo episode when I was a contract player at @universalpictures and now I am a producer, HBIC, a costar with @nicolekidman and collaborator on #scarpetta,” she wrote in her caption.<\/p>\n The past few years have been a busy schedule for Curtis, having reunited with Lindsay Lohan<\/a><\/strong> for Freakier Friday<\/a><\/em>, starred in Ella McCay<\/em>, and starred\/produced the 2026 psychological thriller<\/a>Sender<\/em>. Included in her post, she has also made waves in 2026 alongside Kidman in the crime drama Scarpetta<\/em><\/a>. Based on a popular book<\/a>, Curtis is also the executive producer alongside Kidman and has started production on Season 2.<\/p>\n Having been in the industry for almost 50 years, Curtis offers some advice to any new actors hoping to make a name for themselves. She admits there’s “no future tripping” and her career happened based on “just each job, one job at a time” and being “grateful for any opportunity.” Above all, the actor stresses the importance of “lots of f*cking patience<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Related: \u2018Sabrina the Teenage Witch\u2019 Star Melissa Joan Hart Reunites With Former Co-Stars in Heartwarming Photo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story was originally published by Parade<\/a> on Apr 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n