Jamie Lee Curtis has never 'shied away' from her status as a nepo baby

Jamie Lee Curtis has never "shied away" from her status as a nepo baby.

The 65-year-old actress is the daughter of movie stars Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and acknowledges that her family ties have had an influence of her own success in the industry.

Speaking as she received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute on Saturday (10.08.24), Jamie told PEOPLE: "Nepo babies is an easy way for people to tell you [that] you don't deserve your success.

"And I have been aware of that my whole life. I have not shied away from it. I am not under any delusion that hasn't had an effect and an impact."

However, the Halloween star believe that nepotism has only got her so far and pointed out that she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once due to her ability as a performer.

Jamie said: "But at the end of the day, none of that helps you when they say rolling and action. It's at that moment that the art takes over."

The actress also explained that she now identifies with the term artist more that any other time of her career because she is an "ideas girl".

She said: "And I didn't know I was an artist originally, but I know I'm a creative person. I'm an ideas girl, and I've been an ideas girl from the beginning.

"I'm a marketing whiz. … I've written books for children, I've written screenplays, I have directed. I am producing."

Jamie added: "I am now an artist with a capital ‘A’ that I didn't know I was.

"And so my legacy is less acute now because my art has surpassed that. And yet I'm in a place of great historical significance and my daughter is here with me. The legacy is that I'm a mother and a friend and a collaborator."