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Watch: Jamie Lee Curtis recounts how she made 'Freakier Friday' happen

Watch: Jamie Lee Curtis recounts how she made 'Freakier Friday' happen

UPI21 hours ago
1 of 5 | Jamie Lee Curtis attends the SAG Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in February. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
July 30 (UPI) -- Jamie Lee Curtis says she put in a call to Disney CEO Bob Iger upon realizing that Lindsay Lohan was old enough to play a mom in a sequel to their 2003 film Freaky Friday.
The actress, 66, discussed Freakier Friday on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday.
Curtis played Tess in the original feature, while a 15-year-old Lohan played her daughter Anna. The pair switched bodies in the movie, which strengthened the characters' relationship.
"I went around the world to promote Halloween and wherever I went in the world... people would say to me, you know, 'When are you going to make another Freaky Friday?' That's all they wanted to talk about," Curtis recounted.
"And I would be like oh well you know, soon, maybe at some point but you know Lindsay has to be old enough to be a mom of a 15-year-old because that's the only way you would make a sequel," she continued.
When she learned that Lohan was old enough to play the mother of a teenager, she called Iger and production began.
Lohan, 39, recently took to The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the movie.
"So Anna is older now. She has a teenage daughter, and she's fallen in love with a guy who also has a teenage daughter. The two girls are in school together, they don't really get along. Tess is still micromanaging Anna a bit, and there's a swap that happens, and everyone has to learn a lesson," Lohan said.
The sequel also stars Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishan, Rosalind Chao, Chad Michael Murray, Vanessa Bayer and Mark Harmon.
Freakier Friday hits theaters Aug. 8.
Lindsay Lohan's career: Hollywood, red carpets, fashion
Lindsay Lohan poses for pictures at the premiere of "Mean Girls" in New York City on April 23, 2004. Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/UPI | License Photo
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John Woo: Film retrospective showcases beauty of violence
John Woo: Film retrospective showcases beauty of violence

UPI

time2 hours ago

  • UPI

John Woo: Film retrospective showcases beauty of violence

1 of 6 | John Woo, seen at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, considers "A Better Tomorrow" his first auteur movie. Photo by Ettore Ferrari/EPA LOS ANGELES, July 31 (UPI) -- Editor's note: This article contains spoilers his article contains spoilers for "A Better Tomorrow," "The Killer," "A Bullet in the Head" and "Hard Boiled." Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo came to Los Angeles in 1993 following the success of his gangster films like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and A Bullet in the Head, which captured a unique style of action. He brought heroes spinning and jumping in slow motion while they shot guns, sometimes two at a time, to Hollywood films like Hard Target, Face/Off and the recent Silent Night. His Hong Kong films, along with A Better Tomorrow's sequels and the cop drama Hard Boiled, have now been restored in 4K. The Better Tomorrow movies and The Killer are already available, while A Bullet in the Head releases Aug. 22 and Hard Boiled's restoration begins a theatrical retrospective Saturday, which Woo will attend in Los Angeles. In a recent interview with UPI, Woo, 78, said these earlier films signalled his auteur phase. Woo had been directing features since 1974, but it was 1986's A Better Tomorrow that allowed him to explore the aesthetics that would become his trademarks. "With A Better Tomorrow, I got the opportunity to do whatever I want," Woo said. "I could say that was my first auteur movie." The John Woo style Woo credited producer Tsui Hark, who directed A Better Tomorrow III and other films also receiving 4K restorations and theatrical screenings, with empowering him to explore those techniques. In A Better Tomorrow, Ho (Ti Lung) and Kit (Leslie Cheung) are on opposite sides of the law. Chow Yun-fat plays Mark, Ho's bodyguard in the counterfeiting business. 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Chad Michael Murray on Challenging Tropes by Stripping in Holiday Film
Chad Michael Murray on Challenging Tropes by Stripping in Holiday Film

Newsweek

time3 hours ago

  • Newsweek

Chad Michael Murray on Challenging Tropes by Stripping in Holiday Film

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Actor Chad Michael Murray told Newsweek he loves playing roles "challenging the traditional tropes," referencing his 2024 Christmas movie, which breaks from the typical holiday romantic comedy narrative by casting him as a stripper. Murray is known for a range of roles in One Tree Hill, Freaky Friday, and Sullivan's Crossing, and others, and is in the upcoming sequel Freakier Friday. The 43-year-old actor sat down with Newsweek to discuss the highly anticipated film, his journey with mental health, reflections on his career, and the passion that continues to fuel his love for acting. What To Know In the Netflix film The Merry Gentlemen, Murray played Luke, a small‑town contractor who becomes the main love interest and joins an all‑male holiday dance show to save a local venue. "I love challenging the traditional tropes. I love having fun, because I felt this was definitely outside the box," he told Newsweek about the role. He noted that scripts like The Merry Gentlemen don't come up often, adding, "How many times in your career are you going to be able to play stripper?" For Murray, the role was "just a no-brainer—the opportunity to go, really get into dancing and challenge myself there and be terrified, that was exciting to me." Actor Chad Michael Murray speaks at the Newsweek office in Manhattan on July 29, 2025. Actor Chad Michael Murray speaks at the Newsweek office in Manhattan on July 29, 2025. Hellen Elizondo for Newsweek The challenge and the unknown appealed to him. "It scared me. So, I just wanted to do it. I wanted to get out there. I wanted to dance. I wanted to do something different, I wanted to make people laugh and realize we don't have to take this so seriously, it's fun, it's supposed to be fun," he said. Murray had never danced professionally before the film but threw himself into the role, spending hours in dance classes to train for the part. Ahead of the movie's release, Murray said he was watching with his wife when his eldest daughter, who was 7 years old at the time, walked in. "She just came in and just started smacking me, 'Daddy, what did you do, put your shirt on!'" he told Newsweek, laughing, adding "adorable." Throughout his conversation with Newsweek, Murray said that acting with the support of his wife and children "makes it so much better." He added that fatherhood has "changed everything" for him, including the types of roles he takes and the timing of his projects. Chad Michael Murray on Freakier Friday "Dare I say, it might be better than the first," said the actor, who reprises his role as Jake in the highly anticipated sequel to the beloved 2003 comedy Freaky Friday, which also sees the return of original stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis "It really genuinely is hysterical," he said about the upcoming film, joking that "it will make you live longer." Murray, who has repeatedly said he makes movies to offer audiences a brief escape from the various stresses of life, said "this movie is going to lower your cortisol," describing it as putting the viewer on "cloud nine," and "feeling good." Freakier Friday premieres August 8.

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