Jamie Lee Curtis: Tomorrow after the Oscars photos

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis continued to celebrate her “Everything Everywhere All at Once” win at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Monday. Inspired by British photographer Terry O’Neill’s iconic “The Morning After the Oscars” photos of Faye Dunaway lounging by the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel after winning the leading role in “Network” in 1977, the Times photographer took the shot Jay L. Clendenin Curtis in the same location, but with a few twists “to make it a ‘Jamie’ photo.”

Faye Dunaway sits by the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel the morning after the Academy Awards ceremony, where she won the Leading Actor Oscar on March 29, 1977 for her role in Sidney Lumet’s “Network.”

(Terry O’Neill / Iconic Images)

Clendenin describes how Curtis’ impromptu shoot came about:

It’s amazing how big Jamie’s fan of photography is. We met in person years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival and we seemed to bond cosmically when her eyes lit up and we realized we were both “JLCs”. I took photos of her reunion with Eddie Murphy that day, and we’ve been talking ever since. As for the “morning-after photo,” I’ve been trying for years. It’s a tough conversation. You’re basically asking a publicist, “Hey, I don’t want to jinx your team, But, If You happen to win…could we take some photos the morning after?” And often…they don’t win. I know it’s part of the prize money race, but it’s still a big question, especially when neither of you know who’s going to win what.

I was definitely hoping Jamie would want that, and I felt like she’d be a lot easier to convince when it comes to the “ifs,” since she’s known for not partying. She is an early riser and often jokes about it, and she has done just that. She came up the stairs to the Governors Ball, got her Oscar trophy engraved and headed straight back to the exit. On the way to the elevator I whispered (begged!) to her that we should do something early in the morning (Monday). She smiled like she was really thinking about it, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up – she was riding the pinnacle of that wild night. The message the next morning was an amazing invitation and I’m glad we were able to go through with it.

We had the Faye Dunaway shot in our minds the whole time and knew we wanted to make a “Jamie” photo out of it, so I immediately suggested latte and foam on the nose…she was so wild. I wanted it with a little humor and humility, which is something I’ve come to know and love about newly crowned Oscar winner JLC.