| | | |  | An interview with Jamie Lee Curtis as a whirlwind awards season comes to a close. | | Jamie Lee Curtis is your new best friend, tapping your hand, patting your thigh. She's a sharer. A two-hour interview stretches into four. The sun melts into the Pacific. The light dims on her lemon trees. Curtis, 64, keeps talking. She gushes stories. Other actresses inspire awe, hovering above us, distant planets. Blanchett, Kidman, Streep, Curtis's "Everything Everywhere All at Once" co-star Yeoh. Curtis is beloved. She doesn't affect cool. She's the movie star next door. She's baked a lemon pound cake nestled in goo. It's Oscar season, "the season of shiny things" as she calls it, when nominated actresses commit to celery and clavicle-to-ankle Spanx. Curtis feasts on cake. It's her first nod in almost a half century of acting. She's probably the first nominee ever who spent seven years hawking yogurt that "makes you poop," her words, grist for parody on "Saturday Night Live." Lo and behold, on Sunday, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award. Candor is her calling card. Menacing tax auditor and hot dog-fingered paramour Deirdre Beaubeirdre's ample paunch is her own. Don't believe her? Sitting at the dining table, her rescue dog Runi curled by her bare feet, Curtis hikes her sweater and heaves her belly over her jeans like a mound of fresh dough. "Oh, yeah, it's all me." Two decades ago, Curtis famously posed in black lingerie and no makeup, with zilch retouching of her cellulite, crow's feet and other mortal imperfections, instantly becoming a girlfriend to us all. As another awards season draws to a close, The Washington Post sat down with "the least movie star-ish movie star" at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. | | | | | Three need-to-know stories | | | (Anita Pouchard Serra for The Washington Post) | 01.Authorities in Argentina say pregnant Russians are taking advantage of its comparatively open immigration policy by arriving, giving birth, applying for passports and leaving. Such parents aren't necessarily breaking rules. But authorities are claiming, without providing evidence, that organized criminals might be luring them here by overstating how easy the process is. And that it could be a way for spies to gain legitimate citizenship. 02.As of late February, Republican lawmakers in at least five states have introduced legislation that would limit transgender health care for adults. Until this year, most proposed restrictions on transition-related care targeted people under 18. Some of the new measures prohibit it for individuals up to age 21, while others block Medicaid from covering it for all ages. 03.Almost 200 human rights organizations from across the world have issued an "urgent appeal" to the United Nations to intervene to ensure the United States protects reproductive rights — after a Supreme Court ruling last year overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. In a letter issued Thursday, nonprofits and civil society groups have written to the U.N. warning that "people residing in the U.S. who can become pregnant are facing a human rights crisis." | | | | | | | A story to make you smile | | | (Courtesy of Tobi Sample) | | Ten years ago, Tobi Sample was dying. She had Stage 4 melanoma, and she wasn't responding to treatment. Her family went on what they believed would be her last vacation. She and her husband discussed hospice. She wrote letters for her daughters to read at life milestones that they would experience without their mom. But Sample, 49, survived — and this month, she climbed one of the world's tallest mountains. "I felt just so thankful that I could carry a 25-pound backpack on my back that I shouldn't be able to carry," she said. "There's no explanation for that." With her Kilimanjaro trek behind her, Sample has an opportunity to decide on her next big move. One of her ideas is rooted in her experience of the past decade: Inspired by her journey with melanoma, Sample worked a few years ago as an oncology nurse, helping other people with cancer fight the disease. Her next adventure, she said, might be returning to that role. Read more from Marisa Iati in The Post. | | | | | But before we part, here's someone to know | | | (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post | Sonia RaoPop culture reporter, The Washington PostYou've profiled a lot of celebs. Which interview has been your favorite?It's so hard to choose! Every experience has its merits. I was sent to New York as an intern to interview Spike Lee at the Brooklyn headquarters of his production company, which was surreal at that point in my career. I returned to the city last year to watch a taping of Drew Barrymore's bizarre talk show at her Manhattan studio and sat down to interview her afterward, and she was extremely open and honest about the difficulties of growing up in the entertainment industry. Last month, I swung by the American Museum of Natural History to look at a collection of ants with Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man in the Marvel movies. I love active, hands-on reporting, so those are obvious standouts (and the experience with Rudd was just really fun). But I think one of my favorite interviews to write was my November profile of Brian Tyree Henry, who plays Paper Boi in "Atlanta" and received an Oscar nomination this year for his supporting role in the film "Causeway." The acting process can be difficult to talk about, given how internal it is, but listening to him speak about how he brings humanity to his characters was fascinating. I also love the experience of speaking with collaborators for profiles, and Donald Glover had some great, revelatory stuff to say about his "Atlanta" co-star. It's award season. Are there any stars or movies you've been rooting for?As a reporter, I am often less interested in the Oscars as they relate to my personal taste and more interested in seeing which performances and projects the Academy considers worthy of recognition. In that sense, I was just as pleased as anyone to see "Everything Everywhere All at Once" nominated across the board, given how deeply it resonated. I also really loved "Tár," so I'm waiting to see who wins best actress, a race in which Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett seem to be neck and neck. In general, I think the acting categories are most interesting to me this year. Everyone nominated for best actor is a first-time nominee; I'm thinking it'll go to either "The Banshees of Inisherin" star Colin Farrell or — the more wild card pick — Austin Butler for "Elvis." Both gave great performances. I thought "Aftersun" was incredibly moving, so I was happy to see Paul Mescal nominated. What's one bit of pop culture tea or gossip entertaining you these days?It comes in waves, and I feel there is a bit of a lull in entertaining gossip right now. (I really do not care to read any more about the feud between Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber — is it even real?) I did think it was very funny how people latched onto Austin Butler keeping his "Elvis" accent throughout the publicity tour for that film. If he wins the Oscar, I hope he gives his speech that way. | | | | | | | | | |
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