Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with Jamie Lee Curtis and Sophia Hammons for Freakier Friday.

In the sequel, Tess and Anna Coleman find themselves swapping bodies again 22 years later, but this time, they aren’t alone!

In this interview, Curtis and Hammons discuss finding the perfect scene partner in one another, “Englishisms” that had to be worked into the body-swap, and Curtis’ work as a producer.

The iconic Jamie Lee Curtis is returning to body-swapping chaos more than two decades after Freaky Friday with a long-awaited sequel hitting theaters on August 8. For Freakier Friday, however, Curtis also swapped roles to step behind the camera for her first full producing credit, helping shape the sequel alongside director Nisha Ganatra, as well as reprising her role from the beloved 2000s comedy as Tess Coleman. Reuniting with Curtis for the sequel is Lindsay Lohan, with additional mayhem added to the film with newcomers Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons. In Freakier Friday, Tess and Anna (Lohan) are forced to reckon with the fact that the identity crisis they faced 22 years earlier may not have been a one-off incident, as lightning strikes the same family twice. The body-swapping this time is made more complicated as Anna navigates merging families with her daughter and soon-to-be stepdaughter. The sequel brings back Chad Michael Murray and Mark Harmon, and introduces Manny Jacinto, Vanessa Bayer, Chloe Fineman, and more into the mix. In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Curtis and Hammons reflect on their instant connection as scene partners, the quirky acting tricks they used to embody each other’s characters, and why swapping accents wouldn’t work in this scenario. Curtis also dives into her new role as a full producer, her passion for assembling creative teams, and the exciting projects she has coming in the future, including Russell Goldman’s Sender.
Sophia Hammons’ Audition Shocked Jamie Lee Curtis

Hammons felt “seen” by Curtis.

PERRI NEMIROFF: A top-tier scene partner is important for every movie, but I feel like it’s of the utmost importance when you’re doing a body swap movie. Can you tell me the first thing you saw in the other that signaled to you, “That right there is going to be the perfect partner for me with this?” JAMIE LEE CURTIS: Well, I had the privilege, because I’m a producer on the movie, of seeing Sophia’s audition. So I watched all the auditions, and it was very clear. I remember I said to Nisha [Ganatra], who just walked out the door, I kept saying, “No, no, no. That English girl, she’s really, really good.” And she goes, “She’s not English.” I was like, “Shut up! Shut up.” I mean, it was really a little shocking to me because it’s a pretty mature performance in a screen test and an audition sequence. So, I had some early views. We met in Nisha’s office. SOPHIA HAMMONS: I just remember when we first met, we did a scene together, and I felt like looking into your eyes when acting, we use this word a lot lately, but there was so much depth to you, and I felt so seen by you as our characters swapped, and just as a person in general. So, I think when I did that first scene with you, I literally was like, “Oh my gosh, this is incredible…” CURTIS: “It’s going to work.” HAMMONS: Exactly. It was just like, “This is going to be great.”
Body Swapping Is an Art That Jamie Lee Curtis Has Perfected

“That would have been easy if I just woke up with an English accent.”

Image via Disney

I was talking to another actor who did a body swap scenario on their TV show, and she was telling me that she came up with a couple of buttons she would push, like specific words or mannerisms, to tap into the other person. Did you have that for each other, and if so, what was the button? HAMMONS: A lot of it was great because Tess just has phrases, like catchphrases, like “Pause and reframe,” and even “Make good choices!” I don’t think I say it in the film, but still, saying that would get me into that kind of mode. CURTIS: In the original, it’s a little easier because you have an adult and a teen. You can literally just do posture. Just sit up straight, or go like this [slouches]. That’s what Lindsay said! CURTIS: It’s that quick. You almost don’t need to say anything because you can just use that. In this case, Lily is a very composed, mature young woman who’s very beautiful and interested in fashion and beauty. So, first of all, costuming helps because you mirror little things like a neckerchief or something, but what really, really helped were words. So, like, “crevices.” I don’t know why, but “crevices” is such an English word, and we just say “wrinkles.” So, little Englishisms were something that we really tried very hard to make sure were peppered through, because it’s a little harder to differentiate. I’m not English, meaning we’re not switching the accent. That would have been easy if I just woke up with an English accent.

Image via Disney

Did you ever consider doing that? I was wondering. CURTIS: You can’t. Because if Tess walked downstairs and said, “Hi, Mark Harmon,” in an English accent, he would take her to the hospital because she had a brain aneurysm. You know what I mean? You can’t. You can’t all of a sudden have Tess be English. It’s just not possible. The body switch is not the accent, and so because of it, we had to use more Englishisms and stuff. It was a little trickier.
Jamie Lee Curtis Explains How She Made ‘Freakier Friday’ Happen

“Being a producer is a wonderful job.”

I want to go back to something you brought up earlier, Jamie. I was reading the press notes and then I looked at your filmography, and I knew that you had executive-produced a bunch of films in the past, but I never realized that this marks your very first time having a full producing credit on a feature film. What does that mean to you at this point, and when you were given that title, what did you want to do with it to make this experience the best it possibly could be for everyone around you? CURTIS: Well, I called Bob Iger when I found out that Lindsay was 35 and was old enough to have a 15-year-old. I was on a Halloween tour, and the only movie people asked me about besides Halloween was Freaky Friday. So, when I came home, I called Bob. I was, from the beginning, a producer on the movie, because right away I was saying, “We should make this movie,” and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Being a producer is a wonderful job. It’s a frustrating job. It’s an important job to make sure that you bring the right group of people together. Obviously, Nisha is a really good choice for the movie. I’m now a PGA member. I just produced a movie that Paul Greengrass directed that comes out in September called The Lost Bus with Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. I’m producing Scarpetta, the television series that I’m doing with Nicole Kidman.
Jamie Lee Curtis Teases Her Next Film

“It’s just exactly what I need to be doing.”

Image via Asylum Entertainment

What about Russell Goldman’s movie? I’ve been following him ever since our San Diego Comic-Con conversation. I’m rooting for him. CURTIS: Wait until you see the movie he made. I’m a producer on his movie, Sender. I like being a boss. I have good ideas. You do have good ideas. I want to see more of your ideas! I really want to see Sender. CURTIS: And you know, Sender is made for nothing. I want to make sure our audience is aware of it. Can you give everyone a 101 of what that movie is? Also, you have the best ensemble around you – Anna [Baryshnikov], David [Dastmalchian], and Britt [Lower]. CURTIS: Britt is the star of the movie, and it’s about a brushing scam. It’s about what happens to someone when they’re caught in a brushing scam. It’s about people who send packages that you never ordered. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman who gets sent things. It’s called Sender. It’s written and directed by Russell Goldman, who runs my company, Comet Pictures. It’s fun being a boss! You deserve to be a boss! You set the best tone everywhere you go. I mean it sincerely. CURTIS: And the truth is, I’ve been doing this for a long time. This is the next indicated level. You know what I mean? It’s just exactly what I need to be doing. Freakier Friday premieres in theaters August 8.

Freakier Friday

Release Date

August 7, 2025

Director

Nisha Ganatra

Writers

Mary Rodgers, Jordan Weiss

Producers

Andrew Gunn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kristin Burr

Prequel(s)

Freaky Friday

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