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Jamie Lee Curtis has revealed that her time on New Girl was not an enjoyable one, despite her positive view of the sitcom itself, because she found its single-camera production style frustrating.
Curtis appeared as Joan, the mother of Zooey Deschanel's character Jess, in six episodes of the Fox sitcom, which ran for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018. Speaking at NBCUniversal's Summer Backlot Experience on Aug. 10, the actress explained that her frustration had nothing to do with the cast or the quality of the show itself.
"I did a single-camera [show], which I hated," Curtis said. "It's a good show, but doing it is just like doing a movie."
She explained that the lack of a live studio audience made the experience particularly difficult for her.
"You've got a camera crew, and nobody laughs. It's silent and it's awful. For me, awful," she said, adding, "Single-camera comedies, for me, not fun."
Curtis has long preferred multi-camera sitcoms, where performers can rehearse scenes and play to a live audience. She previously starred in Anything But Love alongside the late Richard Lewis from 1989 to 1992 and recently described the experience as her "favorite job ever."
"It was fantastic," Curtis said in a June Variety interview. "I'd never been in front of a live audience."
She has repeatedly expressed interest in returning to the format and said she had spent years asking her agents to find another multi-camera sitcom. Rather than waiting for another opportunity, however, Curtis eventually helped create one herself.
The actress is now involved with NBC's upcoming multi-camera comedy Newlyweds, starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly. Curtis serves as an executive producer and writer and will also appear in a recurring role.
The project has given the actress another opportunity she has wanted for much of her career: having greater creative control. During the NBCUniversal event, Curtis jokingly described herself as the "HBIC—head b---h in charge," explaining that she had spent decades wanting to have a greater say in the projects she worked on.
"I'm 68 years old. I've wanted to be a boss my whole life," she said.
For Curtis, Newlyweds represents more than another acting role. It allows her to return to a television format she has enjoyed while also taking on greater responsibility behind the scenes.
