SAG Awards: Jamie Lee Curtis Calls Herself a Nepo Baby in “I Am an Actor” Segment

The 2023 SAG Awards kicked off Sunday night with their traditional “I Am An Actor” opening segment, featuring Niecy Nash, of Dahmer, talking about being inspired to be “Black, fabulous, and on TV” as a child, and her first act: “turn around in a circle and let my family get a load of me.”

Bob Odenkirk also joined in, pretending to forget his final line: “I am an actor.”

Jamie Lee Curtis was next, grinning as she remembered her first project, Operation Petticoat, and mirthfully called herself a “nepo baby.” She attributed her firing from Petticoat to allowing her to audition for the iconic Halloween franchise.

Quinta Brunson and Janelle James of Abbott Elementary pretended to think the camera crew on them was the wait staff of the awards dinner.

The segment was preceded by Only Murders in the Building stars Steve Martin and Martin Short spoofing The Banshees of Inisherin — “If you keep bothering me, I’m going to cut off all my feckin’ fingers,” Martin joked. Their co-star, Selena Gomez, joined in to jest that both Martin and Short would likely lose in the male actor in a comedy series category.

The segment began in 1995, at the very first SAG Awards ceremony, when host Angela Lansbury talked about her career, saying “I’ve been Elizabeth Taylor’s sister, Spencer Tracy’s mistress, Elvis’ mother and a singing teapot.” It was Michael Keaton, the following year, who actually first uttered the exact phrase “I am an actor.” Since then, scores of A-listers have participated in the tradition including Robert Duvall, Halle Berry, Javier Bardem, Kathy Bates, Whoopi Goldberg and Elle Fanning — to name just a few.

The SAG Awards were held this year at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, and streamed on Netflix’s YouTube channel.