Jamie Lee Curtis shocked by mom Janet Leigh's romantic connection to her new movie: 'Born from so...

Curtis produced &34;The Lost Bus&34; and revealed to an audience at TIFF that a reallife woman (played by America Ferrera in the film) told her a stunning story

Curtis produced "The Lost Bus" and revealed to an audience at TIFF that a real-life woman (played by America Ferrera in the film) told her a stunning story about Leigh.

Jamie Lee Curtis shocked by mom Janet Leigh's romantic connection to her new movie: 'Born from something much bigger'

Curtis produced "The Lost Bus" and revealed to an audience at TIFF that a real-life woman (played by America Ferrera in the film) told her a stunning story about Leigh.

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September 6, 2025 1:31 a.m. ET

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Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother, Janet Leigh. Credit:

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

- Jamie Lee Curtis spoke about "The Lost Bus" at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

- The Oscar winner revealed that she was stunned to learn that mom Janet Leigh had a romantic connection to the real person who inspired the film.

- Curtis said it was proof that the inspirational film was "born from something much bigger."

Working as a producer on Matthew McConaughey's new movie, *The Lost Bus, *led* *Jamie Lee Curtis to find a stunning connection between the material and her late mother, Janet Leigh, who died in 2004.

The Oscar-winning actress revealed Friday night at the film's world-premiere screening at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival that, after boarding the Paul Greengrass-directed project alongside producer Jason Blum in 2021, she wanted to meet with the real-life people who inspired the film's story.

Curtis recalled to the audience her first meeting with the real Kevin McKay (McConaughey), a bus driver who, alongside teacher Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera), navigated to safety a school bus packed with children during California's deadly 2018 Camp Fire.

Jamie Lee Curtis at the Amazon 2025 Upfront.

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

She said McKay informed her of "the last happy memory" he had with his mother prior to the fire, which he said involved taking his mom out to see Curtis in 2018's *Halloween* sequel.

"That was very moving," Curtis observed. "Immediately, I felt a kinship. Then, I spoke to Mary. Mary was much more guarded than Kevin. Kevin was gregarious. Mary was a little more concerned."

Curtis remembered that Ludwig, too, recalled a "weird connection" to the actress.

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"She said, 'My father dated your mother.' [I asked], 'For real?' I said, 'Where?' She said, 'Merced, Calif.," Curtis recounted. "Now, you guys know my mother as Janet Leigh, but before she was Janet Leigh, she was Jeanette Helen Morrison from Merced, Calif., and Mary Ludwig's father dated Jeanette."

The audience inside the city's Princess of Wales theater gasped at Curtis' admission, with the performer noting that the connection surprised her as well.

Curtis stressed that "this moment with Kevin and Mary was born from something much bigger," and celebrated "the fact that we're all here together with you at the world premiere of a movie about their story told by a master produced by a master, is just a thrilling, weird, connect-the-dots [moment]" before the event ended.

Jamie Lee Curtis at the premiere of 'Freakier Friday'.

Brendon Thorne/Getty

In an exclusive interview with **, McConaughey opened up about making the movie.

"*Hell* yeah!" the Oscar-winning *Dallas Buyers Club* star said when asked about experiencing any close calls with actual flames during production.

***Sign up for **'s free daily newsletter* *to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.***

"I got to know that damn bus real well, and I actually drove it," he continued. "I'm proud to say I could drive that bus, and I did all the driving and that stuff, and I loved doing that driving 'cause it was urgent. It was fun. It was actually scary because flames and dead ends and stuff were popping up all over.

*The Lost Bus *enters limited theatrical release on* *Sept. 19, before streaming Oct. 3 on Apple TV+.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Movies"

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Source: ShowBiz MAG

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