'Scream Queens' Star Jamie Lee Curtis Opens Up About Aging in Hollywood

Photo: Ruven Afanador

Jamie Lee Curtis made headlines back in 2002 when she famously posed in More in her underwear without makeup or airbrushing in a move to call attention to the way Hollywood treats older actresses.

More than a dozen years later, the 56-year-old actress – who currently stars in Fox’s new dark comedy Scream Queens – is still as outspoken as ever when comes to the issue of ageism in her business.

“I think it’s humiliating to see the media frenzy when somebody gets older and they don’t look the way they used to look,” Curtis says in the current issue of PEOPLE. “It’s like dancing with the devil. I’ve danced with it for a long time, and it’s been okay. But I don’t want to be punished for the natural evolution of being human, and I will be if I stay in it too long.”

Curtis, who recently spent several years as a spokeswoman for Activia, hawking a yogurt “that helps you poop,” insists she’s “lucky” for her current gig on Scream Queens. Grateful or not, Curtis, the mother of two grown kids – Tom, 19, and Annie, 28 – is clearly still formulating her exit strategy.

Her philosophy, she explains, is to “go out a queen and don’t wait for them to come and chop off your head. I want to truly be like the old cowboy who just rides off and doesn’t even say goodbye. He just tips the hat and moves on.”

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To read more of Jamie Lee Curtis’ interview, pick up the current issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday