Jamie Lee Curtis admits shooting New Girl was 'not fun'

Jamie Lee Curtis has admitted that shooting New Girl was "not fun".

The veteran actress has reflected on her time filming the sitcom, explaining that she "hated" its single-camera format.

Speaking at NBCUniversal's Summer Backlot Experience in Los Angeles on Monday, Curtis described the series as a "great show" but admitted she did not enjoy the filming process.

"I did a single-camera (comedy), which I hated," she said. "I mean, it's a great show, New Girl, very funny. It's a good show."

The Freaky Friday star went on to explain that working on the comedy felt like "doing a movie".

"You know, you've got a camera crew, and nobody laughs," she stated. "It's silent, and it's awful. For me, awful."

The Oscar-winning actress added, "Single-camera comedies, for me, not fun."

Curtis played Zooey Deschanel's character Jess's on-screen mother, Joan, in five episodes of the Fox series, which ran for seven seasons from 2011 to 2018.

Meanwhile, Jess's father was played by actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner, who died in December 2025.

While Curtis did not enjoy her time working on New Girl, she revealed that her '80s ABC sitcom Anything But Love was her "favourite job (she) ever had".

"And I'm 68 years old, and every single year, all I've ever said to my agents is 'I want to do a sitcom, all I want to do is a sitcom,'" she shared. "I love the whole part of it, every aspect of it, the dance with the cameras, the idea that you actually get to rehearse something and work it and learn a joke and play it."

Curtis is now executive producing and guest starring in NBC's new series Newlyweds, which she also co-created.

"I like to refer to myself as the HBIC. Head b**ch in charge," she joked. "I'm 68 years old. I've wanted to be a boss my whole life."