Jamie Lee Curtis Says Husband Christopher Guest Encouraged Her to Write New Graphic Novel ‘Mother Nature’

"I said to my husband, 'I should hire somebody to write 'Mother Nature.' He said to me, as Christopher does, very quietly: 'Why don’t you?'" Curtis recalled at a San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday

Jamie Lee Curtis is crediting her filmmaker husband Christopher Guest for encouraging her to write her first graphic novel.

At a San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday, the Oscar winner, 64, shared how she came to co-write Mother Nature, which was in part due to her spouse of 38 years.

“‘I came home and I said to my husband, 'I should hire somebody to write Mother Nature.' He said to me, as Christopher does, very quietly: 'Why don’t you?'” Curtis recalled.

“I said, 'Oh please, I don’t know how to write a screenplay,'” she said of initially writing the story in the form of a script. “He looked at me, and he said, ‘Yes, you do.’”

Related: Jamie Lee Curtis Thanks Her 'Beautiful Husband' and 'People Who Love Genre Movies' in 2023 Oscars Speech

Mother Nature — which will be available on Aug. 8 — follows ecological activist Nova Terrell, who “wages a campaign of sabotage and vandalism” on oil giant Cobalt Corporation after witnessing her engineer father die in mysterious circumstances” at one of the facilities, according to a synopsis.

However, “she accidentally makes a terrifying discovery about the true nature” of the company’s clean water project called “Mother Nature” and how it “threatens to destroy” the entire town of Catch Creek, New Mexico.

The Scream Queens actress revealed at Friday’s panel that she's had the idea for Mother Nature — which is illustrated by Karl Stevens — since she was 19.

“When I could barely get out of high school with my 840 combined SAT scores, I knew that we were in trouble. I knew from an environmental standpoint. If I have any skill at all, it’s that I am emotional. My antennae are incredibly attuned, and I knew it,” Curtis said of the inspiration for the novel’s ecological roots.

“I had this idea for a story, a movie, something in my head called Mother Nature. Of course, I had some gruesome deaths because I have a very dark mind. When you see a few of them, you’ll understand. But I didn’t do anything with it,” she foreshadowed.

Curtis then shared how her starring role in John Carpenter’s 1978 horror film also helped inspire her to write the book: “When I made the Halloween movie later in life, which you guys supported, I came back from that energized. I had my mojo back for the possibility of how to tell this story.”

Since the story centers on indigenous characters and themes, Curtis said at the panel that she and her co-writer, Russell Goldman, worked with Navajo experts for insight — something Curtis thought to do because of her experience with her transgender daughter, Ruby.

"I have a trans daughter. I don’t know many trans people, so I have sought to learn. I’m a student. I’m not going to pretend I know anything because I don’t know anything,” the Halloween star explained. “But you start to learn. I think that’s the biggest message, that we’re all learning. We’re all learners, and we’re all trying to figure it out.”

Related: Jamie Lee Curtis on Her Halloween Legacy and How It Led to Her Husband and Kids: 'Dots Connected'

“Unfortunately, we don’t hear enough people say, 'I don’t know the answer to that. I’m going to go to indigenous writers and ask them and spend the time,’” she continued. “We’re immediately demanding an opinion, and then we’re slammed in this culture of misspeaking.”

“You’re screwed if you say something, you’re screwed if you don’t say something. We’re human, and we should learn and grow,” the actress added.

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Another important lesson Curtis hopes readers will take away from Mother Nature is its environmentalist themes. “We’re f------ the world! We need to do better. There is a possibility of change, but we are going to have to do it,” she said on Friday.

Because she initially sought to write Mother Nature as a screenplay, the Freaky Friday star admitted at the panel that “we may well make this into a movie at some point. That would be fun. Maybe I’ll direct it, maybe I’ll co-direct it, maybe I’ll be in it, and maybe I’ll do all of it.”

She further explained, “I’m 65 years old this November, but my point is that I have no time to waste. I joke about it, but I’m going to die way sooner than later, and therefore, I have s--- to do! This is one of the things that I needed to do, and I’m excited about it.”

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