Despite her days as the queen of the screams and the tantalizing glimpses of skin to which audiences were treated in Trading Places and Love Letters, there is more to Jamie Lee Curtis than an unforgettable figure and a banshee wail. She is an actress on the move--and she can be seen moving this month with co-star John Travolta in Perfect. We asked Contributing Editor David Rensin if he would mind spending a few hours with Curtis in the Lower Manhattan apartment she shares with her husband, Christopher Guest. Said Rensin quickly: "No problem."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: After two engagements that didn't work out, you recently devastated American males by marrying Saturday Night Live's and This Is Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest. Had you seen him in the film before you met? Was it the hollow-chested English-rock-star look that attracted you?

Jamie Lee Curtis: Yes, I saw the movie first. Actually, I've been reluctant to talk about this, because I don't want to take advantage of something that was really great and special. [Pauses] I was single, working on a film, not going out to parties much anymore. I was reading Rolling Stone and there was this picture of three guys: Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher. They had their arms around one another--nice and normal. And I went, "Who's this?" Chris had a smirk and looked great. I flipped the page and there they were as David, Derek and Nigel, from Spinal Tap. I did a double take.

I went to see the movie and came away thinking Chris was very, very talented and that I'd like to meet him. I didn't know how to go about it, but one day, in a fit of self-confidence, I called his agent. I rambled on about how I'd never done anything like this but would like to meet Chris. He took my number and said he'd give him the message. But nothing happened.

Three months later, a girlfriend and I were having dinner and there he was across the room. We smiled and said a little "Hi," but then I turned to my girlfriend and went, "God!" like a child. He was with a girl and a guy and I didn't know the situation. So I stayed away. He called the next day. We had dinner a couple of nights later.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: What were you thinking a few months later when the minister finally said, "You may kiss the bride"?

Jamie Lee Curtis: I was worried that my nose was running from crying so much. I was seriously wondering if anyone had a Kleenex or if it would be terribly uncouth to wipe my nose on my sleeve. Our minister had warned me to take tissues. She was right. I lost it during the vows. As a little girl, I had dreamed of saying all the words. So when "to have and to hold" came up, I just went. Then I laughed and so did everybody else. It broke the tension. We have an audio tape of the ceremony. We've since listened to it together. It's a very strange experience.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: When did you stop being a girl?

Jamie Lee Curtis: I still am. I'm a girl rather than a woman. Woman to me means hair spray and perfume. I look forward to being one, but I want to be my own kind of woman. I don't want to have to respond to society's expectations about sex, relationships, how I dress. I want to be a wise old woman. Not smart, wise. That leaves you fluid.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Do girls just want to have fun?

Jamie Lee Curtis: Ever hear the song Boys Just Want to Have Sex? Well, girls also want to have babies

Q 5

PLAYBOY: In earlier interviews, you insisted you wouldn't take your clothes off on camera. What happened?

Jamie Lee Curtis: [Deadpan] I lied. [Laughs] The realities changed my mind. Love Letters, for instance, was a movie about an obsessive love affair. You had to see it.

In Trading Places, I was nude for seven seconds. I timed it. But there are some reviews that claim I was naked for the whole movie. If Ophelia had turned her back and shielded herself, it would have been false modesty. She was a prostitute. Any hesitancy would have been wrong. But it was a terrific movie and all I can tell you is that the nudity helped a lot.

Had I not done the work that involved nudity, I don't think I'd be working right now. It has given me a career and let me hold on to my self-esteem. Now the nudity thing has become a pain in the ass. But I can live with it. It's a big deal only if I make it one.