Good evening. Tonight’s 60 Minutes presents a night at the movies with three acclaimed actors at different points in their careers: Timothée Chalamet, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kate Winslet.
Timothée Chalamet
Timothée Chalamet, 30, is fresh from his third recent Oscar nomination. Anderson Cooper opened the segment with Chalamet’s work playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown — a role many advised him against when he was in his early twenties. With years between projects and downtime from strikes and the pandemic, Chalamet used about five years to study Dylan’s life and music. He didn’t set out to imitate Dylan; instead, he aimed to absorb the man behind the mask, learning to sing, play harmonica and guitar, and mastering dozens of Dylan songs. Chalamet described an intense approach to the role: he disconnected from personal life during the two and a half months of filming, avoided cell phones and visitors, and cultivated a level of commitment he compared to Daniel Day-Lewis.
Director James Mangold praised Chalamet’s instinctive musical moments on set — unplanned choices that added authenticity — and recounted the decision to record live rather than use playback, capturing a rawness the production felt was truer to Bob Dylan’s early sound. Chalamet said he “gives 170%” to projects he cares about and tries not to reveal the full mechanics of his craft, preferring the mystery of performance.
Chalamet’s rise began in New York City: he attended LaGuardia High School for the performing arts, later studied briefly at Columbia and NYU, and turned back to acting full time after Call Me By Your Name made him a breakout star. He’s displayed range from the intimate (Call Me By Your Name) to large-scale genre work (Dune), and more recently took on a risky reinvention of Willy Wonka. Chalamet reflected on the idea of “self-destiny,” a concept he admires in Dylan: a private confidence in the trajectory of one’s life and career. He hasn’t met Dylan, and he said he’d likely keep a meeting casual — “maybe talk about the weather” — rather than lean into the hyperbole that often greets legends.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis, 67, has experienced a late-career renaissance with a string of raw, award-winning performances after four decades in Hollywood. Born to screen icons Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Curtis didn’t plan on acting. She was nearly finished with college when offered a contract with Universal, and at 19 she starred in John Carpenter’s Halloween. The film became a cult hit, but Curtis’ early career didn’t immediately rocket to prestige roles; she worked steadily in horror and comedy before finding mainstream success with parts in Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies.
Curtis spoke candidly about personal struggles, including a regretted early plastic surgery and a dependency on prescription painkillers purchased during that era. She’s been sober for 26 years and is open about recovery. As a working mother, Curtis took commercial work to allow flexibility for her family, and later ran her own production company and philanthropy.
In her 60s she embraced riskier, unglamorous characters — part of a wave that culminated in high-profile, acclaimed performances. Audiences saw her as the combustible matriarch Donna Berzatto in The Bear and as the unforgettable Deirdre Beaubeirdra in Everything Everywhere All at Once, a role that helped push her back into awards contention. Curtis described the late-career string of “raw, vulnerable” roles as something she patiently prepared for: “I’ve waited my whole life for Donna,” she said of The Bear’s character, crediting patience, sobriety and artistic freedom. Her Oscar win was a moment of emotional parity with her parents’ legacy; she reflected that, emotionally, she had “surpassed” some of the limitations her mother faced in the industry.
Curtis also highlighted the practical side of a long career: production projects, raising money for hospitals, and campaigning for wildfire relief. She has leaned into roles that defy conventional beauty standards and has turned imperfection into artistic choice. Her frankness about addiction, motherhood, and the realities of the industry has become a central part of her public voice.
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet, 49, starred in and produced Lee, the film about Lee Miller, the American photographer who documented World War II at the front lines. Winslet — who came to fame with Titanic at age 20 — told Cecilia Vega she still experiences nerves and self-doubt when she walks on stage or approaches complex roles. For Lee, Winslet spent years researching at Miller’s estate, working with Miller’s son, and choosing to shape the film around Miller’s life as a war photographer rather than the more sensational parts of her earlier life.
Winslet insisted on a female creative team: hiring a woman director, co-producers, and writers. She learned the technical skill of operating a period-appropriate camera — going beyond prop work to make the camera feel like an extension of her body. That grounding in the craft was crucial for Winslet: learning to take photographs while acting lent authenticity to the role.
Winslet has a reputation for inhabiting tough, complex women. She has mastered accents and deep character work — she spent years preparing for roles and even learned free-diving for Avatar 2. Winslet discussed how Hollywood sometimes treated her harshly early in her career, particularly after Titanic — the tabloid focus on her appearance and the cruelty of press coverage left marks. She recalled “letting them have it” when confronted with unfair attacks. Now, she lives relatively privately, avoids social media, and often only performs projects she feels passionate about. She said Lee’s commercial success (reporting more than $25 million) demonstrates that films about complex historical women can find an audience.
Closing
Anderson Cooper closed the show noting these three actors are each at different stages — Chalamet carving bold reinventions and deep character work, Curtis reveling in hard-earned artistic freedom and late-career acclaim, and Winslet producing and performing immersive, historically grounded roles. Each segment explored craft, risk, preparation and the sometimes messy realities of sustaining a life in film. Tonight was, as Cooper put it, “a night at the movies” — a look at actors who challenge themselves and invite viewers to see how performances are made.