United Kingdom, Dec. 28 -- Jamie Lee Curtis is glad she narrowly dodged fame as a child thanks to her late mom Janet Leigh.

The 67-year-old Hollywood legend revealed she was asked to audition for the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist by its late director, Ray Stark - who was friends with her mom - but Janet refused because Jamie was only 12 at the time and wanted her to have a childhood.

During a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Jamie - who got her big break aged 19 as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's 1978 slasher, Halloween - recalled: "He called my mom and said, 'Hey, I'm producing the movie of the book The Exorcist. Will you let Jamie audition for it?'

"And at the time, I was probably 12 and, like, cute and kind of sass...