Jennifer Coolidge went from being a slacker waitress to an iconic actress, crossing paths
with Sandra Bullock, Jerry Seinfeld, and thanks to one infamous role, a lot of random hookups.
This is everything you need to know about the actress' unique ascent to stardom.
Jennifer Coolidge may be known as a comedic icon now, but she never used to think of herself
as a funny person.
She revealed in an interview with Female magazine,
In her family, she said, her brother was always the comedian, even if she could break out
some pretty good impressions at the dinner table.
When she went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, Coolidge set out to become
a serious actor, like Meryl Streep, whom she worshiped.
She explained,
But Coolidge had a hard time trying to get people to take her seriously, especially when
she was told that she wasn't attractive enough for roles.
Brutally evaluating her appearance, one casting agent reportedly told her, according to Vulture,
Before they both found fame, Jennifer Coolidge worked alongside Sandra Bullock at a restaurant
in New York called Canastels.
"Sandra Bullock was the hostess, and I was the cocktail waitress."
However, their attitude toward work was very different.
While Bullock had her act together, Coolidge has admitted that her own performance was
less than professional.
"I had, like, five shifts, and I would show up for three of them."
During her clubbing years, Coolidge once even pretended that she had a cigarette put out
in her eye to get off work, going as far as getting an eye patch and gauze roll to corroborate
her story.
But apparently none of her antics got her fired thanks to a very lenient boss.
Bullock ended up getting a lot of Coolidge's shifts since she was out partying.
Jennifer Coolidge discovered her potential as a comedic character actor thanks to The
Groundlings, a Los Angeles improv troupe that has produced some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
She later told Female magazine,
She explained how a friend urged her to drop out of the dramatic acting class she was taking
and drove her to try out for the famous comedy training ground.
She recalled,
As a member of The Groundlings, Coolidge learned how to do comedic improv alongside future
stars like Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer,
and Will Forte.
She said in an interview with The Holland Sentinel,
As well as learning new skills and discovering her own talent, Coolidge also found that the
group gave her the opportunity to perform in front of important people.
Recalling her first time on the small screen, she explained to Female magazine,
After years without any acting success, Jennifer Coolidge landed her first big break in 1993
at the age of 32.
She was cast as a masseuse who dated Jerry Seinfeld on the hit sitcom "Seinfeld," and
as she recalled to GQ, it came as quite a shock.
Coolidge confessed,
She wasn't even sure what to wear for the audition, explaining that at the time she
didn't have any outfits that she considered flattering.
Apparently, a couple of store employees put together an outfit for her.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus also helped her out at the table read, boosting her confidence by
telling her that she'd done a great job.
Coolidge later said,
But as she told Vulture, this triumphant career development was still a bittersweet moment:
her first on-air role came right as her mother was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer.
She recalled,
According to Jennifer Coolidge, her breakout role in "American Pie" as Stifler's mom led
to a lot of attention from younger men.
"I'm single, so I'm really using it to my advantage."
The actor insisted that she wasn't annoyed by people who associated her with her seductive
character from the hit 1999 film, since it led to her getting a shocking amount of action
in her personal life.
"There's always someone who's seen that movie lately, so then you sort of get a whole new
group of young guys."
Coolidge told Variety,
As she admitted to Conan O'Brien, she got an honorary "MILF" status from the character,
despite not having any children in real life.
She said,
Coolidge also said with her characteristic self-deprecating humor,
"Mom?"
Some of Jennifer Coolidge's most beloved roles have come from Christopher Guest films like
"Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind."
As the filmmaker told Variety, he first discovered the actor when she was in The Groundlings,
saying,
"Likewise, I'm sure."
He singled out her ability to improvise and make audiences laugh just by standing there,
adding,
For her part, Coolidge returned the compliment in 2021, telling The Guardian that Guest's
films were her favorite projects to work on.
She said,
She also praised frequent Guest collaborators like Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, adding
that they were stunningly down-to-earth despite their talent.
Coolidge insisted,
Since her years as a struggling actor, Jennifer Coolidge has never taken any role for granted.
But her long string of guest appearances in sitcoms and supporting roles in comedies has
arguably led to the actor being pigeon-holed over the years.
She reflected in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter,
Coolidge added that she was never offered lead roles.
In reference to her iconic "Legally Blonde" role, she noted that these days, the gig would
be more along the lines of,
The star explained,
Insisting that Coolidge's range was often overlooked, friend and collaborator Mike White
told Vulture,
Jennifer Coolidge is more than happy with her status as a queer icon, as she told The Advocate.
The actor has supported many LGBTQ+ charities over the years, like the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
She also noted that she always just naturally found herself drawn to the queer community,
finding common ground through her taste and sense of humor.
She explained,
In an interview with Vulture, the star joked that many of her characters could be interpreted
as drag queens and insisted that if reincarnation existed, she would choose to come back as
a gay man.
She also said that her friendships with gay men were important to her, explaining,
For years, Jennifer Coolidge has lived in a reportedly haunted mansion in New Orleans.
Although she claims that she's never seen a ghost, she told E! Insider,
Her seemingly spooky mansion has also appeared in movies and TV.
For example, Sofia Coppola took advantage of its old-fashioned charms and shot the interior
scenes for her 2017 film "The Beguiled" in Coolidge's home.
In a 2022 interview about working with Ryan Murphy on "The Watcher," Coolidge revealed
that she had been hoping for a call since the producer borrowed her house for an episode
of "American Horror Story" a decade prior.
The actor told Pride that she had been longing to do something dark and creepy with him for
years, saying,
Although her house got a starring role and she didn't, there was a happy conclusion to
the story, since ten years later she starred in Murphy's "The Watcher."
Jennifer Coolidge has had a triumphant career resurgence thanks to her starring role in
boat seasons of "The White Lotus."
Her work on the HBO dramedy series won her an Emmy, a Critics Choice Award, and a Golden
Globe in the space of just a few months.
But she almost refused to take on the role that her friend, series creator Mike White,
wrote especially for her.
Speaking about the creation of her character, White told Vulture.
White was so driven to work with Coolidge on the project that he says he told HBO he
wouldn't do the show without her.
The writer explained that he wanted her to have a role that would demonstrate her talent,
saying,
"Just show 'em the core of the onion!"
Coolidge was less certain about the show, however.
According to People, she nearly turned the whole opportunity down because she was self-conscious
about not being in, quote, "fighting shape" after eating a lot of vegan pizza during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Luckily, a friend gave her some sound advice before Coolidge could fake a foot injury to
escape filming.
Her friend said,
And then, as Coolidge put it,