Gay icon and now TV’s golden girl, how Jennifer Coolidge won over … – msnNOW
© Provided by Metro Jennifer Coolidge is finally getting the widespread recognition she’s always deserved (Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
There’s no denying that Jennifer Coolidge took over one of biggest TV and film events across the pond last night at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.
For, although it was not the Oscars – (even though at one point the actor mistakenly called the award she was presenting an Oscar – instead of a Globe) – her own acceptance speech as best supporting actress in a limited series was worthy of one itself.
But even before her own win, she had already won over the audience. Through a hilarious four-minute explanation sharing her anxieties over presenting an award, Jennifer revealed that not only had she been left terrified of falling over, she’d even considered wearing a pair of Crocs under her Dolce and Gabbana dress.
By the end of the night, her hypnotic mixture of chaos and perfection won the 61-year-old actor huge praise from her legion of fans – with one Twitter user begging her to ‘host my life’, while another said basically everything we all agree with: ‘Jennifer is an absolute legend. She’s hilarious, talented, authentic and the kind of person everyone wants as a best friend.’
It’s Jennifer’s portrayal of the wonderfully ridiculous Tanya McQuoid in the HBO hit series The White Lotus that has seen the actor win over her latest legion of followers.
When the show first came out in July 2021 it immediately earned itself a crowd of dedicated fans. Capturing the antics of the guests and staff at a luxury hotel in Hawaii, it was nominated for 11 Emmys (winning five), and also helped catapult seasoned actor Jennifer back into the limelight following a rollercoaster of comedy roles over the last three decades.
Such was her popularity that when the show came back for a second series – this time set in a White Lotus resort against the beautiful backdrop of Sicily – Tanya and her love interest Greg (Jon Gries) were the only characters to be brought back.
And if the signs of Jennifer’s singing, dancing and cracking joke after joke at the Golden Globes are anything to go by, there’s no doubt she is loving every minute of her most recent success.
After all, she has every right to enjoy it.
Her hilarious Golden Globes monologue may have been comedy at its best, but for those who don’t know Jennifer well, she has been making us laugh (a lot) since the ‘90s.
From her infamous role as Stifler’s Mom in the American Pie movies to a queer dog owner in Best in Show, not to mentioned her scene-stealing role alongside Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, and the other ‘little jobs’, she’s done along the way in Friends and Sex and The City, Jennifer’s CV is a mighty one.
© Provided by Metro Jennifer plays Tanya in The White Lotus, with her sharp performance landing her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress (Picture: HBO)
But while some of us may be late to the Coolidge crush, her iconic status has been well and truly established by the LGBTQ+ community pretty much from the off.
Talking about why she thinks she has been embraced as a gay icon in a recent interview with Advocate, Jennifer said: ‘Since I was young, I have had many gay friends early in my life, so my love for the community started at a very young age.
‘And I’ve been in Hollywood a long time, so I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many queer actors. They give me credit, but I give it right back to them for always being there for me.
‘It was just the people I ended up being attracted to, we have a lot in common and we become best buds, and the movies I’ve been in helped too,’ she added.
‘There’s nothing more flattering than having the respect of gay men and women, so it’s a joy.’
© Provided by Metro It was American Pie, where she played Stifler’s Mom, that Jennifer Coolidge established herself as an icon (Picture: Universal Pictures/Brooke Boyer)
The star has also joked more recently that she holds no lingering resentment towards the community following her recent storyline in The White Lotus involving ‘high-end gays’.
‘It’s not your typical gay men story, but it was a genius idea,’ she explained. ‘Tanya was just one of those people who is susceptible and got in with the wrong crowd, and they just happened to be gay.’
Although Jennifer is at the height of her fame now, the Boston-born actor surprisingly came late to our screens. Having trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she landed her very first professional acting job in 1993. This was in an episode of Seinfeld, the popular NBC sitcom starring Jerry Seinfeld. The role was only a minor one, but it set the ball rolling for her work as an actor, and she has never looked back.
However, many fans feel that what makes Jennifer even more endearing is her honesty. Few actors would open up about bingeing during lockdown, but such was the amount of food she ate, she has admitted she considered turning down her iconic White Lotus role. ‘I thought I was too heavy for the role,’ she said. ‘I’d been self-destructing at home for months, eating pizza all day.’
© Provided by Metro Jennifer spoke candidly about her struggle with mental health during the pandemic (Photo by Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images)
She was so affected by the pandemic she also admitted to not having been able to think about work because she feared she may die.
‘It was an incredibly sad time,’ she has since explained in her usual candid manner. ‘I was reading tragic news stories on a daily basis, had a fatalistic approach, and assumed the virus was going to win. I knew people who lost their lives and was convinced we wouldn’t make it through. I wasn’t thinking about work, because I didn’t think we’d be alive.’
And then there was her raw account in her Golden Globes speech – touching upon her battle with depression and mental health issues.
© Provided by Metro Jennifer thanked Mike White, creator of The White Lotus, for giving her a chance (Picture: Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Thanking a tearful Mike White, the creator and writer behind The White Lotus, Jennifer said: ‘I just want you all to know that I had such big dreams and expectations as a younger person, but what happened is they get sort of fizzled by life and whatever.
‘But I had these giant ideas. And then you get older and, oh, s**t’s going to happen.
‘Mike White, you have given me hope. You’ve given me a new beginning. You’ve changed my life in a million different ways.’
So what is next for Jennifer? White Lotus 3 is already in the making – can Mike White somehow find a way to ensure Jennifer is still a major part of the next series?
Meanwhile, there’s set to be a helluva lot of parties on the horizon thanks to her latest popularity surge.
‘I was never invited to one party on my hill…’ Jennifer told a howling audience last night, before adding, ‘and now everyone’s inviting me!’
Of course, we also can’t forget the public plea to put her in charge of the upcoming Oscars.
Fans are already going crazy over the idea of her hosting – especially thanks to her Globe/Oscar mix up.
Surely, it’s only fitting that the actor who stole the show at this year’s Golden Globes from the moment she stepped onto the red carpet should step into this role next?
And maybe this time she might even wear Crocs.
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