How Golden Globe winner Jennifer Coolidge slowly conquered Hollywood

In an emotionally charged acceptance speech at last night’s Golden Globes for her role in The White Lotus, Jennifer Coolidge made the audience shed tears after paying tribute to all those who gave her all the “small jobs” that have made her career had saved go.

The 61-year-old actress, who was born in Massachusetts but now lives in New Orleans, won her second major award after earning an Emmy in 2022 for the same role — for best supporting actress — in a career spanning four decades.

During her moment on stage, she told the audience that the “dreams and expectations” she had growing up “were gone through life” and thanked those who started her career with “small jobs for 20 years”. would have received life.

The star, who has appeared in supporting roles from Seinfeld to Friends as well as roles in teen flicks Legally Blonde and American Pie in the early noughties, has been open about her struggles with infertility, depression and weight gain during lockdown.

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Jennifer Coolidge, 61, won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for The White Lotus on Tuesday in LA – thanking all those who gave her the “small jobs” along the way that kept her career afloat

Certainly reaching for a tissue was the creator of The White Lotus Mike White, who cast her to play Tanya McQuoid on the series, which has been described as “a social satire following the exploits of various staff and guests” at a Sicily hotel over the course of a week.

White said the actress inspired the whole series, telling the New York Times: “I just wanted to write something for her and I just adore her.’

Coolidge, who’s officially single but is reportedly dating longtime love Tom Mahoney, said the success of her last role “changed my life in a million different ways” — and joked that she was suddenly getting tons of party invites from her neighbors .

She also thanked pop star Ariana Grande, who featured her in the video for her 2019 hit Thank U, Next, saying the performance “changed a lot for me, almost overnight”.

She joked, “I blame her, and I (don’t know) maybe people are just like, ‘She’s alive, whoa, say hello to her.’

Coolidge as the privileged – and selfish – Tanya McQuoid on the HBO Max series The White Lotus

she A stunning twist as Tanya McQuoid, a hard-to-like rich woman lost in the grief of losing her mother, in the HBO Max series almost didn’t happen; Coolidge has previously revealed she almost turned down the role due to depression and weight gain following the pandemic lockdown.

Speaking to The Australian last year, the 61-year-old admitted she was “depressed and massively overeating” during quarantine in 2020.

She explained, “I just felt like it was the darkest of times and I never thought we would really come back from that. I just thought: “Who do I leave my things to?”.

Coolidge also revealed that she and her assistant ate four vegan pizzas a day during quarantine, and the weight gain made her insecure while filming the program.

Dreams: In her acceptance speech at Tuesday’s Golden Globes, Coolidge revealed that the dreams she had as a young actress didn’t materialize the way she envisioned. Pictured: Coolidge as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City

As an acting student in the Big Apple, Coolidge served tables alongside aspiring actress Sandra Bullock

Jodi on Seinfeld: In her twenties, Coolidge’s career was all about supporting roles and cameos

In 2001, the comedy character actress was cast as Stifler’s mother on American Pie

The same year saw the release of another teen hit, Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon as Paulette Bonafonté

And three years later another similar supporting role, Fiona Film in A Cinderella Story

The One With Ross’ Tan: Coolidge played Amanda Buffamonteezi in a single episode of Friends in 2002 — and also landed a role on Friends spin-off Joey

She told The Guardian: “I ate and self-destructed at home for months and ate pizza all day. There was no way I wanted to be in the film unless they shot me from the neck up. I’m kind of vain so there wasn’t a damn way,” she said.

Coolidge referenced her early “dreams” of stardom as a young actress in her acceptance speech, adding that she figured last night’s success would never come as she got older.

Born in 1961 in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the aspiring actress had early hopes of becoming a big Hollywood star and in her late teens enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. While in the Big Apple, she worked as a waitress alongside another rising star, Sandra Bullock.

In 2013’s Austenland, it would be almost another decade before Coolidge made the big debut in her seventh decade after being cast in The White Lotus

After her dreams of becoming a dramatic actress were derailed, she decided to pursue comedy and joined the improv troupe The Groundlings.

Eventually there was moderate success, but not in the way Coolidge had once hoped; A cameo as Jodi in Seinfeld paved the way for major comedy character roles, with the actress being cast as Stifler’s mother in American Pie, making her a familiar face to teenagers around the world.

Similar roles followed in Legally Blonde, 2001, and she went to Central Perk in 2002 – Coolidge played Amanda Buffamonteezi in 2002’s The One With Ross’ Tan — and also landed a role on Friends spin-off Joey.

The actor starred in both the first and second seasons of The White Lotus

The show has been described as “a social satire following the exploits of various staff and guests” at a hotel over the course of a week

Sicilian drama: Coolidge received an Emmy for her role as Tanya – and is now adding a Golden Globe to her collection

The star, who is now getting the role choice following her Golden Globe success, has been honest about her fertility; described herself as “barren” in an interview with Buzzfeed. She told the publication: “I have no children. I was barren.’

When it comes to romance, she remains officially single, although it’s believed she was in a long-term relationship with Tom Mahoney.

Previous affairs, though never confirmed, include dating Chris Kattan — he referenced her in his Baby, Don’t Hurt Me memoir, writing that she was a “big, messy, sexy, tough, charmingly rad Boston bombshell.” .

However, it is The White Lotus’ two series that have propelled her to a new level of fame, with a Golden Globe to add to her Emmy.

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