Jennifer Coolidge is enjoying the moment.
This show business veteran who got her first big break on a 1993 Seinfeld episode finally is in the big spotlight and the toast of the town thanks to The White Lotus. The HBO series landed 20 Emmy nominations including Outstanding Anthology Series or Television Movie and a Supporting Actress in a Limited Series nom for Coolidge among eight for its stars — and she is an odds-on favorite to win. It’s her first major-award nomination in a career full of highlights, from playing the notorious Stifler’s Mom in the American Pie films and the “bend and snap” manicurist in the Legally Blonde films, plus memorable turns in several Christopher Guest movie comedies including Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and the awards satire For Your Consideration.
Now it is Coolidge herself who is “for your consideration” as Tanya McQuoid, the hot mess of a Hawaiian vacationer bringing her late mother’s ashes to the White Lotus resort along with a lifetime of issues. She joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side, in which she talks about what The White Lotus has meant to her career, as well as giving us a preview of what’s to come in the recently wrapped Season 2 — premiering in October — where the action has moved to Italy. She is the only cast member from the original limited series to return, on the insistence of creator Mike White, a former co-star of hers who wrote the role for her. However, as she tells me, she actually tried turn it down; only because of a persistent friend did she even take the role, thereby avoiding the biggest mistake of her career. “A lot of actors make big mistakes,” she laughed.
We talk about all of that and much more including some notable dramatic turns she has done including in the Best Picture Oscar nominee Promising Young Woman. To hear “the actor’s side” of a remarkable career and join our conversation, just click on the video link above.
Come back each Wednesday for another edition of The Actor’s Side all during Emmy season.
