Did Ariana Grande resurrect Jennifer Coolidge’s career?
The past few years have seen a string of welcomed cinematic resurgences. Most notably, in 2022, Brendan Fraser sounded his full return to the silver screen in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, with the actor moving into the next period of his career on the back of the dramatic verve fans always knew he boasted. However, outside of Fraser’s return to the front of the collective conscience, there has been another resurrection, that of the great Jennifer Coolidge.
Although she didn’t actually step away in the same style as Fraser, Coolidge’s resurgence has been marked by reasserting her cultural value by starring in two hit shows – HBO’s potentially era-defining black comedy The White Lotus and Netflix’s limited series, The Watcher. Both titles reaffirmed to fans the hilarious ability of Coolidge’s performance skills and the extent of her dramatic aptitude when needed. In fact, her role as Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus is so acclaimed that it won her a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Coolidge’s story is an interesting case, as whilst she’s never stopped acting, her career slowed down markedly over the last decade, making many lose sight of the talent of an actor who was once Stifler’s mom in the American Pie series, Paulette in Legally Blonde, and a regular collaborator of Christopher Guest on his celebrated mockumentaries. Coolidge was once such an icon that she even scored a cameo role in 2001’s hit comedy Zoolander, a cast that was a real who’s who of the era’s biggest stars.
So, what caused Jennifer Coolidge’s recent revival? As she has noted on numerous occassions, the actor believes that her appearance as Legally Blonde‘s Paulette in the video for Ariana Grande’s 2018 hit ‘Thank U, Next’ is behind it all.
While speaking during a special new interview by Grande for Entertainment Weekly, Coolidge thanked the popstar for saving her career, which was “flatlining” before appearing in the video. She credits this with opening up the doors that led to her eventually starring in The White Lotus.
“I do want to say this: I mean, a lot of people say very flattering things to you all the time because you are who you are, and you’re the youngest iconic legend I can think of,” Coolidge told Grande. “I’m curious if you know that when people ask about how my life has changed… Yes, I got to do White Lotus, but I think it really started with you asking me to be in the Thank U, Next video.”
The White Lotus star continued: “I mean, from there I got [Emerald Fennell film] Promising Young Woman, and this whole thing. You were sort of the instigator. I really believe that. I think if you hadn’t put me in ‘Thank U, Next’, and done that imitation, I don’t think I would be here where I am.”
Grande was flattered but responded to Coolidge’s claims by labelling them “untrue”, which prompted the actor to clarify: “I was kind of flatlining, and you got things going for me. I just want to thank you.”
