Jennifer Coolidge reveals her hilarious “guilty pleasure”
It’s no secret that Hollywood loves a comeback story, whether it’s the wild popularity of the underdog Rocky Balboa in the iconic 1976 sports movie or the revolution of the career of actor Brendan Fraser who has fought adversity to reach the top of the industry once more. Such goes far to explain the recent success of Jennifer Coolidge, the White Lotus star who has taken decades to reach her peak.
Sure, Coolidge’s success is less of a comeback and more of a late resurgence, with the actor being most recognised for her turn as Stifler’s eccentric mum in the hit 1999 frat-boy comedy American Pie. Although she did not claim the Hollywood spotlight following the release of the movie, Coolidge remained a regular fixture in the industry, appearing in Legally Blonde in 2001 whilst lending her distinctive voice to characters in 2005s Robots and, most recently, the popular TV comedy Rick and Morty.
Now, she’s enjoying a significant resurgence in film and TV, thrilling audiences in Netflix’s The Watcher and, specifically, HBO’s White Lotus, where she starred as the eccentric multi-millionaire Tanya McQuoid-Hunt across two celebrated series. Appearing beside the likes of F. Murray Abraham, Meghann Fahy and Aubrey Plaza, Coolidge became a beloved character, with fans imitating her peculiar characteristics in countless online videos.
As a result of her success, Coolidge has become a pop-culture icon, taking future roles in the forthcoming Christopher Landon comedy We Have a Ghost, as well as the long-awaited sequel Legally Blonde 3.
Amidst her recent success, Coolidge sat down on the podcast 20 Questions: On Deadline to discuss several random questions that probe into the history of the actor. One specifically interesting question from host Antonia Blyth comes when she asks the actor for her “guilty pleasure,” to which Coolidge gives a predictably curious response.
“I like to buy a big bag of bubblegum and then just chew it for two seconds and then put it on the side,” the actor hilariously responds, revealing the guilty pleasure in a similar tone to her outlandish White Lotus character. Continuing, she adds, “I can just go through the whole bag…I feel like I’m being really decadent,” before clarifying her apathy for the specific flavour, “Just regular bubblegum, double bubble or whatever it is”.
Later in the interview, Coolidge also revealed the one movie or TV show she would take with her to a nuclear bunker. “I’m a sucker for Schitt’s Creek,” she tells the podcast, explaining, “I was late on discovering Schitt’s Creek, and I just – everyday, after I watch it, I feel 100% better”.
Starring Dan Levy, Annie Murphy and Eugene Levy, the CBC TV show follows a family who becomes the victim of fraud, only to use their payout to become the extremely wealthy owners of a small, unsophisticated town. Coolidge has worked with Eugene Levy on several occasions, including the American Pie series and the underrated 2000 comedy Best in Show that follows several dog owners all hoping to win a cut-throat pet competition.
