Jennifer Coolidge outlines the “terrible mistake” of her career
The word “icon” is often thrown around with abandon, bestowed upon the undeserving without cause. But if there is one actor who has earned that title in pop culture, it’s Jennifer Coolidge.
Coolidge has earned her iconic status in a slightly unconventional way. Rather than starring in big blockbuster roles or Academy Award-winning pictures, Coolidge has honed a career as a distinctive character actor with an unparalleled capability for scene-stealing.
Finding early success in commercial comedy hit series American Pie and pink-fuelled legal comedy Legally Blonde, Coolidge found her place as a memorable supporting presence on screen. But it was amidst this success that the actor made a self-described “terrible mistake” – failing to capitalise on that success.
Explaining the misstep in a conversation with The Bear star Jeremy Allen White for Variety, Coolidge lamented, “Now that I’m old enough to really look back at my life and certainly my mistakes, I see a lot of those. But I never had any strategy. I just went job to job. I have to say I made the terrible mistake of not riding the wave that I had early on. It was sort of in the ‘90s when I had Legally Blonde, Best in Show and American Pie.”
Coolidge capitalised on some of that success – going on to star in sequels for both Legally Blonde and American Pie – but she certainly deserved more success and spotlight than she got. Rather than moving on to bigger things, Coolidge spent the early 2000s starring in lesser-known films like 2003’s Carolina.
“And then a few years later, there was Cinderella Story and stuff like that,” Coolidge continued to explain, “But there was a moment.” Rather than focusing on a career plan, Coolidge recalls her priority being in romance: “I started pursuing guys. I wasn’t paying attention. I just thought I had my whole life. I never said, ‘I want to do…’ I did get some jobs, but I didn’t have a plan.”
Coolidge calls this a “fatal flaw” of hers, but it certainly didn’t stop her from achieving her status as a gay icon and stellar supporting presence. Between her comforting presence as the big sisterly Paulette in Legally Blonde, the formidable Fiona Montgomery in A Cinderella Story, and most recently, her iconic appearance in HBO’s The White Lotus, Coolidge’s lack of planning has only served her unique success.
Perhaps if she had planned her career more carefully, if she had taken that “moment”, she wouldn’t have become the icon she is today.
