Her role earned her more than a check.
Jennifer Coolidge has revealed she’s slept with 200 people due to her infamous role in the 1999 movie “American Pie.”
While she’s also known for her role in “Legally Blonde” and most recently in “White Lotus,” the 60-year-old told Variety that “American Pie” brought her more satisfaction than just fame.
“I got a lot of play at being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from ‘American Pie,'” she said. “There were so many benefits to doing that movie. I mean, there would be like 200 people that I would never have slept with.”
While she’s played similar characters since “Stifler’s Mom,” her role as Tanya McQuoid in “White Lotus” has earned her a first Emmy nomination and a fast pass to the second season as the only main character who got the part sans audition.
“Some jobs, I’m sort of going, ‘Wow, this isn’t worth working for.’ What Mike [White] wrote, I was staying up late every night,” Coolidge admitted, referring to the “White Lotus” creator who convinced her to be a part of the series.
In fact, the “Best in Show” actress revealed she nearly talked herself out of playing the part. Now, she’s gearing up for its sophomore season, which airs in October 2022.
“I have done one thing really right in my life,” she said. “I’ve picked great friends. If Mike was never successful, and we just did ‘White Lotus’ as a play in a little theater where everyone paid 10 bucks to see it, it would still be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Because it was a killer job that no one else thought I could do.”
The HBO series is shot entirely in a single location — the first season being set in Hawaii, and the second set in Italy — due to the uncertainty of the pandemic. Coolidge’s character, so it seemed, was written perfectly for her.
“Whenever I’m lying in bed thinking about what I want to make Jennifer do, I know it’s something that she would not want to do,” White dished, nodding to the actress’ willingness to do just about anything on set. “One minute, she seems fragile, like it’s all going to fall apart, and the next minute she’s sturdy and doing hilarious riffs. Just when you think all hope is lost, she knocks it out of the park.”
White’s chance on Coolidge brought her out of her “obtuse” reputation and entered her into the role of “den mother” — and her remodeled image has bought her more opportunity despite her decades in the business.
“Maybe I got this special attention because people saw me as Stifler’s mom or the ‘Legally Blonde’ woman. So if they see something else …” she said, which proved to be true.
“People that I could never get in the door — all of a sudden they’re asking me to be part of their things.”
