Jennifer Coolidge has certainly been on a journey.
Born in Massachusetts, Coolidge struggled for years to break into the business.
After getting off to a slowish start, Coolidge hit Hollywood by storm in her 30s.
And then a lull.
For years, Coolidge’s career seemed to have well and truly cooled off.
It was official it was the era of the Jennifer Coolidge comeback.
Read on to discover a little more about her roller coaster through the peaks and troughs of Hollywood.
She was even given a series of cognitive tests.
This was followed by tests at a hearing doctor.
For Coolidge, the thought of performing couldn’t have been further from her mind.
“We went to see men perform in bands and in comedy.
As a girl, you were just supposed to be pretty.
You were supposed to be a nice girl.”
“I was trying to be a serious actor,” she told theIrish Times.
“Meryl Streep was my idol.”
So, she packed up and moved to New York City in her early 20s.
Coolidge arrived in New York with huge ambitions “I had grand thoughts,” she toldDu Jour.
However, she soon found that the industry wasn’t exactly easy to break into.
In fact, she did more waitressing than acting.
She even briefly worked alongside Sandra Bullock.
As she toldInStyle, her main problem was connecting with her emotions.
So, she struggled along until one day; a friend recommended she try improv.
And just like that, Coolidge discovered the world of comedy.
“Palladium, Limelight, Area, Save the Robots, all those clubs,” she toldInStyle.
“I was going nowhere fast.”
Soon, she had developed a cocaine habit.
“Well, I was born low-energy,” Coolidge explained.
“So there was this drug that was invented for people like me.
It made me very alive, you know?
Unfortunately, it’s a terrible drug.”
In some ways, it was a blessing in disguise.
“I hit my bottom at 27,” she said toLos Angeles Times.
“Thank God for cocaine, it all came to a head at 27.
And I sort of went to rehab, and then I actually was able to refocus my life.
And in some ways my life became so simple.”
She was cast as a masseuse on “Seinfeld,” who briefly dated Jerry.
While it was a small role, it helped put her on the map.
And Coolidge was thrilled for another reason she got the chance to prove herself to her mother.
“My mother was dying at that point,” she told theLos Angeles Times.
“But she knew that had happened and I was glad.
I was having a terrible time navigating everything and she thought nothing cool would ever happen for me.
So that was good.”
She soon found a kindred spirit in cult comedy mockumentary director Christopher Guest. "
And I was right, fortunately."
For Coolidge, these comedies gave her a chance to really show off her improv skills.
“you’ve got the option to’t believe the power he gives you.
He is such a smart person.”
Despite all of the success, Coolidge’s blossoming comedy had its downsides.
“I was in this weird bubble for a really long time.
And so, Coolidge became Hollywood’s go-to comedic character actor for a time, anyway.
There was “Gentlemen Broncos,” the 2009 comedy by the makers of “Napolean Dynamite.”
There was “Beauty and the Briefcase,” a 2010 TV movie starring Hilary Duff.
And then there was “Austenland,” a 2013 comedy about Jane Austen superfans.
When Coolidge saw the impression, she was struck by inspiration.
A friend suggested that she DM Grande to compliment her on the imitation.
In the musicvideo, Coolidge reprises her famous role from “Legally Blonde.”
“But I like when directors take risks.
In the film, Coolidge plays Carey Mulligan’s mother.
After “Promising Young Woman,” people began to see her differently.
For Coolidge, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
She found herself locked down with her young assistant becoming reliant on vegan pizzas.
“It was just very lonely times,” Coolidge toldPeople.
Coolidge spiraled into a depression, fearing that the lockdown would last forever.
“I was just thinking, ‘Who do I leave my things to?’
So, when she got the part, she almost turned it down.
“I just looked like crap and didn’t want to be on camera,” she confessed toInStyle.
Thankfully, a friend convinced her that she had to take the part and she did.
“It was a lucky moment in my life and it’s changed things drastically,” she said.
In fact, the role even earned her her first Emmy nomination and win.
In an interview withAllure, Coolidge confessed that she sometimes felt she was “shallow.”
“I would love to do dramatic stuff, more of it, definitely,” she toldGQ.
What kind of dramatic roles can we expect to see?
Well, ideally the troubled ones.
“I feel like I can relate,” she mused toVoguein 2022.
As she put it, “A lot of comedy people are sad clowns.”
We might even see Coolidge pop up on stage.
“And then the Melania biopic, of course.”
So far, the project’s release date hasn’t been announced.
However, as writer Mindy Kaling toldTime, the film will pick up with Elle Woods in her 40s.
It seems that Coolidge is thrilled to be part of the project even if it’s coming together slowly.
“We’ve done reunions on Zoom,” she toldThe Guardian.
“Mindy Kaling is writing the script and obviously Reese [Witherspoon] is very involved too.
I can’t wait.”
And neither can we.
