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Why Jennifer Coolidge Is a Fucking Icon

BY MAHI KUMAR

No matter what her role, we can all agree that Jennifer is a fucking icon.

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20 February

She admitted to once faking being a twin so that she could date two men at the same time...

When White Lotus came out I was obsessed; it was social commentary that unpacked themes of privilege, class and gender in a sarcastically comedic and unobviously satirical way. As I was watching it though, I thought, no way… is that Stiffler’s mum?

In White Lotus, Jennifer played Tanya, a needy, rich old white woman who’s quite insufferable because she’s so intrinsically focussed on herself that she’s oblivious of how she may be affecting others around her. Although J. Cool has been acting for over 30 years (and is in her 60s!), her role as Tanya has made everyone fall in love with her yet again.

She’s known for her one liners on the show - “These gays… they’re trying to murder me!”- but honestly, she’s been taking over the media with a prevalence I’ve not seen before. And I’m not complaining. But it’s clear that White Lotus has catapulted her fame and reignited the stardom she’s had for many years, by pulling her back to the forefront of her mind.

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This isn’t her only sassy, bold and ageless character though. Over the decades she’s played outrageous and unique characters which has solidified her Hollywood star status. Films like Best In Show, Mascots, A Cinderella Story (that “you’re not very pretty and you’re not very bright” line lives rent free in my head), American Pie, Legally Blonde and 2 Broke Girls. More recently, she was also on Netflix’s thriller “The Watcher”, playing one of the only funny characters in a dark and sinister show.

When accepting her Golden Globe at the 80th Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in White Lotus, her speech was nothing short of iconic. She said she’s been in the industry for 20 years and she was constantly in cute little jobs that would keep her going for the next one. She thanked Mike White for putting her in a role in the show and that “even though you killed me off!” she’s very glad because her “neighbours are talking to me now” and that she’s finally “getting invited to places again.” You can tell that her speech came from a place where she thought her career may have been over, but now the public is obsessed with her again, which has taken her by surprise. Her genuineness just shines through in pretty much every interview she does.

My fave thing about Jennifer though is that she’s so fucking funny, and it doesn’t feel like she’s playing a character because it comes off so natural and sassy. There’s so many things that she’s said and done in her lifetime that makes me love her and conclude wholeheartedly that she is just as outrageous in real life. She admitted to once faking being a twin so that she could date two men at the same time over summer (who knew each other!). She said she got away with it for quite some time too - how fucking crazy?! Imagine the effort, and the time.

She’s iconic for so many reasons, but my favourite one is that she’s just like us. At the age of 21, when trying to break into the acting scene, she lived in a nursing home as that was the best priced accommodation she could find. An absolute icon. Her breakthrough was by doing comedy and stand up gigs, during one of which somebody told her she resembled one of Earnest Hemingway’s daughters. Running with that, she made up a daughter Muffin, and used that when travelling to get into all of the exclusive and elite clubs in the New York scene. She caused so much chaos that she even got “Muffin” banned from some of these clubs.

J. Cool just feels like an adorable, humble, funny, real and messy human. She’s everything that the entertainment industry needs more of because she’s so unapologetically and authentically herself. I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings to the screen in terms of J. Cool roles (and Mike White! You better write her into S 3 of White Lotus… I’m proposing a Tanya twin?).

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