After her Golden Globe win, it’s full steam ahead for the actor’s career renaissance. It’s about time, given how long her irreverent, eccentric wit has been overlooked
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. We know this by the unanimous reaction to Jennifer Coolidge’s career renaissance at the age of 61. Her long-time fans – always of the opinion that she was one of the most underrated comic actors – couldn’t contain their glee. Warm applause and laughter (and, in collaborator Mike White’s case, tears) greeted Coolidge’s charming acceptance speech at last night’s Golden Globes, where she won best supporting actress in a limited series for The White Lotus.
After putting her statuette on the floor (“I don’t work out, I can’t hold it that long”), Coolidge emotionally – but not mawkishly – gave a brief precis of her career. That she had hustled hard in Hollywood. That she always felt a bit of an outsider. She named a handful of writers and directors who had kept her afloat (Ryan Murphy, Michael Patrick King). She namechecked the sequels that provided steady pay cheques (“Five different sequels of American Pie. I’ve milked that to death”). Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt smiled at the kind of irreverent, eccentric wit she’s known for. But she was vulnerable, humble – almost disbelieving.
