Jennifer Coolidge: The People’s It-Girl

She’s the MILF of the 2000s. The bender and snapper of kitten heels. The infamous seductress of younger men. She’s the one (and only) Jennifer Coolidge.

Rarely the leading lady, always the comic relief, Jennifer Coolidge has, whether people know it or not, always been the ultimate IT girl. And with the return of White Lotus, it is now, more than ever, Jennifer Coolidge’s world.

Some might be confused about Coolidge's place in A-list celebrity circles, but stardom is infamously hard to define. When, or why, an artist sparks something in the collective interest at a certain point in time can even bewilder those in elite Hollywood circles. But, for some reason, since her debut in roles like American Pie or Legally Blonde, Jennifer Coolidge’s characters struck a chord. 

It’s often argued that Coolidge's characters fulfil the archetype of a blonde bombshell emitting pure cluelessness, and others have posited her as nothing but a bimbo airhead. It makes the true multiplicity of her characters something hard to realise or describe. 

But there is an enduring empathy and fragility beneath Coolidge’s roles that makes her almost self-deprecating and incredibly loveable. Made up of little facial mannerisms, lip purses and eye squints – as well as that somewhat drawled but equally rasped, high-pitched voice, that's part sexy, part cartoon character – she’s like Marilyn Monroe, but shaped by the 2000s. 

And there’s never been a woman who’s been fodder for so many impressions. From Ariana Grande’s 2018 “God, you look like the 4th of July”, to an endless scroll on TikTok.

It’s all of this that makes Coolidge an unconventional IT girl. At first, she exudes the voluptuous, plasticised Madonna popularised in the early 2000s. Think: fake boobs and liposuction, playboy and tiny pink outfits. Maybe think Anna Nicole Smith. And while we love icons of that era, Coolidge is shrouded in unconventionality. She’s a bit weird and a bit loopy. It’s an oxymoron that works.

Even her early characters gave off that “vibe”. Legally Blonde was resounding in this sense, and the “bend and snap” was iconic. Her character, Paulette Bonafonté – the downtrodden divorcee looking for custody of her dog, Rufus – had the best character arc in the film (Sorry Elle Woods). From sad sod to empowered woman. 

There is a lazy reaction to quickly pit Coolidge as someone who is type-cast in these roles for qualities that are undeniable. But she has always been in on the joke. Speaking to the Guardian in 2013, Coolidge is told “It takes a smart person to play dumb”. She replies: "I think if you truly believe deep down that you're dumb it really helps, it really comes out." 

In recent years, she’s returned to the spotlight in White Lotus. In the first season, she plays a wealthy, heart-stricken woman looking for peace and reflection after just losing her mum, and in the current season, she takes on the role of a troubled wife to a disinterested businessman, and diabolical boss to a soul-searching assistant.

And while remnants of her slightly lost, clueless character of the early 00s protrude her performance, Coolidge proves – what should have always been known – that her characters have always succeeded because of their (somewhat disguised) depth.

Now, profiles have pinned her as making a comeback, or more offensively, as the underdog: “Jennifer Coolidge’s White-Hot Comeback: Hollywood Didn’t Get Her, Then She Landed the Role of a Lifetime”; “The Joke Was Never On Jennifer Coolidge.”

But let’s be real: Jennifer Coolidge has never gone out of fashion for the simple fact that she’s never given into the fads. She exceeds them. Rather than being an underdog, she’s cut a path that has transcended what’s cool and what’s not. She’ll be someone stuck in the cultural lexicon for years to come. 

While White Lotus may have audiences jumping back on the Jennifer Coolidge train, she will forever be one of this century’s most deserving IT girls: a wholesome, comedic mess who’s mastered the role of playing dumb smartly.

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