On Monday, a short clip of the “White Lotus” alum getting interviewed on the Golden Globes red carpet went viral on X, formerly Twitter. The video, which comes from Golden Globes correspondent Matthew Friend’s Instagram page, features Friend imitating Coolidge’s trademark speech pattern to her face.
“This is Jennifer Coolidge sipping on a cool drink,” Friend says before taking a sip from a bottle.
“Oh gahd, ahh,” Friend says, mimicking the mildly amused Coolidge.
“Oh gahd, it’s not bahd?” Friend asks Coolidge of his impression. “It could be worse? Oh gahd. Do you think it is good? Yes or no?”
“It is good!” Coolidge finally responded, speaking in a voice noticeably absent of her signature breathy intonation. “It’s up there with Ariana’s.” (That is, Ariana Grande.)
Over on X, fans of the “Legally Blonde” actor were completely perplexed to discover that Coolidge had been putting on an act for so many years.
Why does he sound more like Jennifer Coolidge than Jennifer Coolidge? 😭
— Kevon (@KevonH) January 6, 2025i feel bamboozled, hoodwinked, lead astray
— 𝕛𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕒 (@heyyitsjanea) January 6, 2025Has my entire life been a lie?!
— Tricia Thomas (@tricia7191) January 6, 2025Yet, plenty of X users also pointed out that this is relatively old news, and that Coolidge used her normal speaking voice while playing one of Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriends in “Seinfeld” in 1993.
She also didn’t have her trademark inflection during her breakout role as Stiffler’s mom in 1999’s “American Pie.”
Coolidge may have begun cultivating her voice while working on Christopher Guest’s 2000 film, “Best in Show.” In the comedy, Coolidge plays Sherri Ann Cabot, a ditzy gold-digger who is married to a much older man.
And if Coolidge has been bamboozling us for over 20 years with her kooky accent, good on her — because her “voice” contributed to the resurgence of her career.
The comedic actor told Jimmy Fallon in 2022 that her career “was going through a dead zone, and not much was going on” until 2018, when Grande did an impression of her on “The Tonight Show.”
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After Grande’s impression got a lot of attention, Coolidge said she was encouraged by a friend to reach out to Grande, and the pop star eventually cast Coolidge in her music video for her hit song, “thank u, next,” in 2019.
That, Coolidge recalled, got that the “ball got rolling” on her career again.
In 2021, Coolidge appeared as Tanya McQuoid in Season 1 of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” for which she earned an Emmy. She followed this up with another Emmy win in 2022 for Season 2 of “The White Lotus.”
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