Is there anyone alive who doesn’t love Jennifer Coolidge? The veteran actress, whose career has lasted more than three decades, has at last received the kind of adulation from the public that her acting skills have long warranted. Her performance as a troubled heiress searching for peace in the first two seasons of “The White Lotus” is one of the most lauded in recent years, bringing her an armful of golden statues and a new career as showbiz’s reigning queen of awards show acceptance speeches.
Coolidge’s film career, however, looms just as large, with a key role in two film franchises (“Legally Blonde” and “American Pie”), as well as three mockumentary spoofs (“Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “For Your Consideration”) by Christopher Guest. In addition, Coolidge has worked with a remarkable range of directors, from German auteur Werner Herzog to Oscar winner Emerald Fennell.
So as she soars to even greater heights in her career, let’s raise a glass to this one-of-a-kind actress by counting down her 10 greatest roles of all time. Scroll through our gallery below for Jennifer Coolidge’s movies and TV shows ranked.
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10. THE WATCHER (TV series) (2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Creators: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan.
Writers/Directors: Various.
Starring Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge, Margo Martindale, Mia Farrow, Joe Mantello, Richard Kind.
If you only watched the teaser campaign for this Netflix series that featured realtor Karen Calhoun (Coolidge) giving a virtual tour of her new four-bedroom acquisition, you’d think that the limited series “The Watcher” was an uproarious comedy thanks to Coolidge’s wacky line delivery. But “The Watcher” is anything but, with Coolidge’s Karen turning from comedy relief to a possible threat to the new owners of 657 Boulevard who will soon be ominously watched. Coolidge reunites with co-creator Ryan Murphy (with whom she worked on “Glee” and “Nip/Tuck”) on this mystery thriller and skillfully keeps us guessing as to whether she’s a malevolent force or not.
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9. A MIGHTY WIND (2003)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment Director: Christopher Guest.
Writers: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy.
Starring Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge.
Compared with her other Christopher Guest films, Coolidge has a relatively small role in “A Mighty Wind,” but she makes every second memorable. As Amber Cole, a P.R. executive whose job it is to sell a folk music reunion concert (even though she’s not a fan herself), Coolidge manages to make word salad of almost everything she says in an accent that Coolidge herself describes as “a combination of Scandinavian, Czechoslovakian, and a deaf woman.” Paired with a deadpan Larry Miller as her colleague, Coolidge makes Amber the most hilariously insincere publicist you’re ever likely to meet.
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8. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features Writer/Director: Emerald Fennell.
Starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
In director Emerald Fennell’s Oscar-winning script, Coolidge was given a plum of a role in “Promising Young Woman” as Susan Thomas, the mother of Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a 30 year-old medical school dropout who lives at home with Susan and her husband Stanley (Clancy Brown). Both parents are concerned for their daughter’s future and her dependence on them, so, as her 30th birthday present, they give her the not-so-subtle gift of a suitcase, silently suggesting that she move out. There’s no nudge-nudge-wink-wink anywhere in Coolidge’s performance — she appropriately plays it just as straight as Brown, capturing the angst of a worried but loving parent who only wants the best for her daughter.
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7. FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (2006)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Independent Pictures Director: Christopher Guest.
Writers: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy.
Starring Catherine O’Hara, Ed Begley Jr., Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest.
Film producer Whitney Taylor Brown is an idiot, or at least she is in the hands of Coolidge in “For Your Consideration,” her third collaboration with the Christopher Guest repertory company. A delicious spoof of the madness surrounding campaigns for the Academy Award, Coolidge’s Whitney knows next to nothing about being a producer, but when totally unfounded Oscar buzz begins to surround her film, an indie melodrama entitled “Home for Purim,” she pretends to be an old hand at the game. No matter how absurd the character may be, whenever Coolidge works with Guest & Company, she puts her considerable comic chops into overdrive, and the result is irresistible.
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6. LEGALLY BLONDE series (2001, 2003)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Directors: Various.
Writers: Various.
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Moonie, Luke Wilson, Jennifer Coolidge.
Though Coolidge has rarely been cast in the role of “best friend,” she created a memorable buddy in the first two “Legally Blonde” films as Paulette Bonafonté, manicurist and confidente of law student Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon). Though they come from different worlds, Elle finds that she has much in common with Paulette, particularly with their love of doggies — Elle’s chihuahua Bruiser and Paulette’s bulldog Rufus. Just as Elle and Paulette form a bond between their characters, so too does Coolidge find an easygoing rapport with Witherspoon, helping to make their scenes together among the most beloved in the “Legally Blonde” series.
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5. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (2009)
Image Credit: Courtesy of First Look Studios Director: Werner Herzog.
Writer: William M. Finkelstein.
Starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Jennifer Coolidge, Val Kilmer, Xzibit, Brad Dourif.
The collaboration of Coolidge with auteur director Werner Herzog might be an unlikely one (to say the least), but the German filmmaker knew what he was doing when he cast her in his crime thriller in a rare dramatic role. Coolidge portrays Genevieve McDonagh, stepmother to drug-addicted detective Terence (Nicolas Cage) who is investigating a series of murders in post-Katrina New Orleans. While Terence’s father Pat (Tom Bower) is struggling to maintain his own sobriety, Genevieve occupies herself guzzling beer all day and becoming even more estranged from her stepson. It’s a small role, but Coolidge makes the most of it, slipping neatly into the ensemble while making her own quiet impact.
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4. AMERICAN PIE series (1999, 2001, 2003, 2012)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Directors: Various.
Writers: Various.
Starring Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Coolidge, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Molly Cheek, Eddie Kaye Thomas.
As the iconic “Stifler’s Mom” in “American Pie,” Coolidge redefined what a MILF could be in the famed four-film comedy series. Jennifer Stifler’s son (Seann William Scott) is the only non-virgin in his group of friends, so the other guys make a pact to have their first sexual experience by the time they graduate. One of Stifler’s buddies, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), fancies himself a sophisticate — he drinks mochaccinos! — as well as having a “Mrs. Robinson” complex, so he zeroes in on Stifler’s mom with whom he has sex on a nearby pool table. Coolidge wisely plays the entire episode for laughs which completely removes the “ick factor” from their age disparity in a pairing so memorable that she returns for sex with Finch throughout the series.
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3. SWAN SONG (2021)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Writer/Director: Todd Stephens.
Starring Udo Kier, Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael Urie, Ira Hawkins, Stephanie McVay.
Coolidge took a rare bad-guy role in this comedy that focused on the real-life Pat Pitsenbarger (Udo Kier), an elderly gay hairdresser once called the “Liberace of Sandusky” for his flamboyant style. Pat is traveling across the Ohio town to style the hair of a recently deceased client (Linda Evans), but en route he encounters his former protégé, Dee Dee Dale (Coolidge), who left him years ago to start her own rival salon. The bad blood is still boiling between them over Dee Dee’s long-ago betrayal as the two circle each other like angry cats. But despite her villainy, Coolidge can’t help but bring the funny — when Pat gloats over the dead woman’s good taste in selecting him over Dee Dee, she snarls, “Taste or dementia? You decide.” Pure Coolidge.
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2. BEST IN SHOW (2000)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Christopher Guest.
Writers: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy.
Starring Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Christopher Guest. Patrick Cranshaw.
“Best in Show” marked Coolidge’s initial foray into the Christopher Guest repertory company, one in which her performance as the buxom and clueless Sherri Ann remains among the most memorable of her career. The trophy wife of elderly sugar daddy Leslie Ward Cabot (Patrick Cranshaw), Sherri Ann is obsessed with her Standard Poodle named Rhapsody in White (a.k.a. Butch) as well as with her lesbian dog trainer Christy Cummings (Jane Lynch), with whom she carries on a torrid affair during the height of the competition. Coolidge and Lynch are two of our greatest comedic actresses working today, and their pairing in “Best in Show” is sheer moviegoing bliss.
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1. THE WHITE LOTUS (2021-2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO Writer/Director: Mike White.
Starring Jennifer Coolidge, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioi.
Coolidge’s friend Mike White wrote for her the role of a lifetime — Tanya McQuoid, a suddenly-rich woman who is searching for serenity even while grieving for her dead mother — in his black comedy series “The White Lotus,” for which Coolidge won her first Emmy Award. During the series’ two seasons, White’s scripts have featured the comedy for which Coolidge is celebrated, but Coolidge brought something extra to the table — a pronounced empathy for Tanya. Yes, she might be a bit ditzy at times, but Coolidge made her feel like a real person to us, one who, despite her wealth, is suffering emotionally and only wants a little peace in her life. For her performance as Tanya, Coolidge also won her first Golden Globe and was nominated for her third Screen Actors Guild Award.
