Jennifer Coolidge Says Waitressing Was So Bad, She Had To Turn To Comedy
Jennifer Coolidge says that her work as a waitress is what gave her some of her earliest comedic material.
Many actors, performers, and comedians spend some time in the service industry at some point or another. There are hundreds of stories in Hollywood about the difficulties of waiting tables and serving customers. According to a recent article in People, White Lotus actress Jennifer Coolidge spoke about how she turned her terrible waitressing experiences into comedic gold and new characters while being awarded Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year.
“I was a waitress for a very long time … and waitressing was so hard,” she admitted during the event. When it felt like too much, she “started writing all of the terrible things they said to me.”
She continued, “I didn’t add any of my own stuff. I wrote down everything and I would perform the scenes at Groundlings, and it was life-changing to [mock] all the people who were so cruel and mean and play them on stage.” Although she had some horrible clientele, mocking them through comedy gave her some solace.
Eventually, these terrible people became inspirations for her work, and according to Coolidge, some of her favorite and most memorable roles. “I mean, my favorite characters were wretched people, some of them, and the greatest stuff comes out of that.”
Many of Jennifer Coolidge’s most iconic roles have that unique balance of unlikeability, deadpan delivery, and certain naivete that in many ways is a signature of Coolidge’s style.
These quotes came while Coolidge was being honored as Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year. Some other actresses who have received the award are Julianne Moore, Viola Davis, Halle Berry, Jamie Lee Curtis, and, most recently, Jennifer Garner.
The service industry is a notoriously tough industry, and Coolidge spent many years as a waitress as she worked on her craft and built up her acting repertoire. Coolidge even apparently worked alongside another aspiring actress that fans may be familiar with: Sandra Bullock. The two worked together in the service industry as budding actresses in New York City.
Jennifer Coolidge got her first big break in 1999 with a number of what would become iconic and commercially successful roles. Her first break came when she was cast in the role of Jeanine Stifler, Stifler’s mom in the raunchy comedy American Pie. She also had a supporting role later in that same year in the Reese Witherspoon-led Legally Blonde, which cemented her place in the pop culture zeitgeist.
Jennifer Coolidge also nabbed a number of spots on television. She had recurring roles in Joey (2004–2006), The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2012), and most recently the 2022 drama The Watcher. Her longest-running television role was from 2011-2017 when she played Polish neighbor and businesswoman Sophie Kaczynsky in the television sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
The series that brought her back into prominence and garnered her critical acclaim was and is 2021’s black comedy White Lotus. Her role in the HBO series as the wealthy but troubled Tanya McQuoid quickly became a fan favorite. Coolidge’s character was the only one to be brought back between season one and season two.
Coolidge won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress – Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film for her role. This critical success has cemented her resurgence as one of Hollywood’s premiere character actresses. Jennifer Coolidge’s arrow has been trending up as of late.
Many performers pull material from their own terrible experiences, and Coolidge is no different. Jennifer Coolidge used her negative experiences in the service industry to inform her own comedic act. With a lifetime’s worth of iconic roles and critical acclaim, it seems like it worked out for the best.
