Jennifer Coolidge Is the Most Jennifer Coolidge, Says "All My Best Stuff Is by Accident"
Jennifer Coolidge has no shortage of iconic moments. From Legally Blonde to Best In Show to A Cinderella Story, the actress is consistently quotable and meme-worthy. In fact, despite not having her own public account, she's become something of an TikTok star, with countless impressions and references to her characters across the app.
Recently, Coolidge appeared in a more serious capacity in Promising Young Woman. In the Emerald Fennell-directed feature, Coolidge plays the mother of Carey Mulligan's character, Cassie. The film is currently nominated for five Academy Awards and was praised for its unexpected moments, not to mention the poignant subject matter. Coolidge herself seemed just as shocked by the film's plot twists as anyone.
"It’s just one of those movies that sneaks up on you, because I’m used to more heavy-handed movies, I guess. [Laughs.] But here, it doesn’t hit you over the head, it’s more like someone tipping over a glass of molasses, it just slowly reveals itself," Coolidge said in an interview with AV Club. "I have to say, out of every film I’ve ever done, I was most surprised by Promising Young Woman. I mean, I was only there a week, so there’s a lot I didn’t see."
In the same interview, Coolidge gave fans an inside look at her acting process and how she feels about some of her most viral performances. Namely, that some of her most popular acting, and social media moments were improvised.
"That is one of the things that I have to say: I feel like all my best stuff is by accident. It’s never anything that I really develop—it’s all this accidental stuff. There’s a million people that set their minds to something and then they create this amazing thing," Coolidge said, in her quippy way. "I feel like the less I work on something—or if I put too much energy into it—it’s just a complete flop. But if I don’t give a crap, and I don’t put any judgment on or whatever, then it goes over way better. So the moral of the story is don’t work very hard!"
Coolidge's most recent "meme" moment was an eight second video, posted in July, simply of the actress saying, "Hi." But, the cadence of the "hi," paired with the slow camera pan from Coolidge's feet to her face, made the clip pure gold for the actress's fan base. Coolidge herself has a, well, interesting take on the video's popularity.
"It’s amazing. You want to know my theory on it? I think it just captures my true lack of intelligence. [Laughs.] I really do! I think it just reveals how dumb I really am, [laughs,] and I think somehow that strikes a chord with people. It has to be that because I was just winging it there," Coolidge remarked. "But, really, it’s cool that somebody liked it that much. You just never know."
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