Jennifer Coolidge is trying to set the record straight about her sex life.
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In August, she told Variety in a video interview that she slept with 200 men thanks to her unforgettable role in American Pie. But there’s no truth to the comment, according to Coolidge herself.
Coolidge made the “200 men” remark in an interview with Ariana Grande, apparently a huge fan of Coolidge, that Entertainment Weekly published Monday.
After Grande asked Coolidge: “Do you remember the best dick you got from playing Stifler’s mom?”
Coolidge found an opportunity to clear the air in an effort to kill the rumor. Coolidge, whose humor can be so dry that it’s tough to know when she’s kidding, said she was doing just that in the Variety interview.
“You really can’t make jokes in our town, because I did make the terrible mistake of saying, ‘Thank God for that movie, I got to sleep with 200 men,’ or whatever,” Coolidge explained. “And look, I would love to say that was true, but I mean, that was sort of an exaggeration.”
Coolidge is relishing a new peak in her career thanks to the success of HBO’s The White Lotus. Let’s check out how that show also changed her life, as American Pie did, and recap the scant information the actor has relayed about her romantic life.
Jennifer Coolidge’s Career
Jennifer Coolidge laid the framework for her career with a series of supporting roles and guest appearances in King of the Hill, A Night at the Roxbury, and Seinfeld (in which she played a picky masseuse).
But it was thanks to her unforgettable role as Stifler’s mom in American Pie that gave her a slice of success in 1999. She appeared in the American Pie sequel two years later. Similarly, she played a small role as a manicurist in 2001’s Legally Blonde — and then reprised that role as well in its 2003 sequel.
In the latter film, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Jennifer Coolidge said a funny line that people in the public would shout at her: “It makes me want a hot dog real bad.”
Jennifer Coolidge found some additional success playing an agent in the Friends spinoff Joey from 2004 to 2006.
Jennifer Coolidge often played flaky characters, but that ran contrary to her own work ethic. From 1995 until now, she played in an impressive 50 films, including Zoolander, Date Movie, Click, Epic Movie, and Promising Young Woman.
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus
The hardworking Jennifer Coolidge finally got her due thanks to Mike White, who wrote and directed the acclaimed HBO miniseries The White Lotus. He wrote the part of Tanya McQuoid, an extravagant socialite, specifically for Coolidge.
And it was thanks to that role that Jennifer Coolidge finally got the chance to accept an Emmy, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Jennifer Coolidge returned to her role as McQuoid for the second season of The White Lotus. She is up for a Critics’ Choice Television Award and a Golden Globe Award, both in the supporting actor category.
The season finale of Season 2 aired on HBO Sunday last night.
Jennifer Coolidge Is Wedded to the Single Life
Jennifer Coolidge, 61, has never walked down the altar. She keeps her life as private as an actor can. While she actively dates men, the media has only identified one of her boyfriends.
That man is former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Kattan, who apparently attested in his memoir that he dated Coolidge for an undisclosed period of time.
In September 2013, Coolidge opened up more than usual about her romantic life to The Guardian. She said American Pie overhauled her dating life.
“I did date younger men after that movie,” she said, adding that she preferred the term “MILF” to “cougar.” “I really dated younger men for the next 10, 15 years. I’ve been dating someone now for, let’s see, about a year and a half, and, you know, he’s a very smart, funny guy. And handsome. He’s sort of the whole package.”
A Fictional Marriage Helped Her Get Famous
In one of her best acting performances, Jennifer Coolidge plays a trophy wife to hilarious results in Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary, Best in Show.
Actually, Coolidge’s performance in that mostly improvised movie helped prove her comedic prowess and boosted her career.
In what was obviously a parody of Anna Nicole Smith, Coolidge’s character, Sherri Ann Cabot, is the trophy wife of a sugar daddy in his 80s. Cabot tries to disabuse people of the notion that she only married an elderly husband — who doesn’t say a word during the entire segment — for money.
“He still pushes all my buttons,” she says, somehow keeping a straight face. “People say, ‘He’s so much older than you.’ And you know what, I’m the one having to push him away.”
Cabot continues: “We both have so much in common. We both love soup … and we love the outdoors. We love snow peas and, uh … [long pause] … talking. And not talking. We could not talk or talk forever — and still find things to not talk about.”
One wonders how Coolidge managed to get through a take of the segment without breaking character. Then again, she’s Jennifer Coolidge — capable of just about anything.