Jennifer Coolidge Felt Her Career Was 'Flatlining' Before Ariana Grande Cast Her in 'Thank U, Next' Video
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Jennifer Coolidge is thankful for Ariana Grande.
Coolidge, 61, praised the musician for helping to revitalize her career by casting her in 2018's 'Thank u, next' music video.
"I'm curious if you know that when people ask about how my life has changed," she told Grande, 29, during their chat for Entertainment Weekly's Entertainers of the Year issue. "Yes, I got to do White Lotus, but I think it really started with you asking me to be in the 'Thank U, Next' video."
"I mean, from there I got Promising Young Woman, and this whole thing. You were sort of the instigator," she continued. "I really believe that. I think if you hadn't put me in 'thank u, next,' and done that imitation, I don't think I would be here where I am."
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Grande then told Coolidge that was "the most untrue thing I've ever heard in my life," but the actress insisted that the video — in which she reprised her Legally Blonde character Paulette Bonafonté — changed the trajectory of her career.
"No, I really think that! And I think it's pretty cool," she said. "I was kind of flatlining, and you got things going for me."
The Emmy winner added, "I just want to thank you. I know you're a very humble person, you wouldn't admit to it, but I'm just going to thank you."
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Coolidge previously shared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January that Grande's impression of her pulled her out of a career "dead zone."
Coolidge recounted Grande's 2018 impression of her and explained how it led to a cameo in Grande's "thank u, next" music video.
"You should know that it was sort of the beginning of a lot of cool things that happened for me because — I don't know — I was going through a dead zone," Coolidge shared. "Not much was going on, and then Ariana did this imitation on your show, and you encouraged her, and then this ball got rolling."
Coolidge continued, "My friend who is like her age, Theresa, she was like, 'You know, you should DM Ariana and just say I thought it was such a good imitation,' and I was like, 'No, she's got like 260 million followers, those are robots! The robots answer the DMs, and we will never ever get to her.' "
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But she decided to message the singer regardless. "I did it anyway, and this response came back, and the next thing you know, I was going to her house, getting fit for a wardrobe fitting for 'Thank U, Next.' That was all because of Jimmy Fallon!"
Though Coolidge went on to major success with her starring roles in HBO's The White Lotus — which aired its second season finale on Sunday — and Netflix's The Watcher.
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The first two seasons of The White Lotus can be streamed in full on HBO Max, and the first season of The Watcher is available on Netflix.
