Jennifer Coolidge On Tapping Into Her Dramatic Side for Promising Young Woman

Everyone has that one Jennifer Coolidge performance that comes to mind when they hear her name. Stifler’s mom in American Pie, trophy wife poodle owner Sherri Ann in Best in Show (mine), the meek manicurist Paulette in Legally Blonde, and for the crowd I used to babysit, the stepmom to Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story.

With her small role as Carey Mulligan’s mother in Emerald Fennell’s Oscar nominated film Promising Young Woman, Coolidge proves she’s not only capable of playing glamorous, sexual, often ridiculous women. Her presence puts you at ease, because you expect to see the Jennifer Coolidge you know and love — the Jennifer Coolidge who will say a line you’ll never get out of your head, because she says it in a way you cannot believe. But Coolidge plays the role with a sincerity and subtlety that helps the film set its very intentional polarizing and subversive tone. Although her role is small, Coolidge proves again that she’s one of the best character actresses of her generation.

GQ spoke to Coolidge in early April about her role in Promising Young Woman, its Oscar nominations, how the entertainment industry has changed since she entered it in the 1990s, and how being an approachable celebrity has (or has not) changed because of the pandemic.

GQ: Was one of the reasons why you wanted to be involved in Promising Young Woman the film's messaging about date rape?
Coolidge: Yeah, I believe it was a really brave film and when I had a meeting with Emerald [Fennell, the director]—first of all, she's so young looking. She's young, but she looks even younger than what she is. It was very strange to listen to a girl that had more guts than me in so many ways. I was just like, "Oh my God, she's such a bad-ass and wanted to tell this story and was just sort of fearless about it." I was thinking, "Wow, I wonder how the dudes are going to handle this." It was so expertly told and I'm so glad that she was at the helm because I couldn't have told this story as well she did.

What did you think about the shocking ending?
A lot of the time, the fatal flaw of a movie is the ending. It happens all the time where they cop out. It needs to be something that is less Hollywood, less acceptable. I don't think it would be the great movie it was without that ending. Look, it still would have been great, but that ending was just this incredible cherry at the top of the best tasting sundae. And I don't mean best tasting like the content in that movie, a lot of it was disturbing and depressing, but it also is a dark comedy that tells a story so well. I saw an early screening of it and I couldn't get out of my seat and I just sort of stared at the screen for a long time. It was done so well, it was so subtle. And when a movie is subtle, it creeps up on you and it's way more powerful because all of a sudden you have all these feelings and you don't know you have. I just thought it was a story well told.

Don't you think that there are these traumatic things that happen in your life and 10 years later people are like, "You know, you got to get over it"? But some things are such a big deal that, really, it doesn't happen in this time, in this passage of time. And you're like, kicking God. But yeah, that ending was one of the best endings I've ever seen in a movie.

Your scenes with Carey Mulligan [who plays Coolidge’s character’s daughter] are effective because the audience really gets a sense that you know that there's something not right with her on a deeper level. What was your mindset during your scenes with Carey Mulligan?
Well, Carey is such a good actress. Some actresses, they sort of do half your work for you because you don't even have to act a certain way. Whatever they're playing, you're naturally responding. So some of it's the genius of Carey, and Emerald gives great direction. But I also feel like in some ways I was just channeling my own mother with all the stuff I put my mother through, I was a tough kid and all that. It's the combination of some fake stuff and then it's a combination of something you have very vivid in your brain and then all of a sudden you're playing it in a movie.

I also put my mother through a lot, so I felt connected to that dynamic.
You're like, "Oh my God. I know this moment." Carey gave me everything I needed and to be honest, I think Emerald had a couple of different ways of doing it. She was asking me to do it in different ways. So she chose obviously whatever seemed most real, but it's so great when you get a part where you get to play a lot of things in one moment. And I do like that Emerald is a subtle director and she's not heavy handed. I was just watching it on the plane and I was still sort of blown away by it after all these times watching it.

It seems like Emerald cast you because when you appear in a movie, people expect you to be this big comic relief. But it's a very different performance. Promising Young Woman subverted expectations in a lot of ways, but your casting is pretty subtle too.
I like when directors take chances and give you something completely different to do, and sometimes they haven't even seen you do anything and they just sort of think you can, and that's the ultimate compliment because I'm sure the possibility of going wrong is there, too. But I like when directors take risks. And look, it's so freaking fun to be in this movie because it's so different than most stuff I get to do.

Are you interested in doing more roles like this rather than some of the comedic roles that you're most known for?
Yeah. I did Bad Lieutenant and I did a couple movies that were more dramatic, but it wasn't like I was being offered a bunch of dramatic roles, so I was like, "Ah, maybe people don't see me that way." Look, I love doing comedies because it's what I've been doing for a long time and I know all these great comedians. I got to work with Christopher Guest, I would never trade that for a million years, but are you kidding? Yeah, I would love to do dramatic stuff, more of it, definitely. I really thank Emerald for giving me that chance.

I feel like it's a little bit easier for men to be cast in different genres, and women tend to get pigeonholed a little more. Have you felt, at any point in your career, like you're just getting offered more of the same?
It's so interesting. It's always been my friends that have said you should do dramatic stuff. It's because your friends get to know you in a very full way. And when your agents are selling you for stuff and they're trying to pitch you or whatever, they haven't witnessed you your whole life. The agents, they're great people and they're smart and they're savvy, but they know a very small aspect of you. But how cool would it be if I could do some other stuff besides what I've been doing? And then you get to meet a whole new group of people, like Clancy Brown. To be working opposite him, what a gift that was and certainly the most humble, brilliant actor you'd ever meet. God, he was so humbling. I'm such a fan of his and his body of work just speaks for itself.

You've been in the entertainment industry for a long time now. Have you felt like the industry has changed since you started working?
Well, I feel like the best sign [of change] happened this year when Promising Young Woman got five Oscar nominations. I just didn't think that would happen, not because the movie isn't brilliant. I just didn't think men would vote for it. Hetero men tell me they really liked the movie, so I'm very excited that things are changing. Doors are opening. To me, Promising Young Woman is the best sign I've seen of a change that I didn't think was possible back when I first got to Hollywood.They weren't that excited about a lot of the women's stuff that I did in the very beginning. I did an all female comedy show. It was canceled after a few episodes.

I really like it when some really beefy guy that you're positive is not a gay man comes up to you and he says, "I really liked that movie that you're in" and I'm like, "Which one?" And then he goes, Promising Young Woman. I'm like, "Oh wow. How cool?" When Promising Young Woman came out, I got like 200 texts from gay men saying, "I love this film," That is something I would have expected, but not from men where they're uncomfortable about the topic and then they're coming up to me and saying they're excited by it. I mean, that's a big deal.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Originally Appeared on GQ