Jennifer Coolidge revealed that starring on the first two seasons of The White Lotus helped improve her sex life offscreen.
“Even though I play a complete weirdo in White Lotus, cute guys come up to me,” Jennifer, 63, told the Sunday Times in an interview published on Sunday, March 23.
After making her debut as Tanya McQuoid on season 1 of The White Lotus, Jennifer was one of the few original cast members to continue appearing on season 2 of the HBO show. While fans hoped she would return for season 3, her time on the show was cut short when her character died during the season 2 finale.
Jennifer added that she’s received even more “benefits” from her role on The White Lotus than she did when she starred as Stifler’s mom in the 1999 comedy American Pie.
“This is far better than American Pie because people were really sad about Tanya falling off a boat,” she explained of her character’s death. “These men like you better because they feel that you went through something. That show really upped my game!”
Jennifer also shared a specific interaction that she had a few years ago with a man in New Orleans to demonstrate how the role changed her love life. “He had a T-shirt on that his belly came out of, plus red cowboy boots. He was 4 feet 11 inches and he said, ‘Would you like to go out?’” she said. “And, well, there was nothing wrong with him, but you have this idea that Brad Pitt or whoever will sweep you off your feet.”
The Legally Blonde star continued, “[The show] changed that for me. It’s not just that little guy anymore.”
Jennifer has never been shy when it comes to discussing her personal life, and she previously revealed how her memorable American Pie role helped improve her life behind closed doors. She was named the original “MILF” when the phrase was coined by her fictional son’s classmate Paul Finch (portrayed by Eddie Kaye Thomas) in the 1999 comedy. Her character has several flings with the high school student in the film, which earned her the reputation of being a “mother I’d like to f–k.”
“I got a lot of play at being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from American Pie,” she told Variety in an August 2022 interview. “There were so many benefits to doing that movie. I mean, there would be like 200 people that I would never have slept with.”
In addition to helping her love life, Jennifer added that her role in the beloved comedy also helped boost her career.
“Maybe I got this special attention because people saw me as Stifler’s Mom or the Legally Blonde woman,” the Shotgun Wedding star said. “So if they see something else … People that I could never get in the door — all of a sudden, they’re asking me to be part of their things.”
Following the success of the first American Pie movie, Jennifer went on to reprise the role in American Pie 2, American Wedding and American Reunion.
