Jennifer Coolidge Almost Turned Down Award-Winning 'White Lotus' Role
Her role as Tanya McQuoid has won Jennifer Coolidge an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Critic's Choice Award.
White Lotus would have never been the same if it weren't for Jennifer Coolidge—and it almost wasn't!
The award-winning actress has been honored with an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Critic's Choice award for her role as Tanya McQuoid on the hit HBO Max series, but she recently revealed she almost turned down the role.
"I almost turned it down, very stupidly," Coolidge, 61, admitted while talking to Page Six about her Golden Globe win for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series/Anthology this past week.
Last year, Coolidge admitted in an interview with Today she had spiraled into a depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and didn't think she was 'in shape" for the part.
During her acceptance speech at Tuesday night's award show, Coolidge thanked creator-director Mike White for getting her to star on the popular series after he was "pushing and trying to sell it and no one was buying it," per the outlet.
"You have given me a new beginning," she said in her speech, as Parade reported. "Even if this is the end, you changed my life in a million different ways...He gives me so much excitement to be—you make people want to live longer, and I didn't."
Coolidge later told Page Six that she never expected to get so emotional during her speech, stating, "I was surprised at how I spilled my guts!"
She continued: "I was standing in front of that crowd and I forgot where I was. I was saying a lot of my feelings. I wasn't trying to be funny—I was being serious."
When asked why she doesn't have as much love for herself as her millions of fans do, Coolidge told the publication, "I don't know. I mean, my dating life. I've never found anyone quite right for myself. I haven't found the love of my life."
Maybe Coolidge is more like the Tanya McQuoid than we realized. Either way, White Lotus fans will be forever thankful that she decided to join the cast!
