Jennifer Coolidge is set to hold court as the headliner this year at the Philly Pride festival June 13.
The 48-year-old actress is most recognizable for the many memorable and quirky characters she’s played in big-screen comedies like “American Pie,” “Legally Blonde,” and “A Mighty Wind,” as well as TV shows like “Joey” and “Nip/Tuck.”
On the surface, she may seem like an off-beat choice to headline Philly Pride, but talking to Coolidge reveals that there is more to her than the prototypical MILFs or the vacant, somewhat odd characters she’s famous for playing. She talked to PGN about her career, what Pride-goers can expect from her performance and how she attained her gay following.
PGN: How did you get involved with headlining Philly Pride? JC: This is the weird thing when you’re an actress. You don’t ever really know how it all goes down. I don’t know who recommended me. I was just lucky enough to get the phone call. I don’t know how they make the decision to call you or how you get chosen. PGN: Have you ever performed at an event like this before? JC: No, I haven’t.
PGN: What can we expect when you take the stage? JC: It will be a very serious eulogy type thing. No. I guess I do this sort of like … I don’t know if it’s standup. It’s storytelling. I don’t know what you’d call it. It’s stories about my life in the last year to the weird auditions in L.A. and the weird guys I’ve gone out with. It’s all that stuff strung together.
PGN: What came first for you, acting or performing live? JC: My background has been theater. I did The Groundlings in Los Angeles for many years. I was in there in a golden era, where Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Will Farrell and Chris Kattan were in there the same time as I was.
PGN: Given that you have starred in many, many mainstream films, where does your gay following come from? JC: That’s another mystery. It’s always kind of been that way. When I was growing up in school, whenever I was in a play, it was gay men and women that liked what I did. They were always the ones that commented. It’s a mutual thing, but it’s hard to know what people respond to. Maybe we think the same. I get asked that question a lot, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. I did this one-woman show 10 or 12 years ago and in 90 of the 100 seats were gay men. You’re like, oh, that’s who likes you.
PGN: Do you ever get offered dramatic roles? JC: Never! Never! The only time I’ve gotten anything was because I was at my house in New Orleans. I heard that they were casting this movie “Bad Lieutenant” with Nic Cage and Werner Herzog was directing. So I called up my agent and said, “Is there any way I can get in on this movie?” And my agent said, “Yes, I got you an audition.” I went in, and because Werner Herzog is a German director and hasn’t seen “Legally Blonde” or “American Pie,” he didn’t have any prejudice. I just auditioned like a regular person. Usually people, if they know what kind of movies that I’ve done, they won’t ever consider me for anything serious.
PGN: Do you prefer comedies that are more in your face or comedies that are more subtle? JC: I like doing both. Sometimes I get really lucky. With “Best in Show,” I knew a woman who spoke like the woman I played. She had this way of speaking where she talked with authority even though what came out sounded very naïve and silly. She talked like she really knew what she was talking about. It was hilarious to me and I always thought if I am ever in a movie I’d like to play someone like that. Then, when Christopher Guest came along, he said, “I want you to play this woman.” I could just steal that from that person that I met. I could steal all of her qualities. That’s really fun. Sometimes these scripts are so specific about who you’re supposed to be that you can’t do a variation.
PGN: What has been your favorite role so far? JC: The Christopher Guest jobs are almost as good as it gets as far as being creative and having a director trusting you to come up with everything and do your own thing. You have to remember, not only do we get to create the whole character and what we look like, but we also get to create our own dialogue. And that’s highly unusual.
PGN: What is your secret to staying so busy with acting gigs? JC: I don’t know. Someone like Samuel L. Jackson works way more than me. What’s his secret? He’s just consistently good. I’ve played a horny woman and I’ve played a loser girl in another big movie. I’ve played a plastic-surgery lady in another film. I think I’m lucky I’ve played a lot of different types of people. I’m lucky when my name comes up. I could probably play a lot more. It is weird though, once you play somebody — like I’ve played quite a few gold-digger girls — once you’ve played a certain role, that gold-digger script comes to you a lot.
PGN: Do you have any ambitions to star in your own show or series? JC: Yes, I would love do my own series. I’d love to do my own series in New Orleans. I dream about living in my house down here and working on a series. That’s a huge wish of mine.
PGN: Do you spend the most time in Los Angeles or New Orleans? JC: This year, I’ve just been on the road doing standup, so I literally dump my bags off at my house and hang out with the dogs. Then I fill up a suitcase and I’m off again. I’ve seen the other states in the U.S. more than I’ve seen New Orleans or L.A. That’s the part about standup. You’re never around.
PGN: Given your breakout role as Stifler’s mom in “American Pie,” do you feel somewhat responsible for the “cougar” phenomenon? JC: No, I don’t. I feel responsible for the whole MILF thing. I feel like the MILF is the kids’ idea. The cougar seems like it’s the woman’s idea. I think the cougar thing was happening way before I did “American Pie,” that’s for sure. European men desire older women much more than American men.
PGN: How did you get involved in the forthcoming Dinah Shore documentary? JC: I performed at Dinah Shore, so maybe they’re including me in it. It was really fun. I hope they made a lot of money because a lot of girls turned out for it. I did a lot of press for it, but I didn’t sit down and do an interview for it.
PGN: Is there anything you are looking forward to doing while you are in Philadelphia? JC: The thing about this Gay Pride is that they’re incredibly organized. I’m just so impressed with how many phone calls I get about where I’ll be at what time. I guess they’re going to show me the best stuff in the city that I haven’t seen. But that’s so cool because sometimes you show up in these cities, they tell you very little, you don’t get to see the city and you fly out the next day. But this sounds like I’m going to get to hang out. It sounds like an incredibly social thing.
Jennifer Coolidge will perform June 13 at Philadelphia Pride festival, noon-6 p.m., at Penn’s Landing. For more information, visit www.phillypride.org.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].