Jennifer Coolidge opened up about how she was stuck in a typecasting rut before The White Lotus and her new film Riff Raff.
“When I did Best in Show for the longest time, I was just offered these sort of trophy wife parts over and over,” the actress exclusively told Us Weekly. “There would be scripts at my front doorstep. And I’d pick ’em up and I’d be like, ‘Ah, I know exactly what these are gonna be.’”
Coolidge’s intuition was right on the money as most of the offers coming her way had a similar theme.
“And sure enough, a lot of ’em were just sort of the same woman and a rich guy, spoiled wife being offered continually as if that was all I could do,” she confessed.
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As Coolidge hoped to find variety in her projects, she found game-changing success with The White Lotus. Coolidge played Tanya McQuoid on Mike White’s critically acclaimed HBO anthology series, the only character to return for both seasons 1 and 2 of the show, and a role that earned her multiple Emmys.
Coolidge then got the offer for Riff Raff, the crime comedy drama which also stars Ed Harris, Pete Davidson, Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman, Bill Murray and more. Coolidge portrays Harris’ “self destructive” ex-wife, Ruth.
“I was so thrilled because I wouldn’t have ever guessed, you know, especially with the way my career’s been going,” she admitted. “I could be asked to be in Legally Blonde and in a movie like that. And then, you know, I would eventually be able to down the line be in something where it was so not Legally Blonde.”
The film follows Harris’s character Vincent, a former criminal, as his idyllic life is turned upside down when his son (played by Pullman) and ex show up for a messy family reunion turned reckoning that forces him to face his past.
“Ruth was a part that I’ve never been offered before, someone like that, that was just really rough around the edges,” Coolidge said of the role. “I thoroughly enjoyed myself. [It was] really great getting to do just something different.”
The thriller (with hints of comedy) isn’t a film Coolidge would have “normally” gotten the chance to do, she said, which made taking on the part even more attractive to the beloved star.
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“I think it was the thriller side. I get cast in a lot of comedies. I really don’t get offered roles like this,” she told Us. “White Lotus is comedic and dramatic at the same time, too. But I think this movie is even darker than White Lotus.”
In addition to showing off her acting range, Coolidge gushed about working with such a stellar cast.
“It was all quite intimidating, to be honest,” she said. “I’ve been very lucky and I’ve gotten to work with some really cool people. But I have to say I really did keep pinching myself when I was there filming. It never occurred to me that I would be able to work with these guys . I couldn’t believe that I was able to work with these people that I’ve admired.”
Riff Raff is available to rent and purchase on demand now.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
