The second season finale of The White Lotus might be all many Jennifer Coolidge fans could talk about for a bit, but she’s been working through a list of other projects lately.
For one, she appeared in Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez. And she discussed what it was like working with the icon, including if there was ever a moment when someone needed clarification about which Jennifer was which.
Coolidge mostly couldn’t get over Lopez’s dedication to making things happen, but that reminded her of how hopeless things had gotten from her perspective before HBO picked up The White Lotus. And she revealed why she thinks it’s “weird” her career is on the upswing now.
Jennifer Coolidge and Jennifer Lopez buddied up for ‘Shotgun Wedding’
Coolidge told Glamour she’d never met Lopez before they were introduced for Shotgun Wedding. But she got a call after finishing up with The White Lotus, and her agent told her, “Hey, they’re offering you this part to shoot this movie with Jennifer [Lopez] in the Dominican Republic.”
“And I was like, ‘Okay. That sounds pretty great,’” she recalled. “I ended up going from White Lotus right straight to there.”
Coolidge added that after meeting the Selena star, she noticed she’s “one of those people that really does look like [what you’d expect] at 5 a.m.”
As for Lopez’s beauty and fitness secrets, Coolidge said she heard a few things but never worked up the nerve to ask. “I heard on the set that she works out in a way that no other people work out,” she dished. “It’s probably amazing genetics and all that, but I wanted to ask her, ‘How do you look like this?’ I just didn’t have the guts.”
She added, “I did hear that she lies down on her back, puts her hands crossed over, and doesn’t sleep on her face. It never occurred to me not to sleep on my face. I’m always face down.”
Jennifer Coolidge thinks it would be great if someone thought she was Jennifer Lopez
In an interview with Parade, Coolidge revealed there was no confusion between the two Jennifers while they were working together on Shotgun Wedding, also starring Josh Duhamel. “I think they might have been calling me Coolidge on the set,” she explained, clarifying, “No one ever mistook me for [Jennifer Lopez].”
“I didn’t mind because it’s like … She’s earned that, you know, what I mean? You just have to be the most disciplined person in the world to look like that,” she added. “I’m so impressed that someone works that hard, and you can’t fake that — what she looks like.”
However, Coolidge added it would have been “great” if someone was like, “Oh, I thought you were Jennifer Lopez?”
She called her co-star, who even appeared with her in her first TikTok, a “workhorse” who is “really dedicated to making things happen.”
@jennifercoolidge Trying out TikTok! ?? @jlo ♬ Jenny from the Block (Bronx Remix – Edit) – Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Coolidge was ready to give up on acting before ‘The White Lotus’
Coolidge told Glamour this rejuvenation of her career came at a good time because she was losing hope before The White Lotus. She explained, “During COVID, I certainly didn’t think any of us were going to survive. So I was just ready for the end. I really didn’t do anything to preserve myself at all because I thought it was the end, and [I] gave up.”
She added, “It’s weird that I would get all this work when I wasn’t in shape. I’m still not in shape, and it’s interesting that I’m still able to get all these jobs.”
However, she noted she believes the fact that she “gave up” makes her relatable to people. “I think that’s why people like it,” she said, “because it’s like … I’m not this slender actress that was ready and waiting for that incredible opportunity.”
