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Celebrity

29th Jan 2022

Jennifer Coolidge thanks Ariana Grande for reigniting her career

Ellen Fitzpatrick

Who would have thought?

Jennifer Coolidge is one of those actresses that has been in a million and one things, and no matter what, we can also reference one of her iconic roles in almost any situation.

But in recent years, she seemed to have disappeared off our screens, and she is thanking Ariana Grande for boosting her career back after an unplanned hiatus.

Speaking to Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer said she felt like she was in a “dead zone” before Ariana asked her to make a cameo in her Thank U Next video.

Starting out as a joke, Jennifer revived her role in Legally Blonde for the music video, and ended up getting star studded roles immediately after.

Starring in Promising Young Woman, HBO’s The White Lotus, and Netflix’s Single All the Way, Jennifer managed to bag herself a Golden Globe nomination, saying she has the singer to thank.

“It was the beginning of a lot of cool things that happened for me,” Jennifer said on The Tonight Show, recalling Ariana’s version of her character, Paulette, from Legally Blonde. “I was going through a dead zone, not much was going on. Then, Ariana did this imitation on your show, and you encouraged her, and then this ball got rolling!”

Jennifer then reached out to Ariana after seeing her impression and they quickly became friends which is what led to her appearance in the video.

With clear chemistry, director Hannah Lux David told Entertainment Weekly that some of Jennifer’s lines were improvised.

“When the time came for this moment, their relationship was already primed and ready for this,” Davis said. “She was so fun and was such a blast, and she was really game … Seeing her in the same hair and makeup and having her in the clothes that are so similar [to the clothes in Legally Blonde] it’s crazy, she hasn’t aged a day! She’s still the same Paulette.”