Jennifer Coolidge on Australia, 'The White Lotus', and chutzpah.
Jennifer Coolidge in Australia? The star of The White Lotus happened to be in town headlining the Vivid Sydney festival, along with the show’s creator, Mike White. Each year, Vivid Sydney takes over the city for 23 days with experiences that bring the community together. Pop culture luminaries stop by to give live talks as part of their Vivid Ideas series–and this year Coolidge and White were invited for a conversation in front of audience of 9,000.
Their show, which concluded its second season last year, has had a massive impact on culture and travel–and has significantly boosted booking for its locales. Sicily for example, where season two was shot saw web searches jump 50% after the finale aired in December. The Four Seasons San Domenico Palace, in Taormina, where the show was filmed immediately sold out for the spring 2023 season and saw room prices climb to around $3,000 per night for a seaside-facing room. The same phenomenon occurred at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, where season one was shot, which saw a 425% year-over-year web traffic increase.
Coolidge, who normally calls New Orleans home, jumped at the chance to head over to Australia. She fell in love with New Orleans over 10 years ago because of its fun nature, food, and welcoming people, and felt the exact same way about Sydney. “I’ve been here before and had an incredible experience. I’ve had some late nights that went really well, and I’ve just had a blast here,” Coolidge said at a press conference for Vivid Sydney.
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We had a chance to catch up with her before her sold-out show and chatted about Australia, the success of The White Lotus, and what she looks for in a luxury hotel. Our backdrop was a crystal clear blue sky set against the iconic Sydney Opera House.
FODOR’S: Jennifer, can we just talk about where we are right now because this does not look like a greenscreen.
JENNIFER COOLIDGE: No, yeah–no, it doesn’t. Whenever I look at it I walk up close and think it’s just a screen. Is it real? I like that it’s real. It is this good.
What do you think it is about Australia that makes it so incredible?
I want to talk about the attractive people here.
I agree with you. Everyone here is hot.
‘I feel like everyone I meet in Australia is like out of a movie.’
I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what they are eating but I want some. It’s a very healthy group of people. Everyone is very healthy but they don’t look like they are at the gym. It’s all very natural. I was saying this the other day. I feel like everyone I meet in Australia is like out of a movie. Their personalities are big and animated and bigger than life and maybe that’s why their films are so good. Everyone seems like they’re living the life here. I have way more to go to analyze it. Australians figured it out and I want to know what it is.
I have to ask you about The White Lotus. Why do you think it has struck that cord?
I don’t think there’s been a show like White Lotus. It’s a very unique show. I think Mike White is able to write about rich people in a way that some of them are not great people but he’s made them riveting to follow. A lot of people like that the rich people are so oblivious and can’t really see their own bad behavior. But also his characters are so entertaining. Mike White is one of those guys that can remember great dialogue that he’s heard at fancy parties and stuff and puts it in the script.
We are here in a beautiful hotel, Park Hyatt Sydney, but what does Jennifer Coolidge need in a luxury hotel?
‘I think it’s hard to have the killer hotel that doesn’t have the killer view.’
Well, I think it’s hard to have the killer hotel that doesn’t have the killer view. I don’t know if it gets much better than this, so I need the view. Of course the people that work in the hotel have to be great too. Another thing that Mike White is very good at is telling the hotel workers’ point of view. I think Australians are very soulful people, so they are incredibly sincere. They really want you to have a good time and they’re not salesy at all. They want you to be happy and they want to show you how much fun this town is. I need an elegant hotel with a great backdrop and great people that work in the hotel.
Your career is on fire. There are a lot of kids out there that want to do what you do. But it’s a struggle. What advice would you give to people out there?
‘…you don’t have to have chutzpah if you create your own thing.’
Well, I think my best advice to any young actor–you see, I was always working in restaurants. Seventeen years of my life I was working in restaurants and I was always waiting to be discovered in these restaurants. My dream was to be an actress and I thought that someone I was waiting on would say, ‘Oh I’m making a movie,’ and put me in it. And I feel like now everyone is more savvy and the key to getting a career is… It never occurred to me to create my own thing. Instead of sitting around and waiting for someone to put me in something I could’ve created my own thing. That never even occurred to me. Now we are in a position where you can write your own ticket and create your own thing and that’s the way to go.
So how do you sustain that chutzpah when everyone is saying no and you’re constantly getting rejected? How do you have the drive to maintain the chutzpah?
I don’t know. You see, it happened so late for me. I don’t know if I had the chutzpah.
You’ve got ‘It’ girl!
I actually believe you don’t have to have chutzpah if you create your own thing. I think waiting and letting everyone else decide what’s going to happen to you is the wrong way to go. I think YOU decide what happens to you. That’s what I think.