Jennifer Coolidge

The ‘White Lotus’ star on late-in-life fame and being like a security guard

- ANGIE MARTOCCIO

The White Lotus became such a sensation. At what point did you realize the show was taking off?

There was no sign of it until it hit. There were moments where the acting that was going on made me think “This might be good.” But I didn’t feel like it was something a lot of people would watch, because even though it was a brilliant story, I just didn’t know if people would get all that [showrunner] Mike [White] is saying. I truly underestimated the viewing public. It’s so funny, my neighbors in New Orleans were dressing up and having these White Lotus viewing parties. They all showed up in Hawaiian shirts and leis. That was a really good sign.

You won an Emmy for your work as Tanya in Season One. Do you keep that in your house?

I do. It’s at my house in L.A., and I have this painting of this woman from the 1930s over my fireplace. If I push the Emmy up against the painting, it looks like she’s holding it. When I bought [the painting] from the antique guy, he said she was an actress. So it’s cool. It’s like some actress from another generation got it.

Mike White said he wrote Tanya with you in mind. How do you relate to her?