Actor Jennifer Coolidge received the Best Supporting Actress in a TV Limited Series at the 2023 Golden Globes Award on January 10 for her role in the comedy series The White Lotus. The actor revealed how the show's director gave her the hope to live her life by offering her the role in the show.
The White Lotus is a dark comedy series directed by Mike White and stars Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Murray Bartlett and Connie Britton in pivotal roles. The HBO anthology series revolves around the life of vacationers at The White Lotus hotel and how they find themselves trapped in dark mysteries and secrets the more they spend their time in the hotel. Jennifer Coolidge played the role of Tanya McQuoid, a troubled woman looking for inner peace after the death of her mother. Coolidge received the Best Supporting Actor in a TV Limited Series at the Golden Globes Award 2023 and her acceptance speech brought Mike White to tears.
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Jennifer Coolidge Golden Globes Speech
61-year-old actor Jennifer Coolidge addressed her speech to director Mike White and talked about her younger self and her dreams of doing big in Hollywood. However, various circumstances in life made her change her ways and she did not end up ruling the West movie industry as per her dream. At that time, Mark White gave her hope in the form of her character Tanya McQuoid.
In her speech, Coolidge said, "If you don't know Mike White, this is what you should know. He's worried about the world, he's worried about people, he's worried about friends who aren't doing well, he's always worried about people. You're worried about animals, all that. He really is one of the greatest people I've ever met. I mean, he has given me so much excitement to be, you make people want to live longer and I didn't ".
The actor talked about how she had given up on life as she saw her acting career ended. However, Mike White's character became a turning point in her career and affected her life in many different ways. She got recognition and critical acclaim when she wasn't even getting appropriate roles anymore.
Coolidge's speech threw light on the shelf life of female actors. They are expected to look young and beautiful all the time and their career is limited for as long as they fit these conditions. As they age, they stop getting main lead characters and over time their roles get reduced to the mother or grandmother, sometimes of the male protagonist close to their own age. A female actor's career is determined by her age and not her skills which remains to be a major issue in the industry.
Such treatment drives female actors towards depression as they question their entire careers and acting skills. Often they give up on any hope of living ahead, like Coolidge at one point in her time. We cannot talk about equality in the cinema industry as long as female actors will be offered roles based on their age and defining a specific 'shelf-life' for them.
Views expressed are author's own.
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