Jennifer Coolidge, whose role in American Pie essentially spawned the term “MILF,” lived with Eddie Kaye Thomas — who played her son in the 1999 film — for one or two years and told British GQ in an interview published Friday: “I wasn’t the love of his life. He had girlfriends.”
She continued, “My bedroom was across the hallway from his.”
While Coolidge is relishing in newfound fame after her Emmy-winning role in HBO’s The White Lotus, she told Variety last year that American Pie birthed her biggest fans — and that she “got a lot of play” and “sexual action” after starring in the 1999 film.
“I’m single,” she told British GQ, adding that meeting people is one of her favourite career perks. “My way of talking myself into a different job is like, well, it could be romance, or it could be, you know, a whole different group of friends. Cool things could come out of it.”
American Pie became the raunchy classic of a generation. The high school sex comedy saw Coolidge as the sultry mother of Seann William Scott’s character, Stifler, and sleep with his teenage friend — only to be hailed a MILF by John Cho’s character.
Coolidge said the seemingly innocuous part, which led to roles in Christopher Guest’s cult classic Best in Show and the Reese Witherspoon comedy Legally Blonde, helped her sleep with “like 200 people.” These days, she’s an award-winning star.
“I wasn’t being offered leads in a lot of things before,” she told British GQ.
The actor previously revealed as much during her Golden Globe win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, dedicating the trophy to White Lotus creator Mike White — and sincerely admitted he “changed my life in a million different ways.”
Fortunately for us, Coolidge hasn’t lost her indelible glee and childlike joy.
“I’m very, very immature,” she told British GQ. “I think that has kept me from having children because I’m sort of a child. Maybe if I had kids, I would’ve had to have grown up. I’ve never had, like, a laid-back boyfriend that was just full of joy, you know?”
“Like, someone who laughs at all your shortcomings,” she continued. “That’s never who I choose for myself.”
Despite the purported dearth of applicable suitors, Coolidge told ET she feels “so alive” these days. With her resurgence, which she said was “the surprise of a lifetime,” the 61-year-old is celebrating a career-high — and looking back at her life fondly.
“You go through life, and you sort of just assume you’re used to going a certain way, and you just take on whatever that baggage is and that it’s never going to change,” she said. “My life was changed overnight, and I could not be more grateful.”