Norwell native Jennifer Coolidge presents Emmy Award to Jason Sudeikis for 'Ted Lasso'

Dressed in a sleek navy caped gown, Norwell native Jennifer Coolidge brought old-school Hollywood glamour to the red carpet at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, which were handed out Sunday night in a ceremony held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.  

Coolidge presented the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series to Jason Sudeikis, winning for the popular Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso.”  

Coolidge, who turned 60 on Aug. 28, is enjoying career resurgence after acclaimed turns in HBO’s smash limited series, “The White Lotus,” a satire from writer-director Mike White (“Enlightened”) and the Oscar-nominated film “Promising Young Woman,” the dark comedy thriller with a #MeToo theme starring Carey Mulligan as a woman bent on revenge. 

'Promising Young Woman':Carey Mulligan kills it

Coolidge is already an Emmy front-runner next year for her work on “The White Lotus,” which followed an group of affluent vacationers (Jake Lacy, Alexandra Diddario, Connie Britton, Steve Zahn) at a luxurious Hawaiian resort. Coolidge played Tanya McQuoid, a lonely and clingy train wreck who has come to the island to spread her mother’s ashes.

The famous Clipper has plenty of upcoming projects to keep her busy. She is reprising her role as Reese Witherspoon’s BFF, Paulette, in the hotly anticipated “Legally Blonde 3,” which is scheduled to “bend and snap” its way into theaters in 2022. The third installment of the popular films about a perky sorority sister who takes down the Harvard elite will be co-written by Boston native Mindy Kaling (“Late Night”).

"I hope Reese (Witherspoon) and I are running really fast for most of it, we're running from something really fast," Coolidge told People magazine in an interview at Sunday night’s ceremony.

"I don't know what it'll be this time around, I just hope it's some really fast-moving, caper-type (thing), that we get into trouble," Coolidge continued. 

Coolidge, well-known for her cougarlicious role as "Stifler's mom" in the bawdy teen comedy, "American Pie," also recently wrapped the rom-com “Shotgun Wedding,” about a couple (Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel) whose destination wedding goes off the rails when they’re kidnapped. Coolidge plays the mother of the groom.  She also co-stars in "Single All the Way," an upcoming Netflix holiday flick. 

A busy character actress, Coolidge has long been a scene-stealer. She had memorable roles in Christopher Guest's improv mocumentary "Best in Show" and last year’s comedy “Like a Boss.” On television, she played provocative Polish neighbor Sophie Kachinsky on the sitcom "2 Broke Girls."

Music Scene:Nashville songwriter Jason Isbell plays to sellout crowd at Boston's Wang Center

Coolidge is a graduate of Norwell High School. She trained at the legendary Los Angeles improv company, The Groundlings, and has also appeared on the iconic sitcoms "Seinfeld," "Sex and the City" and "Friends." Her film work includes “Mascots,” Gentlemen Broncos," "Austenland" and "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

In 2002, she told Norwell High School graduates in her commencement address that she may be the only person ever to be fired from "Baywatch," and that she once lost an MTV job because she was in the bathroom. But those failures led to the role in "American Pie," she said. As a Norwell High student, Coolidge said she was someone who could have been voted "either most likely to fall asleep or fall down the stairs."

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. Please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.

Reach Dana Barbuto at dbarbuto@patriotledger.com.