Veteran actress Jennifer Coolidge tonight won her first Emmy, conquering the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, with her standout turn on HBO‘s The White Lotus. (Watch her acceptance speech in full above.)
“Hey, hi. Wow, thank you. Gosh. What a night,” said Coolidge up top. “I just want to say to my fellow nominees, just to be in your company, it’s incredible.”
Coolidge added that she’d taken “a lavender bath” just before the show, with it making her “swell up” inside her dress. “I’m having a hard time speaking,” she deadpanned. “But anyway, this is so thrilling…”
The broadcast was subsequently interrupted as the actress cursed upon realizing she should get to her thank-yous, then proceeding to thank her team, The White Lotus‘ producers, the execs at HBO and her sister. As the Emmys’ producers began to play her off with music, she exclaimed, “Wait, hold on. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I’m full. I’m full,” pointing to her dress.
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Coolidge attempted to press on with her speech but simply broke into an impromptu dance as she was met with a second song imploring her to leave the stage — this one, being an orchestral rendition of “Hit the Road Jack.” While the actress had more to say, she unfortunately had her mic cut at this point.
Still, Coolidge tonight bested competitors including her White Lotus co-stars Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and Sydney Sweeney, as well as Dopesick‘s Kaitlyn Dever and Mare Winningham. The win came following her nominations for the same role from the SAG Awards and the Golden Globes.
Created, written, directed and exec produced by Mike White, The White Lotus is set at a tropical Hawaiian resort, following the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week. Coolidge portrayed Tanya McQuoid — a troubled vacationer mourning the loss of her mother. The show’s first season ensemble also included Murray Bartlett, Jake Lacy, Fred Hechinger, Brittany O’Grady, Steve Zahn, Lukas Gage, Jon Gries and more.
Although it was initially presented as a limited series, The White Lotus was renewed for a second season in August, after debuting to critical acclaim and a #1 ranking on HBO. The next edition of the series will follow a different group of vacationers as they book their stay at an Italian White Lotus property and settle in temporarily amongst its inhabitants. Coolidge will be one of the only original cast members from The White Lotus to appear in the Sicily-based Season 2 — being joined by Gries, who played her love interest, Greg.
Actors joining the ensemble in Season 2 include Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Sabrina Impacciatore, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, Michael Imperioli, Haley Lu Richardson, Leo Woodall, Beatrice Grannó and Simona Tabasco. White exec produced Season 1 alongside David Bernad and Nick Hall, with Mark Kamine serving as co-executive producer. White, Bernad and Kamine will serve as executive producers for Season 2.
The White Lotus earned a total of 20 Emmy nominations in its first run and has also thus far claimed statuettes recognizing its casting, original dramatic score, original main title theme music, editing and sound mixing. Its star Bartlett tonight won the prize for Outstanding Supporting Actor, with the show now looking to contend for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and in Writing and Directing categories.