Jennifer Coolidge has shared her reaction to Chloe Fineman’s impersonation of her on Saturday Night Live last weekend (17 December).
The White Lotus actor thanked Fineman for her “hilarious” impression and called the comedian an “exceptionally brilliant impressionist” in an Instagram post.
In the skit, titled “Jennifer Coolidge is Impressed by Christmas Stuff”, Fineman dons a gold-sequinned dress and blonde wig, completing the transformation into Coolidge with her instantly recognisable accent.
“Look at this, a big sock full of gifts,” Fineman says as Coolidge, while holding a stocking in front of a Christmas tree.
“The ultimate stocking stuffer…” she says, pausing before adding: “is a foot”.
Later, she can be seen lying atop a white piano while a pianist plays “Jingle Bells”.
“Wow, this is really good, did you write this song?” Fineman asks while pouting and squinting her eyes in true Coolidge fashion.
Fineman, who became a featured player on SNL in September 2019, commented on Coolidge’s tribute: “Happy holidays!!! Thank you for being such a gift to us all.”
Coolidge continued the post by reflecting on her own experience with SNL and wrote: “Congrats to the new cast members!! I know how hard it is to get on that show, I tried my a** off to be one but you actually made it!! What a feat!”
Known for roles in Legally Blonde, American Pie, and A Cinderella Story, Coolidge auditioned for SNL at the very start of her career, in 1995.
She told LA Mag in 2004: "Me, Will [Ferrell], Chris [Kattan], and Cheri [Oteri] were all flown in for the SNL audition. They chose Will and Cheri and not Chris and I, and six months later they called up Chris. I was the one who got rejected.”
However, Coolidge later felt that she “dodged a bullet”.
“I think of all the demons, and playing politics. The good thing was I might have become anorexic. But I probably would have self-destructed on SNL,” she explained.
