“The White Lotus” actress Jennifer Coolidge, dressed as a dolphin and forced to give someone a lightning-fast makeover, has been honored as the 2023 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hesty Pudding Theatricals Roasted on Saturday before being done.
As the oldest theatrical organization in the nation and one of the oldest in the world, since 1951, Husty Pudding Theatricals has presented this award annually to women who have “made a lasting and influential contribution to the world of entertainment.”
Coolidge, who saw a career resurgence after her Emmy-winning turn as Tanya McQuaid-Hunt in the acclaimed HBO series “The White Lotus,” ushered in a parade through the streets of Cambridge on Saturday afternoon. Dressed in a leopard-print coat and a pink cap, she waved to the crowd that came out despite the unusually cold temperature.
Coolidge, who played Stifler’s sultry mom in the movie “American Pie” and sage manicurist Paulette in the movies “Legally Blonde,” grew up in the Boston area. Her other film credits include roles in “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Shotgun Wedding,” and she has appeared in several television shows including “Seinfeld,” “2 Broke Girls” and “Nip/Tuck.” .
“It’s been a lot of fun. I’m really having fun,” said Coolidge before being presented with the Pudding Pot award. “I got to meet all these young students who are so much smarter than me.”
Coolidge became emotional afterward, remembering that his late father who had gone to Harvard must have seen the moment.
“I’m so blown away experiencing this. I never saw it coming. It blows away any kind of movie or television show I’ve ever been in,” she said. “Seriously, my dad went here. I wish he was here. His brothers went here and everything, it’s a big deal.
The producers peppered Coolidge with several zingers about her career, including at one point suggesting whether she was only cast after Reese Witherspoon dropped out. He poked fun at the lack of serious roles and noted how she left Boston for New York where she made a splash “as an incompetent cocktail waitress”.
Sarah Mann, one of the producers, joked, “The patrons appreciate your unpredictable movement patterns and your quotes wishing you a happy birthday.” Fellow producer Aidan Golub then noted how she waited with Sandra Bullock “marked the first and last time you’ll get a chance to work with an Oscar winner.”
Coolidge was then made to judge a contest of four people doing impressions of him, choosing a man wearing a pink dress who sang words from an iconic scene performed in “Legally Blonde”. pronounced. And after seeing how Coolidge recently said his dream role was to play a dolphin, the producers put him in a dolphin costume and asked him to sing in the style of a dolphin.
She makes a series of dolphin-like screams before firing a water pistol at two men dressed as menacing sting rays – a scene similar to the second season of “White Lotus” where she kills several people on a boat. “These rays are trying to kill me,” she said.
Past winners of the Woman of the Year award include Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, and Debbie Reynolds.
On Thursday, award-winning actor and bestselling author Bob Odenkirk was honored as the 2023 Man of the Year. Odenkirk, best known for playing shady attorney Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” hosted Husty Pudding Theatricals’ 174th production, “Cosmic Relief!”