This is the year of Jennifer Coolidge — from her lineup of prestigious projects (The White Lotus, The Watcher) to the memefication of her many hilarious moments from the awards show circuit. So the actress unsurprisingly had another great night on Sunday at the 2023 SAG Awards, where she took home not one but two green men — all while looking sophisticated in a black gown and matching headband.
Coolidge arrived at the star-studded event in a sleek long-sleeve crepe Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello gown with a sweetheart neckline, midsection seaming, and ruching along the hips. Her '60s-inspired hairdo included a coordinating headband and loose, voluminous curls, and she accessorized with long diamond-drop earrings, matching rings, and a sparkly bracelet. Her glam included a cat eye-styled liner and skin-tone lips.
Coolidge won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor award for her work as Tanya McQuoid in HBO's hit show The White Lotus. And later in the evening, Coolidge, along with the rest of the show's cast, was awarded Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. While accepting her individual award, Coolidge gave an emotional speech in which she reminisced on the moment she fell in love with acting.
"What I really want to say is, I have these amazing parents. And they had this incredible gift. It was impossible for them to lie. They just couldn't do it — never. Never. They just never lied," she said to the crowd before sharing the one time her father made an exception. "My father, one day, the school principal came to my first-grade class and said that I needed to be called to the office. And I went to the office, and she said, 'Your father's here.' And my father was standing there, and he goes, 'Yeah Jenny, we have to go,' and the principal said, 'Get well,' and I didn't know what that meant."
"And I got in the car with my dad, and he was driving, and he said, 'I'm never gonna tell a lie again, but we're going somewhere really cool.' And he drove me to this place, and it was this flooky thing in Massachusetts. It was the Charlie Chaplin film festival. He got me out of first grade class to do it, and I swear to God, seeing Charlie Chaplin for the first time and having that experience, my love of film, my love of actors — all of that came from my first grade."
Elsewhere in her speech, she thanked the show's creator, Mike White, before expressing her gratitude through tears. "It's been a very special year and, you know, overwhelming. And White Lotus and Mike White writing me this great part that went on for two seasons, and just HBO giving me the thumbs up to let me to it," she said. "I just want you all to know that I'm just so grateful. So grateful, because this could be it."