Coolidge told media at Sydney’s Park Hyatt on Saturday finding renewed fame in her early 60s was amazing, but also had her questioning the motives of some who showed up afterwards.
“People have been very friendly and I think it’s more they’re interested in White Lotus. And I don’t blame them,” she said.
After season two ended, Coolidge said she got calls from friends asking if she could get them a role in the show’s next season.
“The body wasn’t even cold. It was so unfair,” she said.
Coolidge credited White Lotus series writer and director Mike White, who was also in Sydney, with giving her the role that changed everything.
“Mike was the only one that thought to give me sort of a role that was funny and dramatic at the same time,” Coolidge said.
“If it wasn’t for Mike White, this moment wouldn’t be happening and I wouldn’t be having this incredible life right now.”
White summed up his highly acclaimed show, which is shot on location in luxurious global holiday destinations, with understated brevity.
“It’s about some people on vacation and they have breakfast, and then they have lunch and then they have dinner and between those sequences there’s a lot of stressful music,” he said.
“And then at the end someone dies.”
The pair are in Sydney as guests of Vivid and will appear in conversation with moderator Benjamin Law on Saturday evening.
Law offered to take Coolidge out on the town afterwards in the wake of WorldPride to meet some of her many fans to which Coolidge revealed late nights in Sydney were nothing new for her.
“I’ve been here before and I had an incredible experience. I had some very late nights here that went really well,” Coolidge said.
“I haven’t been out to the clubs (this time) like I was, I haven’t done that yet, because I had some things to do but you see … now the sky’s the limit. Tonight’s the night.”
Arriving in Australia from Thailand where White Lotus season three is rumoured to be in early development, White wouldn’t commit to doing a season in Australia, but said if the show went on long enough anything is possible.
“Obviously there’s a huge wealth of talent here and the beauty is inarguable so yeah, it feels like it checks all the boxes,” White said.
White was asked if he would consider including Coolidge in a prequel season of White Lotus, having previously revealed he wrote her character specifically with the actress in mind.
“I absolutely think that’s possible. We were just talking about that as a funny idea and making Jennifer 20 years younger, that would be fun too,” he said.