Before Jennifer Coolidge was Tanya McQuoid on The White Lotus or Paulette Bonafonté in Legally Blonde, she was "Stifler's Mom" in American Pie.
And, according to Coolidge herself, viewers were drawn to the actress both on and offscreen.
"You know, I got a lot of play at being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from American Pie," she said in a video for Variety's latest cover story. "There were so many benefits to doing that movie. I mean, there would be like 200 people that I would've never had slept with."
Coolidge, 60, played the mother of Stifler (Seann William Scott) in the 1999 movie and its sequels, which included American Pie 2 (2001), American Wedding (2003) and American Reunion (2012).
In fact, Coolidge said she's most recognized for her roles in American Pie and Legally Blonde, noting it's "kind of a 50/50 thing." Although, there is one line from the 2003 sequel of the Reese Witherspoon movie that she's tired of hearing: "You look like the Fourth of July. It makes me want a hot dog real bad."
"Just so many people say it on the plane for f--k's sake. It's exhausting this hot dog story," Coolidge told Variety. "You know what I mean? I have to go with it…and go, 'Oh my god! You sound just like me when you say that.'"
Although, Coolidge noted she's also gotten a lot of attention for her role in The White Lotus—and for good reason, too. Her performance in the 2021 series earned her her very-first Emmy nomination.
"I never saw this moment coming. You know what I mean? Like, my friends never saw this moment coming," Coolidge said about the nomination. "This was such a fluky thing. White Lotus—it was a big success and everything. So, it's all a surprise, and so it's very, very fun. Yeah, there's no bad side to this one. I mean, it's pretty cool. And I've had a couple ex-boyfriends that I would have never heard from unless that happened. People are really that shallow. Now they're like, ‘Well, I don't know why, you're just on my mind.'"