The Big Picture
- Many actors got their start on
Seinfeld
, including Jennifer Coolidge, Bryan Cranston, and Courteney Cox. - Coolidge played Jerry’s massage therapist girlfriend, kickstarting her successful acting career.
- Her career has since flourished, leading to award-winning roles and acclaim in various projects such as
The White Lotus
,
Legally Blonde
, and
2 Broke Girls
.
The four main characters in Seinfeld will do anything in order to get what they want. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) will lie, cheat, and steal in order to achieve their goals, because, well, they aren’t the best folks. George Costanza is the worst offender, doing everything from lying about being an architect named Art Vandelay to being a marine biologist, usually in order to impress a woman he couldn’t get by being himself.
It’s fitting then that one of our most celebrated modern actresses, Jennifer Coolidge, landed a role on Seinfeld by lying about her acting experience. It turns out she had none when she landed an audition for the biggest show on TV. Though she wasn’t honest in how she went about getting her first notable role, the results speak for themselves. Coolidge is now one of the most famous actors, and it all started with a small part playing Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriend of the week.
Seinfeld
The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
- Release Date
- July 5, 1989
- Creator
- Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 9
- Network
- NBC
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
Many Famous Actors Got Their Start on ‘Seinfeld’
Law & Order wasn’t the only show actors appeared on early in their careers. While that series had some soon-to-be big names playing the killer, victim, or witness of the week, Seinfeld had Jerry’s girlfriend of the week. It was such a running gag that in the episode “The Serenity Now,” where Jerry, now in touch with his emotions for the first time, sheds tears over a breakup, a shocked Elaine tells him, “Jerry, you break up with a girl every week.”
Elaine wasn’t far off. Many up-and-coming actresses played Jerry’s girlfriend. There was Teri Hatcher, who was… spectacular. There were also Catherine Keener, Christine Taylor, Amanda Peet, Debra Messing, Jane Leeves, Marlee Matlin, and Lauren Graham, among others. Most notably, Courteney Cox played Jerry’s girlfriend in a Seinfeld episode six months before the first episode of Friends premiered. It wasn’t just Jerry’s girlfriend who brought in the cameos. Jeremy Piven and Brad Garrett show up in small parts, and who could ever forget Bryan Cranston, long before the days of Breaking Bad and even Malcolm in the Middle, as the recurring dentist Dr. Whatley.
Jennifer Coolidge Had No Acting Experience Before ‘Seinfeld’
Thirty years ago, in 1993, no one had ever heard of Jennifer Coolidge. There was a logical reason for that. She’d never had a role on TV before. At 32-years-old, Coolidge was one of thousands of actors struggling with a menial job while trying to land her big break. How do you do that though when you have no experience? That’s an issue many grapple with in the workforce, but it’s even trickier in Hollywood, especially as a woman. To combat this, Coolidge simply lied.
In an interview with GQ, she talked about the day she landed a role on Seinfeld. “It was a weird day. I booked Seinfeld the same day that I booked this very short-lived series called She TV, which was an all-women sketch show on ABC. I didn’t really have any jobs before that. I only had lies on my resume. I’d gone to a school called American Academy of Dramatic Arts up in Pasadena, and I’d just named all these shows and all these different theaters at the school as if they played there. You have to do that if you have a blank resume, until you start getting jobs. Then you can slowly erase the lies. I’d love to get my hands on that resume now.”
Coolidge also described going to a clothing store and telling the employees, “‘I’m auditioning for Seinfeld tomorrow.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, honey, you’ve got to wear better clothes than what you’re wearing.’ So they made me buy this little outfit, and I think it got me the job! I kind of looked clueless most of the time, and these girls put me together.”
Jennifer Coolidge Played Jerry’s Massage Therapist Girlfriend on ‘Seinfeld’
Jennifer Coolidge appears in the Season 5 Seinfeld episode “The Masseuse,” which first aired on November 18, 1993. Coolidge plays Jodi, Jerry’s latest girlfriend. The conflict arises, as there always will be with Jerry, because Jodi works as a masseuse, but she won’t give him a massage. “How many times do I have to go out with her before she’ll give me a massage?” he complains to Elaine. “It’s like going to Idaho and eating carrots. I like carrots, but I’m in Idaho, I want a potato.” If that’s not enough, Jodi is no fan of George. She’s annoyed by him and doesn’t laugh at his jokes. “I don’t know how you can hang out with that guy,” Jodi tells Jerry. After being interrogated by George, Jerry admits that Jodi doesn’t like him. George is crushed, somewhere between heartbroken and angry. The next time George sees Jodi he comes on strong, being extra nice and helpful to her.
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Meanwhile, Jerry is crushed too. He’s disappointed that Jodi only wants to have sex with him. Kramer got a massage, paying for her services as a massage therapist, but Jerry still couldn’t get anything. When he finally tricks her into a massage, Jodi gets uncomfortable. “No, this is wrong, I can’t,” she says, before trying to bail. George’s girlfriend gets so sick of hearing him go on and on about Jodi not liking him that he tells him to pick between her or Jodi. George picks Jodi. “I just can’t stand when someone doesn’t like me.” Jodi’s final scene has her at Jerry’s apartment, with Seinfeld calling her a “massage teaser.” George then walks in and says, “This woman hates me so much I’m starting to like her. She just dislikes me so much, it’s irresistible.” Jodi nearly runs out of the apartment. “I’m getting out of here. Don’t call me.”
Jennifer Coolidge’s Acting Career Has Exploded
Casting agents would soon be calling Jennifer Coolidge, though. She’s had several small movie roles throughout the ’90s before landing the one that would really change her career as Stifler’s mom in American Pie. The 2000s saw Coolidge in Christopher Guest comedies The Mighty Wind and Best in Show, a score of other comedies like Legally Blonde, and of course, the American Pie sequels.
Coolidge made a name for herself in television as well, with recurring roles on Nip/Tuck, Party Down, 2 Broke Girls, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. And then in 2021, she re-entered the zeitgeist in a big way with HBO’s The White Lotus. She’s the only cast member to be in both seasons, and her work was so well-loved on the series that Coolidge won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a limited series. Jennifer Coolidge is at the top of her acting game now, with no need to ever lie on her resume ever again.
Seinfeld is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.
Watch on Netflix
