Reese Witherspoon: Jennifer Coolidge deserves every bit of her success

Reese Witherspoon says Jennifer Coolidge deserves "every bit" of her newfound success.

The 46-year-old actress starred as sorority girl-turned-lawyer Elle Woods in the 'Legally Blonde' alongside Jennifer, 61 - who played manicurist Paulette Bonafonte in the 2001 comedy - and explained that following her award-winning career resurgence as socialite Tanya McQuoid in 'The White Lotus', her co-star has a "natural gift" and has done "a lot of good work" in showbusiness for a long time.

She said: "I'm beyond myself about Jennifer Coolidge! She deserves every one of those flowers she is receiving right now. And she's just one of those people who is so naturally gifted and funny and that you can just tell people love her, 'cause she gets up there and everybody's like, 'I love her,' but she's just done a lot of good work in our business for so long, that it's really nice to see her getting this incredible moment."

The 'American Pie' star reprised her role as Paulette in 'Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde' in 2004 and revived the character once more in Ariana Grande's 2019 music video for 'thank u next' and while little is known about the upcoming third instalment, Reese teased that 'Legally Blonde 3' would never be made without Jennifer.

She told Entertainment Tonight: "There is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge!"

Reese's comments come just weeks after the 'A Cinderella Story' actress - who has also recently starred in new romcom 'Shotgun Weddding' and in mystery thriller series 'The Watcher' - scooped the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series prize at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday (15.01.23) for her portrayal of Tanya in 'The White Lotus', adding to the Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe awards she's already received for the show, and she admitted her recent success has made her feel "so alive".

She said: "I feel so alive, you know?. You go through your life, and you sort of just assume you're used to going a certain way and you just take on whatever that baggage is and that it's never going to change."