Many fans were excited about seeing Jennifer Tilly on the explosive Season 14 of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, as a friend of the Housewives. But as it turned out, many viewers had no idea who she was. Some didn't even get why she had a Tiffany Valentine A.K.A. Bride of Chucky doll in her living room...
Jennifer—who's been friends with Sutton Stracke for over a decade—is not just the voice for Tiffany in the Chucky franchise. She's explored and excelled in several other fields. She's gotten an Oscar nomination, done Broadway, and even became a professional poker player. Here's a timeline of her colorful career before reality TV.
1Jennifer Tilly's Breakout Film Bullets Over Broadway Earned Her An Oscar Nomination
In 1994, Jennifer Tilly starred in Woody Allen's dark comedy, Bullets over Broadway. She played the role of Olive, for which she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. "I knew how to duck in and duck out," she said of the recognition's impact on her career. "When I met someone in the industry, I had 37 seconds to make my point."
But after I became an Oscar nominee, the parameters had expanded and now 37 seconds had increased to three minutes. There’s validation that comes with it.
The actress also told The Wrap that she knew "it was something that could go away within a year," so she "really enjoyed" herself at that time. In 1996, she landed the role of Violet in Bound where she famously had a lesbian love scene with Gina Gershon (Corky). In July, Jennifer told The Hollywood Reporter she was "nervous" about filming that scene.
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"Gina knew right away that she wanted to do it," Jennifer recalled. "But I was trepidatious. The script was one of the best scripts you ever read. But then you think two first-time directors, Dino De Laurentiis as the producer—we could easily get into a Roger Corman sort of arena. I was a little bit nervous."
Jennifer then shared that Gina brought a bottle of tequila to her trailer on "the day of the first kissing scene" to ease her nerves. The latter added that she also brought chocolates. "You always forget that I also brought you chocolates," Gina told Jennifer. "I was the perfect date."
2Jennifer Tilly Became Popular For Playing Tiffany Valentine In Bride Of Chucky
Jennifer Tilly became more recognized when she played Tiffany Valentine in Bride of Chucky in 1998. She then reprised the role in other installments of the Child's Play franchise, including the TV series, Chucky (2021-2024). At first, she thought appearing in its first season would be her farewell to the iconic role. "I didn't see it as opening a door and plunging back into the Chucky world. I thought it was my last hurrah," she remembered.
"I was really happy because I thought that Tiffany would progress. I used to make jokes that Chucky is going to be chasing me and my walker around the old folks' home, but apparently Tiffany is Peter Pan and she never gets old."
Yes, Jennifer wouldn't mind playing Tiffany forever... As long as they "light me very well, not because I'm an actress and I'm vain, but because it's a plot point that Tiffany has to look good and sexy because she really has not aged much." The actress added that she "[hates] the whole thing in Hollywood where women are put out to pasture when they reach a certain age."
3Jennifer Tilly Acted In Several Broadway Shows Before Joining RHOBH
After appearing on TV shows, Hill Street Blues and Cheers in the 1980s, Jennifer moved to New York in the early 1990s for theater parts. She wanted to be discovered by Woody Allen's casting director, Juliet Taylor, which worked—getting her her Bullets over Broadway role. In 2001, she returned to her theater roots in the Broadway revival of The Women.
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19 years later, she shared an Instagram throwback photo (pictured above) from that time. "2001: Flashback to when I did The Women on Broadway," she wrote. "I played Crystal, the Other Woman. 😜" Jennifer has certainly established a career in theater, including off-Broadway theater projects. She even won a Theater World Award for her performance in One Shoe Off (1993).
4Jennifer Tilly Is A World Poker Champion With Over $1 Million In Tournament Wins
By 2005, Jennifer was more interested in pursuing poker than acting. In June that year, she won a World Series of Poker bracelet, plus $158,625, in the Ladies' No-Limit Texas hold 'em event, against 600 other players. She also won the third World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament, just three months later.
Jennifer met her longtime partner, Phil Laak through poker. They first crossed paths during the 2004 World Poker Tour Invitational at Los Angeles' Commerce Casino, where the latter won. Jennifer retired from poker in 2008 but resumed two years later. In 2014, she was nominated for the PokerListings' Spirit of Poker Living Legend Award.
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As of 2019, Jennifer has reportedly made over $1 million from her tournament wins. While she sees poker as a "career," the Seed of Chucky star said she doesn't juggle it with her acting career. "I play pretty high stakes and it's really volatile and it affects my moods, so when I'm acting, I don’t do poker," she told The Wrap. "It's a career, I love it, but it's a bit of a vice."
5Jennifer Joined RHOBH Because It's "Like Working With Martin Scorsese"
Like most of her career milestones, Jennifer sees RHOBH as a "challenge." Although it's a "sharp left turn," she thinks joining the reality show "is like working with Martin Scorsese." She even admitted she "was more excited to meet Kyle Richards and Erika Jayne and the other ladies than I was when I met Elizabeth Taylor."
My boyfriend always says if he got $40 million, he wants to go into space and experience zero gravity. To me, being on Housewives is experiencing zero gravity.
It's the "craziest thing" she's ever done, mostly due to how reality TV works—"what they're doing is spinning a storyline out of thin air. You come in without a script," she said. Still, Jennifer is "really happy" to be doing it. "I can't believe I'm with these uncouth people," she gushed. "But when I am sitting at a table with Housewives, I feel like I have a front-row seat at the Super Bowl."
