On television, Posey appeared in the recurring role of Alice White on BYUtv's Granite Flats (2015), co-starred as Dr. Smith on all three seasons of Netflix's Lost in Space (2018–2021), and won critical acclaim for playing Freda Black in the HBO Max miniseries The Staircase (2022).[2][3][4]
Early life
Posey was born November 8, 1968, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Lynda (née Patton),[5][6] a chef, and Chris Posey, owner of a car dealership. She has a twin brother, Christopher. After Posey's birth, her family lived in Monroe, Louisiana, for 11 years.[7] They later moved to Laurel, Mississippi, where her mother worked as a chef and culinary instructor for the Viking Range Corporation in Greenwood and her father operated a car dealership. Posey was raised Catholic.[8]
Posey got her first break in television with the role of Tess Shelby on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Posey's first major role in a feature film was in Dazed and Confused (1993).[10] The film received favorable reviews from critics and has been identified as a cult classic.[11]
In 1994, she appeared in Hal Hartley's short film Opera No. 1. Throughout the late 1990s, Posey co-starred in 32 independent films and was nicknamed "Queen of the Indies".[1] These films include Basquiat, Clockwatchers, The Daytrippers, Party Girl and The House of Yes. In particular, she received positive reviews for The House of Yes, for her role as a delusional woman in love with her own brother.[12][13] In an interview in January 2012, Parker said that the unofficial title has sometimes been a hindrance:
I'm trying to work in studio movies, but they won't hire me. I get feedback from my agent saying, "She's too much of an indie queen." And then on the other side, my name doesn't get the financing to do a movie over $1 million. And I'm called "the indie queen". So it's really a challenging path because I know so much about the indie side of the business. Because I grew up in it ... But it's different times. And this stuff gets projected onto me. People are like, "You're here [at the Sundance film festival] every year, you do so many indie movies." And I'm like, "No, I did Broken English five years ago."[14]
Posey exiting the premiere of the film Mascots at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016
In 2000, she starred in Guest's third mock documentaryBest in Show and in the big-budget horror film Scream 3. Critical reaction to Posey's performance in the latter film was highly positive and earned her an MTV Movie Award nomination. The next year she starred in Josie and the Pussycats. From 2001 to 2002, she appeared in a supporting role in the popular NBC sitcom Will & Grace.
In 2006, Posey appeared in Superman Returns as Kitty Kowalski, Lex Luthor's ditzy sidekick,[10] a character based on Eve Teschmacher from the 1978 film Superman. Posey was the only actress considered for the role.[16][17]Superman Returns was a box-office success.[18] The film was also successful at the 33rd Saturn Awards. Posey, a few fellow cast members, and the visual effects department were all nominated.[19] Later the same year, she played the title character in Fay Grim, the sequel to Henry Fool, and appeared in For Your Consideration.
In 2007, Posey was cast in the lead role in the television series The Return of Jezebel James.[20] The show was originally given a 13-episode order, but the show was cut to seven episodes in anticipation of a pending scriptwriters’ strike.[21][22] It premiered on the Fox television network in 2008 as a mid-season replacement. However, the show was officially canceled after the third episode aired owing to low ratings.[23]
In 2012, Posey starred in four episodes of the third season of Louie as Liz, Louis C.K.'s love interest. She received positive reviews for her stint on the show. The website Vulture stated: "Posey is superb in a brilliantly written role."[30] Lindsay Bahr of Entertainment Weekly said "Posey used her arsenal of talent and the material written and directed by C.K. to bring Liz to life".[31]Andy Greenwald of GrantLand felt Posey was "funny, engaging, and breathless" and went on to call Posey "one of the most gifted actors alive".[32] Later the same year, she was honored with the Excellence in Acting Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival.
Posey appeared in Ned Rifle, the third and final film in Hartley's Henry Fool trilogy, again reprising her role of Fay Grim.[33] On November 6, 2013, Hartley launched a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter to produce the film, netting a total of $384,000. Posey, along with several other cast members as well as some crew members, appeared in several videos promoting the campaign.[34] The film premiered on September 7, 2014, at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[35] It was also screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 6, 2015.[36]
In July 2014, it was announced that Posey had signed on to co-star in Woody Allen's mystery drama Irrational Man.[37] The film had its world premiere on May 16, 2015, at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[38][39] In July 2015, Parker revealed that before being cast in the film, she had considered quitting acting, as she feared that she "saw the independent film movement go away from me... it's a world market now. They're made from real star power. Whoever's hot at the moment." When Allen cast her, she cried, as "the independent film way of working is something that was in my bones. It's like being a part of a punk band but no one's singing punk rock anymore. Only a few bands are able to play, and Woody Allen is one of them. That's why I cried. It was a relief."[40]
As of 2024 Posey is set to star in the upcoming third season of the Emmy Award-winning show The White Lotus; filming is set to take place in Thailand on February 2024.[42]
Audio fiction
In late 2019, Posey starred in an audio fiction podcast called Hunted wherein she plays the part of a U.S. Deputy Marshal tracking four escaped convicts from a federal maximum-security correctional facility. The eight-episode show is produced by Wolf Entertainment and Endeavor Audio.[43]
You're on an Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir (2018, Blue Rider Press) is Posey's first book. Centered on the idea that the reader is sitting next to Posey on an airplane, the book mixes personal anecdotes from her career, random observations, stories about her life, and homemade photo collages.[45][46] The book received critical acclaim. Vogue wrote "Excellent... a celebration of peculiarity." According to Elle magazine, the memoir is "a humour-packed, irreverent, eccentric book packed with personal stories, whimsical how-tos and recipes, as well as collages made by her."[45]Esquire wrote "Posey is a natural storyteller; performing, in any way really, is mostly about sharing stories. And she's gathered some good ones for her memoir, which also perfectly encapsulates the delightful weirdo you assume she is just by watching her play different people on screen."[47]
Nominated for a Fright Meter Awards for Best Supporting Actress for The Eye (2008)
Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in Streaming Presentation for Lost in Space (2019)
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References
1 2 Corliss, Richard (February 17, 1997). "Cinema: Queen of the Indies". Time. Retrieved March 29, 2024. Posey graces so many low-budget films that she has called herself "that indie tramp." An apter title would be Queen of the Indies.
↑ Chaney, Jen (May 6, 2022). "The Staircase Defies Expectations". Vulture. Retrieved March 29, 2024. ...Freda Black, played with quiet command by Parker Posey, who nails her North Carolina drawl. (Someone give Posey her own series about a progressive attorney fighting for justice in the South, please.)
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