In Character: Parker Posey

Attempting to catalogue Parker Posey’s best performances is no easy feat. Posey is responsible for giving American independent cinema clout when it needed it most. Throughout the ‘90s, she was featured in more than 30 films, many of which are remembered as some of this country’s finest indie offerings. And yet, despite working in a business in which age works against females, Posey has remained a standout. From making “freshmen bitches” do air raids in Dazed and Confused to giving Louie C.K. the night of his life on FX last year, there’s no stopping this Queen of the Indies.

Five Essential Roles

Party Girl (1995)

Mary

Mary lives for the nights. She spends her days in a fog of hangovers and hazy memories; anxiously waiting until she can swoop into whatever New York City party she finds that night. She drinks, she drugs, she screws, whatever. But after she’s arrested for sponsoring a rave, she realizes that life has caught up with her, and she hasn’t a clue what to do next.

Before Party Girl, Posey proved that she had the chops to deliver pathetic desperation with a unique brand of glee. But with Party Girl, she seriously turned a corner from being the girl you laugh at, to the sad young woman you care for.

Waiting for Guffman (1997)

Libby Mae Brown

Libby Mae Brown may be the most hopelessly sad character to ever appear in a Christopher Guest film. She’s one of Blaine, Missouri’s most content citizens, happy to work at Dairy Queen and live without any real stability. In the film’s most honest moment, we watch as Libby Mae cooks up a pathetic piece of chicken on a shitty little grill in her backyard. She remarks how her recent performance in a local play was well received, but unfortunately went nowhere. Throughout this monologue, there isn’t a shred of despair in her voice. That’s what makes this performance so special – Posey didn’t play Libby Mae as a small town girl looking for a way out, she played her as a small town girl with no idea that an out even exists.

The House of Yes (1997)

Jackie-O Pascal

What a delicious character Jackie-O is. She’s the type of young woman who is spoiled senseless, hideously entitled, and completely fucking bonkers. Pills and therapy clearly aren’t helping Jackie-O with her many issues, the main one being how uncomfortably close she is with her twin brother, Marty.

When Marty brings his new fiancé home for Thanksgiving, Jackie-O does everything in her jealous power to sabotage the relationship. I’m not going to explain the depths of Jackie’s disruption, for it would ruin a sinister and marvelous viewing experience for you. But trust me, if you’re a fan of Parker Posey and have yet to see this film, you have something quite remarkable waiting for you.

Best in Show (2000)

Meg Swan

Meg and Hamilton Swan are two yuppies from Chicago who adore their dog, Beatrice, a tad too much. For example, after Beatrice witnesses Meg and Hamilton having sex, the Swans feel it necessary to take the dog to therapy. Best in Show is full of these hysterically neurotic tendencies from the Swans. In one of the film’s best moments, Meg berates a poor pet store worker as she scrambles to replace Beatrice’s favorite dog toy. When you consider the fact that every line of dialogue Posey dishes out here is 100 percent improvised, it makes you fully appreciate the command of her performance. Had Posey pushed a little more, or held back slightly, Meg could’ve faltered noticeably. But instead, she is played to blissfully irrational perfection.

Scream 3 (2000)

Jennifer Jolie

Jennifer Jolie is the most difficult role Parker Posey has ever played. The command I mentioned of Posey in Best in Show arguably applies even more to Jennifer Jolie. In Scream 3, Posey plays an exaggerated, B-movie version of Gale Weathers in a sleazy horror film based on the events depicted in the first two Scream films. So when the real Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) enters the film, Jennifer handles it with an equal amount of humiliating awe and ego-driven jealousy.

The movie-within-a-movie concept is tricky enough, but casting the “real” people together with the people playing them is even more complicated. And, to be honest, it’s that level of complex meta that needlessly bogs Scream 3 down. But then there’s Parker Posey, completely hamming it up, owning every single moment she’s on screen. She walked such a delicate line of hyperbole in this film that I’m still amazed (and thrilled) she was able to pull it off.

The Best of the Best

Broken English (2007)

Nora Wilder

Nora Wilder is unlike any character Parker Posey has ever played. She’s immature, but past the point of blaming it on youth. She’s unkempt, but not careless. Sad, but never pathetic. She’s a unique woman completely lost in the misfortune of her so-called life. And although Posey has portrayed a number of these women, there’s a specific apathy she gives Nora that I find utterly devastating.

Broken English is about a thirtysomething New Yorker looking for love in all the wrong places. She’s frustrated with her job, bitter that she sleeps with guys on the first date, heartbreakingly content when they never call back, and on and on. She’s a woman drifting, without purpose or care, which Posey brings to life perfectly.

There’s a scene midway through the film worthy of special attention. Having gotten into a fight with her boss, Nora storms out of her office and glides idly down the street, as if she’s hiding from her own ineptitude. M83’s gloriously melancholic track “I Guess I’m Floating,” begins to play over the soundtrack, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a fortuneteller sticks her head out of her door and tells Nora that Nora’s dead father misses her. Posey’s reaction to this news brings tears to my eyes everytime. It’s a perfect harmony of film, music, the randomness of New York City, and, above all, confident acting.

Other Notable Roles

In Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused (1993)

Kicking and Screaming (1995)

The Doom Generation (1995)

The Daytrippers (1997)

Basquiat (1996)

SubUrbia (1996)

Henry Fool (1997)

Clockwatchers (1997)

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

The Misadventures of Margaret (1998)

The Anniversary Party (2001)
Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)

Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (2002)

A Mighty Wind (2003)

Laws of Attraction (2004)

The Oh in Ohio (2006)

Fay Grim (2006)

Superman Returns (2006)

For Your Consideration (2006)

The Return of Jezebel James (2008)

Spring Breakdown (2009)

The Big C (2011)

Louie (2012)

Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012)