Tragic Details About Parker Posey's Life
Actress Parker Posey had a solid run of memorable movie roles during the 1990s. Her big break was in the classic movie "Dazed and Confused" alongside Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck. She was an independent film star — Time Magazine even called Posey "Queen of the Indies." But the actress seemed to be pushed aside by Hollywood in favor of A-list celebrities who were big box office favorites. Now, she is back on the Hollywood scene thanks to her role as Victoria Ratliff in the third season of the critically acclaimed series "The White Lotus."
Posey is no stranger to the ups and downs of Hollywood. Her career has taken several turns with her roles in the 2000s mostly consisting of guest appearances on television shows and occasional stints of theater. (While she did appear in the box office success "Superman Returns," she was relegated to playing a secondary character.) In between acting projects, Posey felt compelled to try new avenues of entertainment since she was not being cast in movies. She went on to write a memoir, star in an audio fiction podcast, and even sang vocals on several Ryan Adams songs (the two dated from 2003 to 2005). But her lack of stability in the acting world led to a lot of confusion and a bit of an identity crisis for Posey, all throughout her decades-long career.
She wrote a book because she thought her career was over
Parker Posey released her book "You're on an Airplane" in 2018. She classified the book as "A Self-Mythologizing Memoir." She approached the narrative structure of the book in a unique way. It is written as if the reader is seated next to Posey on a plane. The book is a collection of stories from her life with monologues, recipes, and photo collages to balance light fun with emotional topics.
In a conversation with The Guardian, Posey confessed that she wrote the book because she didn't think she would work again as an actress. "I felt like I didn't have a place in the culture of entertainment," she revealed. "It was hard to find a job that would pay, so I thought maybe I'd make something." With Hollywood seemingly forgetting about her, writing a book was Posey's way of forging her own path and taking control of the creative endeavors in her life. "I just feel a little diminished and I've had enough of that. I wrote a book because I had to do something else."
She lost out on big movie jobs
In a 2023 interview with Vogue, Posey reflected on how her career became less lucrative in the early 2000s as she was labeled as too much of an indie darling. "I wasn't really getting offered anything good. I would audition for all these great parts that ended up going to bigger names like Julia Roberts." Posey detailed her misfortune in Hollywood in her memoir, including being "offered roles for scale, the minimum an actor can get paid," The Guardian reported. Even after decades in the acting industry, Posey would receive unflattering offers for demeaning, sexist roles. Her memoir includes the story of her being offered a role where nudity was required for a "torture-porn thriller" that she refused to participate in (via The Guardian).
Posey also missed out on taking part in some of the biggest blockbusters of the '90s. According to Vogue, Posey was cast in the iconic romantic comedy "Sleepless In Seattle" in a small role. But her part ended up being cut from the film. Posey even auditioned for the 1994 film "Speed," hoping to snag the part that would ultimately go to Sandra Bullock. Apparently, Posey ruined her chances when she asked to use a paper plate as a steering wheel in her audition as the movie included many driving scenes. "Keanu [Reeves, who also starred in the film] laughed but the director didn't," Posey recalled to Vogue. In 2018, it was announced that Posey would star in the John Waters-directed film "Fruitcake." But due to budgetary restrictions and frequent executive changes at the film studio, the move appears to have been cancelled.
Her show was so bad it got taken off the air
After establishing a career in film, Parker Posey tried her hand at television with her first starring role in a TV show back in 2007. She was cast as the lead in a show by "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino called "The Return of Jezebel James" for Fox. Posey starred as a children's book editor who is unable to conceive and recruits her eccentric sister to be her surrogate. But the timing of the show ultimately led to its demise.
While new shows are customarily ordered to have 13 episodes, Fox trimmed its initial order of the series down to seven episodes. This was also around the time of the 2007 writers' strike, which led to many television shows having abbreviated seasons or even being cancelled altogether. Unfortunately, the show flopped really quickly. Due to low ratings and bad reviews, "The Return of Jezebel James" was cancelled after only airing three episodes. The remainder of the episodes never aired on television.
Parker Posey was a part of Blake Lively's unflattering interview
A cringey resurfaced interview of Blake Lively had fans talking for all the wrong reasons in light of the actor's tumultuous lawsuit battle with Justin Baldoni. The interview from 2016, resurfaced in 2024, shows Lively's unfriendly side as she acts unfavorably towards the interviewer, Kjersti Flaa. But there was a third member of the badly-aged interview: none other than Parker Posey! The interview occurred while Lively and Posey were promoting the Woody Allen film "Café Society." And Parker received criticism for not putting a stop to Lively's bratty behavior.
The video begins with Flaa congratulating Lively on her "little bump," referencing her pregnancy with her second child. Lively responds by mentioning the Flaa's "little bump," which viewers called out as fat-shaming. Posey played along with Lively's comment, asking, "What about my bump?" to which Lively laughed and complemented Posey's body. Posey then made things more awkward by redirecting and asking the interviewer, "Are you a Woody Allen fan?" Viewers weren't thrilled by how enthusiastic Posey was about the director, who has a history of controversial relationships (including with his former step daughter Soon-Yi Previn) and allegations of sexual assault.
When Flaa asked about the movie's wardrobe, Lively and Posey appeared to have their own side conversation, completely ignoring the interviewer. One comment on the interview read, "They literally pretended the interviewer doesn't exist, this is just a 101 high school bullying tactic." Another comment called out Lively and Posey, saying, "It is actually scary to observe two people who are SO full of themselves." Flaa called the interview a "nightmare" and revealed in its title on YouTube that the meeting "made me want to quit my job."