Parker Posey

Spotlight By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

Parker Posey is an actress with a remarkably eclectic career, with films ranging from teen classic Dazed and Confused to the recent indie The Oh in Ohio to a bit part in the Cameron Diaz vehicle The Sweetest Thing. Luckily for her fans, she's found some career stability by every few years teaming up with director Christopher Guest. In the past, she's appeared in his mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, and now they're back together with For Your Consideration.

But first, let's get that burning question out of the way. You know, the one everybody's wondering. She appeared in Superman Returns -- will she be back for the sequel'

"I don't know, I hope so. I don't know. I'm signed on to do something, but I don't know if they'll use me."

Hopefully that's good enough for the superhero geeks out there. For now, she's more than happy to talk about For Your Consideration. "It's a different process preparing for the Christopher Guest movies because it can be as dynamic and complicated as you want." The films are known for being heavily improvised. "I talked to Catherine about it, she goes, 'how did your first take go,' and it was nothing like I thought it was going to be. Because when you're talking and acting with someone else, you're reacting, and your focus is on someone else. It's like something chemical starts to happen."

The Catherine she speaks of is Catherine O'Hara, another staple in Guest's movies. Working with the familiar cast had it's benefits. "You get to watch everyone come into the hair and makeup room, and pick out their, you know, hairpieces and teeth pieces, and see what they're coming up with'they're the best."

The film is about three stars of an independent movie who suddenly find that they're being considered contenders for Oscar nominations. "My mom, down south, she's like, 'I hear the movie For Your Consideration is going to get an Oscar!' She totally misheard, no, it's about Oscar nominations." Since Posey is known for being something of an independent film staple, could she relate to her awards-obsessed character' "Some people are totally caught up, and do I get caught up' No. But I'm not in those [Oscar-baiting] movies." However, she clearly loves getting inside her characters' mindsets. "You've created so much empathy for this part, you've chosen the shoes, you've chosen the hair, you've kind of lived with this person inside of you."

In real life, she's disarmingly friendly and seems quite normal. "I do yoga, I have a dog, I walk Gracie a lot, I live in the city so I walk around a lot, go to parks, have lunch'" (Those crazy movie stars.) At one point, she gets into a random conversation with someone in the room about pottery. "[Pottery's] relaxing," she says. "I just quit smoking too."

And what's next for the prolific actress' "I did a movie after [FYC] called Spring Breakdown, with Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch; I did a Hal Hartley film, which is the second part to Henry Fool, called Fay Grim; and Zoe Cassavetes, I did a movie with her called Broken English." They all sound completely different -- which should be right up Posey's alley.