JUST THE FACTS
FULL NAME
Parker Christian Posey
NICKNAME
"Missy"
DATE OF BIRTH
November 8, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH
Baltimore, Maryland
COLLEGE
State University of NY at Purchase
SUPPORT
|
When I tell people that I run a fan website for an actress named Parker Posey, their first reaction is usually one of two things: "Who?" or "Oh my God I love her!" If it's the latter, then my job is finished before it even began. But if they respond with "Who?" I usually have to ask them if they've seen such major motion picture movies as "You've Got Mail" or "Scream 3" and then have to say that she either played Tom Hanks' girlfriend or the actress who was playing Courtney Cox's character of Gale Weathers. Generally those "Who?" people seem to remember her after that, and then are quite surprised to learn that she's actually starred in almost 40 movies in her career decade, done a handfull of television show guest appearances, and has managed to throw in some theater work along the way.
Born in Maryland and raised in Mississippi, Parker Posey (named for the 1950's model/actress Suzy Parker) attended the theater and drama program of State University of New York at Purchase. Once out of college she landed the the reoccurring role of Tess Shelby on the CBS soap opera As The World Turns, between 1991 and 1992.
She landed her first major motion picture in 1993 as the high school bitch Darla in Richard Linklater's 1970's ensemble comedy "Dazed and Confused," which also featured some Hollywood up-and-comers such as Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellwegger, Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams. That same year she also snagged a small role in the "too controversial for" PBS mini-series "Tales of the City," adapated from Armistead Maupin's successful book series.
The next couple years saw generally many small roles in many films, including the often unforgettable movies "Joey Breaker," "Coneheads," "Dead Connection" and "Mixed Nuts," the often forgotten movies "Sleep with Me" and "Kicking and Screaming," the interesting and acclaimed independent movies "The Doom Generation," "Frisk" and "Basquiat" and also Hal Hartley's "Amatuer" and "Flirt," which would be just two of many collaborations Parker and Hartley would work on over the years. Parker also managed, along the way, to star in the brief Los Angeles play "Four Dogs and a Bone" alongside Brendan Frasier and Martin Short.
What might be more interesting than the "often unforgettable movies" themselves would be the roles that Parker auditioned for over those years. Roles in the successful movies "Reality Bites," "Speed" and "Jerry Maguire" all went to actresses Janeane Garofalo, Sandra Bullock and Renee Zellwegger, respectively, who have become some of Hollywood's "A-list" celebrities. But Parker still stuck more to the independent movies, because she enjoyed the shorter shoots and fast-paced environment.
Parker starred in lead roles in threeo movies in 1996 that made her more notorious among the independent film circuit. "Party Girl" quickly became a fan favorite and an early cult classic. "The Daytrippers" played at the off-Sundance festival Slamdance. The other movie released that year was "Waiting for Guffman" from the mind of Christopher Guest, most notable for his role in the cult classic mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." Guest wrangled up an amazing cast including Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy and many others to tell the history of a small fictitious town in the form of a musical. "Guffman" was released in a limited amount of theatres but proved quite successful.
Then came 1997. Three movies featuring Parker in lead roles were shown at the Sundance Film Festival, quickly labeling Parker as the "It" girl from Entertainment Weekly, and the "Queen of the Indies" from Time. "Drunks" featured an emsemble cast and made the festival rounds. "Clockwatchers" featuring Parker along with Toni Collette and Lisa Kudrow was praised, but it was "The House of Yes" that had all the attention. Parker's portrayal of Jackie O in this dark comedy earned her Sundance's best actress award.
Released shortly after were a brief spots in Richard Linklater's "subUrbia" and the second mini-series "More Tales of the City" and featured roles in "Clockwatchers" also starring Toni Collette and Lisa Kudrow, and another Hal Hartley feature "Henry Fool." Parker then took roles mainly in films in other countries, including "The Misadventures of Margaret" in France, "Dinner at Fred's" in Canada, "What Rats Won't Do" in England, and "The Venice Project" in Italy, allowing her to travel the world. She managed in that time to play the role of Tom Hanks' girlfriend in the major motion picture "You've Got Mail" which allowed her to "pay the bills." She then took a role opposite Matthew Broderick in the off-Broadway play "Taller Than a Dwarf."
Her next big motion picture was "Scream 3." The last in a trilogy series of slasher horror movies. The movie debuted at #1 and is easily Parker's most successful box office movie. Shortly after, another Christopher Guest movie "Best in Show" opened to critical and fan praise. The movie opened in more box offices than "Guffman" and also earned more in the box office. Parker then took on the role of the villianess Fiona in the comic book adaptation "Josie and the Pussycats." The movie was unfortunately a box office flop (Universal targeted the movie for the exact audience the movie was a parody of), but Parker's fans loved her performance.
Another guest stint in the third "Tales" chapter, "Further Tales of the City" and a spot on the huge ensemble cast "The Anniversary Party" kept her face on the screen, but Parker's performance in Rebecca Miller's "Personal Velocity" had critics praise. She earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best female lead for her dramatic portrayal of a promiscuous New York editor. The movie was opened in limited release, and was hailed as the best dramatic performance of her career.
Returning to comedy for a bit, Parker played a frantic bride-to-be in the crazy comedy "The Sweetest Thing" starring Cameron Diaz, the rival of Mary Kay in the CBS made-for-TV movie "Hell On Heels" (which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress) opposite Shirley MacLaine, appeared a couple of times as a Barney's New York manager in the NBC comedy "Will & Grace," and came back for a third Christopher Guest movie, "A Mighty Wind." She also returned to the stage in Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July" and has finished filming both the drama "The Event" co-starring Olympia Dukakis, and the comedy "Laws of Attraction" starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore, set to premiere in April of 2004.
Up next are the Marvel Comic vampire hunter movie "Blade 3: Trinity" starring Wesley Snipes, and the comedy "Adam & Steve" written and directed by Craig Chester, and after that... who knows?
|
