Parker Posey is an indie 90s movie darling who got her breakthrough in Dazed and Confused, along with Matthew McConaughey and Milla Jovovich. She would go onto have small supporting roles in big budget movies, while remaining part of Christopher Guest’s comedy movie ensemble. She most recently appeared in Beau is Afraid, and as usual, is one of the best things about the movie.
Posey was a mainstay of 90s independent cinema including Party Girl, Kicking and Screaming, The Daytrippers, Basquiat, Waiting for Guffman, SubUrbia, Clockwatchers, and Henry Fool. By the late 90s, she was enough of a name to secure roles in the bigger budget rom-com You’ve Got Mail and then in franchise fare eg. Scream 3, Blade: Trinity and Superman Returns.
But before Ephron cast her as Tom Hanks’ uptight girlfriend in You’ve Got Mail, Posey was initially have supposed to have had a role in an earlier Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie; Sleepless in Seattle, but was cut from the finished film. Ephron wrote a sweet note to Posey telling her not to get discouraged. “Nora was so supportive,” Posey told Vogue recently. “She told me I was a ‘gifted comedienne,’ which I’d never been called before.”
Ephron then wrote the role of Tom Hanks’s girlfriend in You’ve Got Mail (1998) with Posey in mind. Posey plays an Upper West Side princess who, as the film puts it, “makes coffee nervous.” With a budget of $65 million, the film cost more than all of Posey’s films combined up to that point.
“Being on set with Nora was kinda like a cocktail party without the cocktails – it’s still the best catering I’ve ever had on a film set,” Posey recalls. “She didn’t have a lot to say, which is why everyone really wanted to please her and try to make her laugh.”
Check out our guide to the Scream movies – to discover where you can find Parker Posey in the franchise. And our guide to the Superman movies – once again to find Posey’s entry.