You’re On An Airplane

Parker Posey Virago €17.99 ★★★★★

Who would be an actress? The money’s usually rubbish, good parts are difficult to come by and directors make you feel even more insecure than you already are. That seems to be the experience of Parker Posey. Now best known for her roles in Christopher Guest mockumentaries such as Best In Show and Mascots, she has also appeared in big Hollywood movies and is currently playing the manipulative baddie Dr Smith in Netflix’s reboot of Lost In Space. Her memoir is framed as a stream-of-consciousness one-sided chat with the stranger sitting next to her on a plane. She randomly hops from one subject to another so, in among the family and showbusiness anecdotes, there is, for example, a seven-page description of how to throw a clay pot and a recipe for microwaved Cheddar cheese (Parmesan is a suggested topping).

She’s at her best on her career. She constantly fears being fired. ‘I think every job is my last,’ she writes. She cries on the phone to her manager because she doesn’t have work. When replaced in a theatre role by a more ‘bankable’ star, she has a nervous breakdown.

However, she passed on the part in Girl, Interrupted that went to Angelina Jolie and she didn’t take auditions for Speed or Meet The Parents seriously enough.

All interesting stuff but, frustratingly, she is forever skipping off to the next recipe or a story about her ‘emotional support dog’. I wish one of her four editors had made her stick to a more conventional narrative. And if Posey ever sits next to you on a plane, don’t expect a quiet trip.