One of a kind Y
Parker Posey, queen of the indies, gets personal in a new memoir
OU’VE just buckled up when Parker Posey plops down beside you. And boy, is she chatty!
There you have “You’re on an Airplane.” Out Tuesday, this first book by the actress — a darling of indie films, including “Dazed and Confused” and five Christopher Guest movies — is less a memoir than a mashup of tidbits gleaned from a Southernfried childhood in Louisiana and Mississippi, and the making of some 65 movies. Anecdotes about “Best in Show,” Woody Allen and Louis C.K. pop up between recipes and such reflections as, “When people say ‘I’m not really a dog person,’ all I hear is, ‘I’m not really a person.’ ” From her home in upstate New York, before flying to Vancouver, Canada, to film Netflix’s “Lost in Space,” the 49-year-old owner of a poodle mix named Gracie discusses air travel, #MeToo and more.
What airline do you fly, and would we ever find you in coach?
I like to fly JetBlue. I don’t fly business or first class unless it’s paid for by production. On one of the last flights I took to Vancouver, I sat next to this man who was in his 70s. He said he was visiting a lady friend in the Midwest, and that he was married and his wife was sick. He said that “nothing untoward had happened” between him and his lady friend, but he loved her, and he wanted to share that with me. I loved that!
You write about self-sabotage. Did you really audition for “Speed” by pretending to steer with a paper plate?
Yes! It was a callback. [The role] was originally written as a stand-up comedian, so I thought it made sense to grab the plate instead of air, but when the director’s hair turned a whiter shade of white, I kinda knew . . . Another director might have thought that was funny, but Jan de Bont didn’t . . . and it didn’t really translate for his game-changer action film of all time. But Keanu [Reeves] was laughing and we became friends.
You’re so not a Los Angeles person.
I didn’t spend a lot of time out in Hollywood. LA feels like a Quentin Tarantino movie to me sometimes — a stranger in a car with sunglasses.
Given that Woody Allen made you do 20 takes for his “Irrational Man,” why did you ever make another film with him?
Woody is a very talented, intuitive auteur and I think he knows intrinsically how to direct and how to push to [get] the performance he wants. The roles he’s written for women are some of the best.
You also have nice things to say about Louis C.K. So he didn’t flash you?
I loved my experience with him! So many of us love Louis C.K. and his material and what he’s produced. To create as much as he has — and it’s deep!
So, no #MeToo moments there?
I didn’t have those challenges. I don’t feel like an object of desire. But it’s really heartbreaking when you think of women’s lives, and how they’re diminished.
What souvenirs, if any, do you have from “Waiting for Guffman” and those other Christopher Guest films?
Chris gives you a medal after every film you do, with the name of the movie and your name on it. What was so fun was to get the screener for [Guest’s 2006 mockumentary] “For Your Consideration” that said “For Your Consideration: ‘For Your Consideration.’ ” Ever tire of being called “queen of the indies”? [Pause, background noise] It’s all good. Oh, that’s my little Gracie barking!
LA feels like a Quentin Tarantino movie to me ... a stranger in a car with sunglasses.”