Parker Posey is looking back on how making the leap from indie films to studio movies impacted her career. The iconic actress said during the “Smartless” podcast, as stated by Variety, that after leading independent films such as “Party Girl” and “Dazed and Confused,” she was iced out of bigger studio features. Posey famously auditioned for “Speed” before the part went to Sandra Bullock, and has been open about also losing roles to Julia Roberts.
“I felt like I was called a name, in a way,” Posey said. “My path was more like, ‘Oh, [‘The Daytrippers’ director] Greg Mottola did a reading of his movie that he was trying to get financed,’ and then I introduced him to Liev Schreiber who was in ‘Party Girl,’ and then we do ‘The Daytrippers’ a year later. It was such a community back then. I felt like right when I got exposed, and the whole indie movement got exposed, it also got co-opted by the studio system, and then it became this other thing. All of a sudden, I wasn’t viable to get a movie financed, and it was such a head trip because I would have to audition for Hollywood movies when I’d carried the lead in independent movies that were shot in 23 days.”
“The White Lotus” actress Posey continued that she believes she was “gaslit” into thinking she wasn’t on par with bigger Hollywood names.
“[I would say], ‘I can promise I can memorize these lines in the script, and we’ll have a blast, trust me!’” she said. “So I had, like, a good 20 years of that after, and then working with great auteurs and doing [films], not getting paid a lot, but being able to work and fulfill my creativity.”
Posey said to Vogue in 2023 that even her former agent told her that she was “too indie.”
Posey recently received the Legend Tribute at the 2025 Gotham TV Awards. While onstage, she credited “The White Lotus” creator Mike White for revitalizing her career and bringing her talent to a new audience. “Thank you, Mike White, for believing in a middle-aged woman and believing in a legend. Thank you HBO for believing in a legend,” she quipped. “You know what this award says to me, which makes me so happy? To those out there in the internet world who made things on YouTube, who put things on social media, who imitated me, who had fun in the backyard, who made art — whether it was good or bad, they entertained each other and themselves.”
