"Parker Posey"

23:54The literal it girl. Yeah, the literal it girl. Did you take that compliment well or did you not want that? You know what it is? It's like when people point you out in a place as cool as New York and New York City and you're not cool anymore. So it's like you're, I felt like I was called a name in a way where I was trying to be, or my path was more like, oh, 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 Day Trippers a year later because he couldn't get the original script that he wanted finance, finance, because the budget was too, you know, it was such a community background.

24:40Right, right, right. And I felt like when it got exposed that right when I got exposed and the whole indie movement got exposed, it also got co-opted by the studio system. That's right. And then it became this other thing. And all of a sudden, I wasn't viable to get a movie financed. and it was such a head trip because, and then I would have to audition for Hollywood movies when I'd carried the lead in independent movies that were shot in 23 days. And all of a sudden I'm in a fluorescent lit room, like sweating and feeling like I'm being gaslit, you know? Like I can promise I can do and memorize these lines and the scripts and I will have a blast.

25:27Let's just go. Trust me, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I wasn't, so I had like a good 20 years of that, you know, after, and then working with great auteurs and doing these, you know, not getting paid a lot, but being able to, you know, work in the world. Fulfill your, wealthy with respect. Yeah, my creativity. And feeling satisfied, I imagine. Yeah, it's a weird thing. It's like, it's a mystical thing. I think my life and people's lives can have a mystical kind of quality if they're paying attention. And I think it's a healing thing. I think I evolve. I grow. I'm kind of a hippie like that.

26:08Well, let me ask you this. Are you at a spot in your career? And then we're going to talk about your personal life. That's going to be great. That's going to be a whole lighting change and music change. But professionally, are you at a place right now that you had the balls to eat? even imagine and dream and hope for? Is this the career you thought you were going to have or the career that you hoped that you had? It's a lot there. Wow, that's a lot, JB. Yeah. What the fuck, man? That's a good question. You know, when you do a lot of traveling and you're not home, I haven't been home for more than five days since February.

26:48Right. It's so much more interesting than your career or where you thought you would be and as far as like at, you know, the success that something like White Lotus gives you, right? Right. That I feel so blessed. I feel so protected. I feel in my flow. And that is, I feel like I've learned, I've been through a lot, you know, from 45 to 56 was a lot. Right. Like what do you mean? What's a lot? Like good or challenging? Like my dad had prostate cancer for 20 years from Agent Orange in Vietnam. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm talking like a prolonged grief, like an anticipatory grief. I think I had a lot of grief with my career and going like, I don't quite understand it.

27:40As a woman, you get older and then, you know, and the culture changes. so you have that and you have good ideas that you pitch that are educational and kids would love them and they don't get made. There's a lot of disappointment in the culture right now. Now more than ever. Now more as an artist and you're just kind of like, but this is such a powerful medium. I don't understand why more is being on the screen. If the arts are going to be subsidized in New York, is it going to be the apex of creativity, then what can we make to form something that will be that and will hold that for our playwrights, for our writers who are born to tell their, that have that soul.

28:28And I've read enough scripts and I've seen enough plays to know that there is that divine spark when you read something that is like our town or something that is so... And we used to be a culture that aimed toward that. I hope, you know, I'm an optimist. Like, I will be that, you know, to Moscow, to Moscow, Chekhov character till the day I die. Like, I believe in, you know. Being in Thailand for so long and coming back to America was so inspiring. I mean, everyone, I'm like, ugh, you know. I'm like, this country and these people and these trees and this nature, like, do you know how lucky we are?

29:08Right. We kind of like shape up in like this way that has been so... What would you do now that you sit here? I love hearing you talk. Is that too much tooting my horn? I love that. Are you kidding? I love that. I love everything you said. If you had 20 more minutes on that... Wait, did you just toot? If you had 20 more minutes on that, we would be good. Yeah. Having said all that, when you sit... So sitting where you are today with all that information, like having all that stuff and you tooted, would you... what would you, is there anything that you would have done differently? Was there a moment?

29:44Was there a thing? Is there something that you look back on and go, ah. She just did it. No. Do you know what I mean? Stupid. Like, would you have done anything, would you have done anything differently? Well, I know, because you're just all learning about, you know, you're changing and you're like, I mean, I think I, I could have been easier on myself. I think I could have not worked so hard, and I could have deserved more. Or felt like you were deserving more, you mean. Yes, that's right. But wait, Parker, I want to go through things in your life that kind of I read about that fascinate me. I didn't know you were a mime.

30:23You were trained in mime. That was a lie. A mime training was? That was a total lie. Oh, I didn't know that. God, I was like, I had to put a resume, and I'm a fan. I saw Marcel Marceau in New York, like on his 80th birthday, perform. And I cried my face off my body. Because you thought it was amazing that he was moving boxes that weren't there. Yes. Yes. I've never, now where has mine? Just anything that can reach like a four-year-old and a hundred-year-old, like what that did, like it was just so artful and fantastic. Jason has a question about mine. I'm not making fun of mine. You're not getting me to make fun of mine, but I lied about it on my resume.

31:03Is it still going? Because I feel like it's so sort of kitsch now that you could actually make a run at it. If anyone out there has some mime skills, I bet you could really make yourself a nice living nowadays because it's kind of ironic. And you could probably pack some theaters, some large theaters, maybe not arenas. But I think you could do a theater tour. The question is, is it still going? What about mimes? I mean, your overhead's low. You need something black. Something black and tight. No props. You're not allowed props. No words. No words either. Go get after it. You need a spotlight. Just a stripy T-shirt and a spotlight.

31:39And some leggings. Yeah. I'd go see a mime show. Okay, so wait. So, Parker, you were named after the model Susie Parker, correct? Yeah, there are two parts of the story. They did love. My parents, you know, fell madly in love and married young, and my dad was drafted and the twins were born. Yeah, you have a twin brother, which I didn't know about. I have a twin brother. And my mom had a friend when she was a little girl who, my mom was 12, like 11 or 12, like still a Girl Scout. And one of her friends had, her sister had a baby and named her Parker. And my mom, whose name is Linda with a Y, she always hated it.

32:27Linda with a Y. Why did my mother Linda with a Y? And she goes, oh, there's a little butterfly outside. No way. Let's stop for a second.

32:42And so my mom said, if I ever have a little girl, I'm going to give her a strong name, like Parker. But then she met my dad with this name like Posey. And I almost died at birth. My dad was like there in his army. Wait, wait, wait. Let's not gloss over that. Hang on a second. We stop for the butterfly, but you don't stop for the... But you plow through the death. Were you almost dropped? Or was it a... What happened? Were you still in the oven? I was still in the oven. I was born premature. And a week before, on Halloween, my mom got the news that she was having twins. And so the story was that I was in her ribs, and they didn't even know where I was.

33:30Oh, God. So I was out at three pounds. Like Eve speaking of the Bible, right? Like Eve came from Adam's rib. Keep going. Yeah. There you go. Wow. There you go. It's all coming together. And so, yeah, I was like not even three pounds. Wow. That's small. And so the doctor came in saying, your boy is fine, but we don't know about your girl. We need a name. So we're just going to park her right here. And so I'm going to park her right here. And what's the middle name? And my middle name is Christian because they wanted the help of Jesus and God and anyone else who would listen. And so, yeah, my dad would tell this story.

34:17that he was in the hospital with a six-pack of beer, like, kneeling and praying as he's, like, looking at me in an incubator with these, like, these... And he's like, Please, God, please let my little girl live. And at that moment, I screamed. No way. Oh, wow. And so my dad... So I was like, Okay, now my dad talks to God all the time. So it was, like, such a crazy story to tell, like, a little kid. Yeah. You know how you tell... So I got a lot of that mythologizing. Yeah, that's cool, though. As a kid, which I, and then he also said, and I looked at that beer can and I said, my girl is the size of this beer can.

34:56She's like a beer can with legs. And that was like, and look at me now. Were you treated like this sort of the golden child? Because you kind of like, against all odds, you kind of came to life and all that stuff. No? No, no, no. No, they were... I think that's often the case, isn't it? Like, sometimes people... I mean, I was definitely daddy's girl. My dad I describe as a comedian without a venue. Like, he was really funny and really a performer, you know? Tell me about that time, about your dad calling. You were in the summer program. I didn't know you were in ballet. I didn't know you took ballet.

35:37I was a ballerina, and my dad, I auditioned. I went away when I was 12 for North Carolina School of the Arts to dance, and I loved ballet, and I auditioned for the dance program, and I didn't get in, and I was devastated. And my dad called the dean of the school, and he said, my daughter's going to be devastated. What do I tell her? And he said, we loved her so much, and she almost got in because she's so much fun. But you just tell her she's an actress, and that's how it all started. Oh, for real. No way. Really? Wow. And so I went back to NCSA for acting. And it was there I did clowning, and maybe that's why I, you know, I made fun of mime back then.

36:20But I, you know, I have respect for mime, and I appreciate mime. Yeah, for sure. And I did movement and dance and all of that. So where did you grow up? Where was your childhood? Monroe, Louisiana. Oh, really? Born in Baltimore, raised in Louisiana, and then Mississippi. We moved to Laurel when I was 12. So I was already like out the door. What was your first pro gig? It was a short, I was a junior in college. And it was a short called First Love, Fatal Love for HBO about a woman and a young person in high school who had AIDS. And this was played by a woman named Alex O'Dare. I love and adore.

37:01She's Gabby Hoffman's older sister. and she's just brilliant and a great person and woman. And she wrote a book too and she's just wonderful. And Steve Zahn. Steve Zahn had 10 lines in that. I had 10 lines. How old are you? I had 10 lines. I was 20, I think. Wow, wow. That's amazing. And then what? And then you went, you did that. You graduated from, where were you? And then you - What about you? I want to hear like little stories. Like when did that all click for you guys? No, but how'd you get to New York? No, no. You're in the chair. Yeah, you're in the chair. You're in the chair. So when did you move to New York?

37:31um so at ncsa when i was there at 16 because i i went for the summer programs and i just loved it um one of the teachers there named molly and she had this big cow she was a modern dance teacher and she had this big cow patty bun on her head and wore like you know how patty bun leotards and character skirts all day long she'd been wearing them for like 35 years right and i love the modern dance teachers. She said, you know, you may want to try auditioning for SUNY Purchase for drama. And because these schools accept different types of actors. Yeah. And so I wanted to, so it was the, I auditioned for NCSA, Juilliard, and SUNY Purchase.

38:15And Purchase was a school I got into. That's amazing. Wow. And your roommate was Sherry. I started, and I was going to, I was living in New York City the 1989, 90 of my junior year. Wow. And freelancing with a manager. I know. Gosh, it's wild to think about how long I've been doing this. That was the year I moved to New York, 90. Wow. Same year. Where did you live? Oh, everywhere. We'll be right back.

38:44And now, back to the show. So, Parker, you've talked a lot about your, you know, you described your family as like these fabulous Southern characters that you emulate sometimes and stuff. Like, what is your favorite things to go to when creating characters that emulate your family? Like, a lot of my Midwestern stuff, like, I do that too. We call pop instead of soda, you know. there's Portillo's which is a very you know popular Midwestern chain obviously the pizza this is insane character work just a quick aside how do you anything about 50 degrees how do you keep track of it all just as a quick aside where did you drink anything about 50 degrees are you in character now who are we talking to who are we talking to right now I know I gotta I gotta go to zero so soda you call pop Pop, yes.

39:45Hang on. Can I get a pen?

39:50Cinnamon rolls with chili is very Midwestern. I put ketchup on steak. My mom used to say, like, my mom used to say - What if you were to play somebody from the Northeast? Who, me or Parker? Yeah, what are you putting on your steak then? Yeah, no, Sean. What would you call soda then? I don't know what they call it. Seltzer, right? Seltzer. Seltzer. Oh, do they call it seltzer? Now you're in it. Don't they call soda in the seltzer? By the way, if you were in the South, you'd call everything a Coke. That's a tank. Yeah. Coke. Anyway, I didn't know if there was any. Yeah, the South is a different, you know, I just, yeah.

40:23Did you read plays? Did everyone read plays as a young actor? Yeah, always. I didn't. So it's that, well, you were already on that TV show, Jason. Dumb, dumb stuff, yes. How cute were you on that little show? I mean, pretty cute. I was like, he's cute. He's really cute. He's very cute. He's still very cute. Very cute. Don't kid yourself. Let's go slow through this section. Okay, so listen. Then, Parker, I want to go through your hobbies, if it's okay to call them hobbies. Pottery, sewing, ashtanga yoga, which I have no idea what that is. Ashtanga. Ayurvedic medicine, I have no idea what that is.

41:00Like, what are all those things? So stupid. Oh, my God. What are those things? What's Iurevatic? Is that it? Iurevatic? Okay, Iurevatic. When I was doing, I did a movie called The Eye with Jessica Alba. And it was based on a Korean film. Yay, Jessica. It was based on a Korean film, a horror film, about a woman who's blind and gets a chance to see. I'll be honest, I never saw it.

41:37And so she, my sister, Jessica gets her eyes, you know, gets a surgery where she gets these eyes back and they're the eyes of a murderer. And it was a great part because, as her sister, because all I had to do is like, what's going on? You seem different, you know? And I was in New Mexico for like three weeks. And I went to the Ayurvedic Institute And I sat in on some classes with an Ayurvedic teacher named Dr. Vasant Ladd, who is like one of these leading Ayurvedic people in the country. And if you know Andrew Weil, I think his name is. Sure. With the big gray beard. Yeah, that guy. What do you know about it?

42:21Yeah, I know. And I sat in on some classes at the institute there. And I met this, I hung out at the Annapurna Cafe, which is like the Indian cafe and found the yoga classes, but heard from this guy Prakash that there was an Ayurvedic school and I should go because this Dr. Vasant Lad is incredible. So I said I'd done some classes there. It was really cool. What do they teach? What is Ayurvedic? It's a science. It's a science of the body. And like we're born into these bodies that tell us what our psychology is and what our diet, how we should eat. And then there's three different, there's Pitta, Vata and Kapha.

43:07So everyone falls into these different categories of if there's like, if like I burn through energy, you know, like when I'm working, I'm like. I'm quick to grasp things, but I can easily forget them. And so it's like a way of your body, you're designed in a certain way. We're incarnated into these bodies to have this kind of experience. And with these bodies, they are teaching us how to be centered and aligned and open. And there's certain programs that benefit each type of body. That's right, yeah, and certain foods. So there were people who had cancer who did the Ayurvedic, it's called Pachakarma, I think.

43:53That's interesting. I'm going to look into that. It's really interesting. And through diet, they've healed themselves. And then they're like, okay, we're opening a restaurant in Hawaii and I'm going to serve Ayurvedic food because this is healing people more than my chemo did, you know? So when my dad had cancer, I tried to get him to be healthier. and I saw someone sent me a doc called, I think, Surviving Cancer, which had an interview of all these people who said, I'm not doing chemo, I'm just going to see what happens with my diet when I change it. And anyway, it's kind of... That is interesting.

44:34I like all that stuff. I've met two people in my life who, in the last 20 years, who had different forms of cancer, who did similar things, who changed not just their diet, but their lifestyle, removed stress and did all that stuff and were able to completely eliminate the cancer. This one guy had been a firefighter and he developed lung cancer. True story. And he ended up being, JB, he ended up being one of the coolest guys I ever met. He quit his life. He moved to Carmel and he became a caddy at Pebble. No way. Yeah, this guy, Ryan. And he's one of the coolest people I've ever met. And he's like, I just, I wake up every morning and I walk, my wife does it, we make all this stuff and I've changed my life and I like being a caddy.

45:17I'm out here in the thing. He plays golf as well. He's like, and I've just... Zero stress. This is what I do now. Zero stress. He refused the chemo and he beat it. That's amazing. That's amazing. I know. I don't know if it works, but he really did it and he went full bore. He leaned into it and in addition to beating the cancer, and I think he was predisposed to be this way, he had an incredible energy about him. He was an incredibly empathetic, kind person, and he had an aura about him, like really pretty amazing. That's cool. Or you can wake up every morning and eat a Pop-Tart and stress out about your bottom line, right, Sean?

45:57And answer emails like a gopher. That's me. Before you hit send, you get a reply from Sean. Do you need Pop-Tarts? I agree. Do you need Pop-Tarts, Sean? I do sometimes. Sometimes I have a couple boxes in there now. With a glass of milk. With a glass of milk. But I have to cut down on the sugar just because it's not... I don't have to cut it all the way out. I just have to cut it down a little bit. How did it go last night? I didn't have a dessert last night for the first time in like 10 years. Did you wake up feeling a little snappier? I did, actually. I slept a little better, actually. Yeah, that's what happens.

46:28Yeah, yeah. Now, Parker, when you were in Thailand, did you see a lot of the Ayurvedic folks and some of your yoga practice, I bet, was... Oh, my God. I did it all. I was so excited. I bet that was a dream for you. You must have loved it there. It was a dream. I heard about this place called Camaliah. Mike's lawyer's wife, I just struck up a conversation. We had all just landed there like a week. And she said, I'm going to this place called Camaliah. It's for women of a certain age. And I'm going to go there for two weeks and get this all sorted out. And then I saw her two weeks later. and she was just like...

47:10Oh, really? What do you mean just exhausted? No. Transformed. She was like, it changed my life. Oh, wow. She got grounded. She was centered. She was like, it opened up a lot of healing. So this place and these, it's very, there's an Ayurvedic chef there and it's a wellness center and it has one of those plaques that Mike visited this place for White Lotus. you know, a digital detox, please no cell phones at the table and all of that. And there was a communal table. And I mean, I got to stay there for six weeks. Oh my God. And I did Reiki. I did sound baths. I went to that liminal space you were talking about earlier in the show.

48:00Right. Where you're in between consciousness and you're in a theta state, I think it's called too. and I had waking moments and dreams and I saw things. And it was founded on a monk's cave 25 years ago. This couple, John and Karina, met each other and then reconnected and built this beautiful place. So the thing about Thailand that is so special are the people. Yeah. Like, a rite of passage as a, you know, I don't know how old, as a 13-year-old is, or maybe in high school, is to live in a monastery and live off the kindness of others who are going to drop off food for you to eat. Wow, wow. So they have, it's a lot of reciprocity.

48:55Okay, at Kamaliah, there was a doctor named Dr. Cern. I had this muumuu caftan dress on with dogs on it. And so she knew, and I love dogs. And so she told me about her, she showed me pictures of her dog KK. KK means crooked in Thai. And KK had crooked eyes and it was a little like, you know, a mix, kind of a corgi mix, but a little stockier. Sure. And the dog, she showed me these pictures of KK with like carrying a dead leaf, like a leaf or a branch in his mouth, her mouth. Even KK knows to bring offerings when she wants something. So she would make offerings of like a leaf or something, she'd bring it to the door for food at the back door, isn't that the best?

49:46And then when you got back to the United States, you're like, oh, this is the best country in the world. So listen. Van Nuys. No, wait. They're so kind. Like, it's so, they're so present with you. I love that. And it's just so, well, yeah. Anyway, I can tell you guys kind of spaced out and checked out. No, we were listening. No, I love that. We were listening. We were listening. I love that. Parker. No, Dazed and Confused, Party Girl, you were queen of the Indies, all the Waiting for Guf and Best in Show, White Lotus, you were killed in that show. You have, remind me of the name of the movie that's coming out.

50:27It's called Wild Horse Nine. Yes. And really quick, before, do you remember when I came to your apartment in New York when you were practicing mandolin for Mighty Wind? Yes, that's right. Yes, and I sat there in your apartment with you and you're like, I want to see what it's like to be in a Christopher Guest movie. And you showed me the outline of Best in Show, or no, of A Mighty Wind. And I was like, oh, really? So you just make all this stuff up? Like, you completely improvise. It's really cool. And then you were showing me the song that you were making up with the mandolin. Right. I just thought that was fascinating to me.

51:01Yeah, it's so, I think I kind of got what it was to learn an instrument at the end there. Like I could start jamming with songs and then get that kind of space. Yeah, that was so cool. I'm so glad I got to do that. Do you remember our Oscar winning film we did together called The Sweetest Thing? Yes. I mean, was that not just creatively the most fulfilling? Yeah, I know, we just killed it. Right? We killed it. I love that. I was so excited to be working with you. We all, will you stay? I really enjoyed hanging out with you guys. You know, you do these things and then you don't really feel like you're hanging out.

51:37Well, we're going to come over to the Chateau right now. We're going to have lunch. We're going to speed over. I have something at 2.30 and that's it. Parker, we love you very much. Love you guys. Thank you for being here. This is so sweet. And I hope you win. I hope you win for White Lotus because you deserve it. Yes, please. Thank you. I just hope I'm nominated. I have an honor to be nominated and I hope that happens. So thank you for sending out that Hollywood vibe. I love it. You'll get our votes. Thank you, guys. Bye, Heidi. Love you. Thank you, Parker Posey. Love you guys. Thank you. Bye, bye, bye.

52:11Oh, then she covers up. Look at that. Look at that. She knows what she's doing. I know what I'm doing. Love her. Wow. Yeah, really. That Parker. She's so funny. She's an original. Yeah. Oh, it's just consistently exciting to watch. She was on Will and Grace a lot, many episodes of Will and Grace. Oh, really? Why don't we talk about that? Yeah, what happened to that? I didn't know whether to be like, hey, remember when you were on Will and Grace? Yeah, I didn't have any question about it. It didn't stop me. Yeah, about what? Remember when we did Sweetest Thing together? Yeah, I know. But yeah, I mean, she's always been so kind.

52:48I've never met her before. Oh, really? Isn't she hilarious? Yeah, she's amazing. She's great. She's as advertised. She delivers. Yeah. And she's, I don't know, but you guys, I love all that kind of talk about like all that healing stuff and the ivoristic or whatever it's called. That's what it was. Ivoristic. Good for you. Or something. Ayurvedic. Ayurvedic. That's what it is. Ayurvedic. I want to learn more about that. No, you don't. We want you to learn more about it. I do, actually. I actually do want to learn more about it. Why don't you go to Thailand for six weeks and go to that - Why don't you, you fucking idiot.

53:19That wellness center and get yourself flushed out. Yeah. Why don't you go fucking, he won't even go to the 405. What do you think, he's going to fucking Thailand? He's going to scrape some of the impacted bowels you've got right out. Can you imagine he had to go to a place that didn't have access to Jeopardy every night? He'd be walking tomorrow. Or Wheel of Fortune. Wheel of Fortune. It's never fucking happening. No, I'm not going to Thailand. No. I appreciate these almonds, but do you have any hickory almonds? Absolutely. How about when she stopped for that butterfly? I love that. And, you know, a butterfly rhymes with it.

53:51Here they come. Here it comes. Butter... Bye? What? No. That's not even a thing, man. I know. I was a butterfly. No. Keep working. You can just make shit. Will and I will talk for a while. Okay, let me see. And you do some Google searching. Come up with a bye. Will, what's going on with your mic stand? I don't know, man. Leave it alone. Is there anyone in the office with you, Will? Yeah. There are three other people here. Yeah, oh yeah. What are they doing? Counting paper clips? They're working, man. They're working away. We got Twisted Metal Season 2 coming out this summer on Peacock. Oh, look at that.

54:29Give it a plug. Twisted Metal. Well, you asked. You asked. This is a behind-the-scenes tour, hard rock tour. Super Team Canada. We got Super Team Canada coming out. That's already out. That's an animated show. Check it out. It's fantastic. We also have our new doc that just got released, Sexiest Man in Winnipeg. Listen, we got a lot of things going on, okay? Sure, sure, sure, sure. Yeah. So Sexiest Man in Winnipeg, that's about a doctor? Did you say he just got out of prison? Do you want to know the truth is it's about a guy who was a sports reporter. Anytime you're ready, Sean. I can't find one.

55:07You can't come up with a buy? I had a whole list. Oh. It's The Sexiest Man in Winnipeg, and it's about a guy who's a sports reporter who started robbing banks. True story. Okay. Well, it sounds like a lot of stories going on. It sounds like you're taking one and another one and you're coming. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I'll allow it just to make the pain go away. Smart. Nice.

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