Parker Posey on Wild Horse Nine: 'I’m always happy when I get to act with auteurs'
Parker Posey has carved an idiosyncratic route to success, from 1993’s Dazed And Confused to an eye-catching turn in The White Lotus. Now starring in Martin McDonagh’s critically acclaimed film Wild Horse Nine, Parker chats to James Mottram about tea, travel and tradition
Hello Parker. What’s that tea you’re drinking? It’s a herbal tea… I travel with my tea. It’s lemongrass, mint and licorice root. It’s my little go-to for comfort and self-care. There’s a spice store in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and I make my own tea. Put it in a big bowl, mix it all up and then put it in my little bags. It’s a little taste of home wherever I go.
What attracted you to Wild Horse Nine? There’s so few auteur directors in the culture now and Martin McDonagh has become one of them. When you read a piece of writing that is a composition, it can withstand repeat watching. It could be on stage. You would go again. The actors are held by this great writing that can take you emotionally anywhere and has many different tones and directions. This took him ten years to write. It’s baked; it’s fully living, as it should be. I feel like there’s so much that’s rushed now; directors and writers want to get their movies made. He really knows how to make a composition, make something really full.
Does McDonagh’s unique black humour appeal? He’s got a great wit in the writing that’s subtle and sharp and so smooth. When people write comedies, they write jokes and it’s usually by committee.
What were your feelings towards the story, about these two CIA men on a mission to Rapa Nui aka Easter Island? It’s so nice to have a story about men who really love each other. There’s a lot of love in this, even though they’re cantankerous and the humour is very biting. But they’re all very on the edge and very much alive in situations that are life threatening, so I love the stakes of it.
You play the acerbic wife of Sam Rockwell’s CIA spook. How much fun was that? There’s not a lot of rich female characters in movies. And I’m always happy when I get to act with auteurs.
You don’t have a lot of screen time to make an impression so what was your approach to the character? There’s a lot of mind-reading. I always want to talk to the art department or have them send me pictures of what everything looks like. Wardrobe is really important, and the details are really important, and then the whole script is really important. I like being able to see the rest of the puzzle as you go in, like an athlete, and ride the waves of the dialogue down the hill. I travelled to Rapa Nui and then we shot in Moab in Utah, this majestic part of America that is otherworldly and ancient and awe-inspiring.
Is travel something you’ve enjoyed doing in your career? I’ll always take the trip! I was like that in my twenties too. It was like, ‘oh, that feels like I want to experience that or go to that place’. More so than like, ‘oh, that’s a small part. I’m not going to take it because it’s not the lead.’ So I’ve kind of been living my life like that.
What was your experience of Rapa Nui? I was only there for eight days but I got to go to a few caves. I got to go to church and see the service there, which was incredible.
You recently featured in HBO’s The White Lotus. Did that change things for you? The White Lotus was really popular, even in Rapa Nui! I took a photograph with an 8ft 5 man at church with bones and a whole headdress. The Rapa Nui people worshipped on the right side of the church, and visitors were on the left side. It was all a mix between their indigenous belief and catholicism (Mary had a bird on her head), and so people were getting their pictures taken by this giant in the headdress. And then someone came up to me and was like, ‘can I take a picture?’ I guess everybody loved it! I was like, ‘whoa, this is huge!’
You came out of the 1990s indie scene. Are you sad that period has gone and independent cinema has endured its struggles? Yeah. The artists have to conform within the world of genre so it’s just a different battle, right? You still see a lot of great movies but I think it's harder to get financing.
Wild Horse Nine is in cinemas from Friday 6 November; The White Lotus is available on Now TV.