Parker Posey: New York Indie Queen Turned Boston Legal Eagle

Actress Parker Posey is notorious for her independent film roles. Like Canadian Indie Queen Molly Parker, Posey has taken on roles ranging from the bizarre to the downright disturbed. Now, she's landed a role on American television series Boston Legal as the prissy, insufferably shark-like new twit in the office, Marlene "The Squid" Stanger.

Marlene is the kind of work colleague that sleeps with every man in the office then grills every woman for the least indiscretion as if she were the Virgin Mary stuffing sinners into Hell at Judgment Day. You know - the kind every working woman really loves to hate. And boy, does Posey do her well.

She guest-starred in the last few episodes this past season. But with her character's promotion to partner (and Marlene's hilariously messy one-night stand with regular Alan Shore (James Spader)), it's looking as though Parker Posey could be around Boston Legal for the new season, as well.

Posey is not new to acting. Born in Baltimore in 1968 and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in the East Village in New York City. She began her career playing Tess Shelby on long-time soap As the World Turns in 1991-2. But her star has remained relatively obscure due to her penchant for switching between supporting roles in larger films and lead roles in independent film. In 1997, Time Magazine named Posey "Queen of the Indies" for her roles in over 32 indie films.

Two of Parker Posey's smaller roles are making her hot this year. Her Boston Legal guest turn has given her watercooler exposure as a would-be legal queen of mean. She also appeared as Lex Luthor's sidekick girlfriend Kitty Kowalski in Superman Returns. Though the movie itself fizzled (relatively speaking, for an expensive blockbuster), her role got her a July 10 interview with New York Magazine. In addition to these two roles, and her turn as Kitty on the Superman Returns videogame, Posey has three roles this year and is slated for three more already in 2007.

Why, at 37, is Parker Posey working more than ever when other actresses fade after the dreaded 3-0 barrier? Part of it may be because New York, her home of choice, is American Indie Film Central. Actresses can get more leeway in independent film. A lot of it seems to stem from her high energy and dedication-but also from her ability to give the craziest and meanest character a little grace.

Posey's character in her most critically acclaimed independent role, The House of Yes (1997), for example, is about as crazy as you can get. Not only is she so convinced that she's Jackie Onassis that she's renamed herself "Jackie O", but she's also obsessed with her brother. With good reason: they had an incestuous relationship when she was younger. Needless to say, she's unhappy when her brother brings home a fiancée. Murderously so.

Posey's most memorable roles are of women that Just Don't Get It. Yes, they're destructive, but they genuinely don't realize that. They think they're being team players when they're really off somewhere playing piano on Pluto. Marlene the Squid on Boston Legal is a perfect example of a Parker Posey comedic straight woman. Soon after she's hired, Marlene is paired up with one of the regulars, firm associate Denise Bauer (Julie Bowen).

They don't hit it off, but Marlene is oblivious to this, even though she is backstabbing Denise so hard, it's a wonder the woman doesn't fall over just from the weight of the knives. When Marlene goes over Denise's head in a case, she is gleeful afterward that "they" got a bigger settlement. She doesn't understand why this angers Denise, even though she left Denise out of the loop and hurt her reputation at the firm.

But writer David Kelley cleverly sets things up to show that Denise was the one not seeing things clearly. Denise thought she was in competition with Marlene for partner, but it turns out that Marlene was hired specifically with the intention of making her a partner in the firm. The "competition" was all in Denise's mind. Marlene was the one who saw the situation true.

Does this make Marlene any less destructive? Hardly. But this twist does bolster Parker Posey's talent for playing women who are a natural bane to other women (and often men). This quality probably won't ever give her Hollywood star status. But it should keep her career strong and healthy for a long time after other actresses with "nice" personas have faded. Everybody loves a good villainess.