Parker Posey is known for making people laugh, but she doesn’t always understand why.
She recently talked about her two-episode role on Will & Grace. She played Dorleen, the love-struck floor manager at Barney’s who works with Jack McFarland (played by Sean Hayes). Posey described trying to keep up with the fast pace of filming a sitcom as “like tap dancing.”
In a conversation with Lisa Kudrow on Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Posey said it was both challenging and confusing to adapt to the strict rhythm of sitcom work. She admitted, “I would say stuff like on Will & Grace and people would laugh, and I’d be like, ‘I don’t get it.’”
Kudrow asked, “What, you mean like, what are they laughing at?” Posey explained, “I didn’t think it was funny. Yeah, like, ‘What are you laughing at?’”
Kudrow joked, “Was it a joke that they had written? Because that happens sometimes.”
Posey then talked about how she gradually grew into the role of Dorleen, who remains a fan favorite. She said, “I take it seriously, and then you go, ‘Oh, well, that was kind of funny.’ Then they throw jokes at you while you’re doing it, because everyone else has been doing it for a few years.”
She described the experience of joining a cast with veterans like Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes as stepping into “this whole other vaudeville.”
By the time Posey got the role of Dorleen in 2001, she was already an established star in independent films. She was well known for her unique style and offbeat performances in movies by directors such as Richard Linklater, Hal Hartley, Gregg Araki, and Jill Sprecher. Sprecher had even directed Posey and Kudrow together in the 1997 film Clockwatchers.
However, Posey had very little experience with television acting. Still, her deadpan exchanges with Sean Hayes and the comedic moments with Eric McCormack in Will & Grace’s fourth season made her guest role one of the series’ most memorable, alongside guest stars like Cher, Madonna, and Chloë Sevigny.
Recently, Posey has received high praise for her role in the TV drama anthology The White Lotus. She played Victoria Ratliff, a wealthy, pill-dependent matriarch in the show’s third season.
When asked about a possible White Lotus: All Stars season, Posey told Entertainment Weekly in May, “All of us. But [Jennifer Coolidge’s] Tanya, of course.”
