Why Darla From Dazed And Confused Looks So Familiar
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It's hard to believe it's been nearly 30 years since the release of "Dazed and Confused." The Richard Linklater comedy opened in 1993 and remains a timeless classic, partially due to its taking place 17 years prior to when it was shot. The film centers around the lives of various teenagers in late 1970s Austin, Texas, as they finish their last day of school. They hang out with their friends, take part in freshman hazing, and ponder what their future lives will look like after high school. Over the decades, the movie has built up such a fanbase that the cast still gathers for reunions, books are still being written about it, and Matthew McConaughey's "Alright, alright, alright" has become a ubiquitous catch phrase.
The movie is also memorable for its star-studded cast. "Dazed and Confused" features a plethora of recognizable stars that includes McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp and even a (very) brief appearance from Renée Zellweger.
There aren't any real villains in "Dazed and Confused," but if you had to choose one it would likely be Darla Marks, one of the seniors in the film who beams of satisfaction when hazing the incoming freshmen. She gleefully makes the younger girls get on the ground while she squirts ketchup and mustard all over them. Darla is quick to call both the freshmen and her friend group "b****es," and outside of school, she demands that freshman Sabrina (Christin Hinojosa) "air raids" at a party. When she doesn't, Darla promises to make her next year "a living hell."
Darla is played by someone who, since appearing in "Dazed and Confused," has carved out an enviable career in both film and television.
Parker Posey followed with an indie classic
After "Dazed and Confused," Posey soon earned the title of "queen of the indies" for starring in a streak of notable independent films, such as "Party Girl," "Clockwatchers," and "SubUrbia." One of Posey's most memorable movies at this time was the Noah Baumbach-directed "Kicking and Screaming." The film was Baumbach's directorial debut and followed the lives of recent college graduates facing an uncertain future, anticipating their lives before going out to face the world.
Posey played Miami, a college senior and girlfriend to Skippy (Jason Wiles). Miami has a confident exterior, but as the movie progresses she shows signs of cracking, ultimately admitting to Skippy (with the use of a sharpie and a notebook) that she cheated on him.
"Kicking and Screaming" has endured over the years and is now considered a classic, with an official stamp of approval from the Criterion Collection. Josh Sorokach of Decider wrote of Baumbach that "No writer has captured the existential angst that accompanies post-graduate life more adeptly than Noah Baumbach." Vulture ranked it 3rd on a list of the best Baumbach films.
She became a frequent Christopher Guest collaborator
Posey is perhaps best known for her mockumentary work with the prolific comedy writer, filmmaker, and actor Christopher Guest. Guest is famous for his improvised comedies that often cast the same roster of comedic heavyweights, including Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, and Jennifer Coolidge. In "Waiting For Guffman," Posey played Libby Mae Brown, an amateur actor/singer and Dairy Queen employee who hopes one day to make a "healthy Blizzard." She went on to play Meg Swan, the braces-wearing yuppie who, along with her husband Hamilton (Michael Hitchcock), create one of "Best In Show's" most memorable scenes as the couple who breaks down trying to track down their dog's favorite busy bee toy.
Since then, Posey has collaborated with Guest on films including "A Mighty Wind," "For Your Consideration," and "Mascots."
The collaborations have paid off as Posey wrote in her 2018 memoir, "You're on an Airplane": "Probably the best compliment I ever received was in the parking lot of a Lowe's in upstate New York. This man had his 5-year-old son with him, and he said, pointing at me, 'This is the crazy dog lady from Best in Show,' and the little kid started laughing. I mean, done. Nothing makes me happier than a 5-year-old boy laughing at a grown woman acting like a 5-year-old."
Posey played Tom Hanks' girlfriend in You've Got Mail
When you think of "You've Got Mail," Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks will be the first actors who come to mind. But before Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) and Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) found each other, they had to close the door on their previous relationships.
Kathleen dated newspaper writer Frank Navasky (Greg Kinnear) and Joe's girlfriend was Patricia Eden (Parker Posey), a gossipy book publisher who also shows a liking to Frank. According to Salon, Parker's character was based on "celeb-chasing HarperCollins editor and TV talk-show host Judith Regan."
In a 1998 interview with Bobbie Wygant, Posey said her character was "a bit much. She has a lot of energy and is very manic and talks about herself like it's the most interesting thing in the world." She added that she "likes playing those types of parts." Posey went on to say how smart the writers of the films Nora and Delia Ephron are.
She starred in Netflix's Lost In Space
In addition to the numerous films in which she has appeared, Posey has often shown up on various television shows over the years. She's had guest spots on "Futurama," "The Simpsons," "Will & Grace," "Boston Legal," and "Search Party."
She had a brief stint on "Louie" as the seemingly perfect bookstore clerk Liz. But the more the character was on screen, the more we saw the darker sides of her. The performance garnered Posey a great deal of praise. Indiewire wrote that her role was deserving of a "guest Emmy nod." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Posey said she channeled Ruth Gordon in "Harold and Maude" and said of the character, "We realize that this woman is haunted by something. This is a human being who has exposed herself, and has been maybe seen by someone else and now has to close the door and shut down."
Posey has since starred in the 2018 Netflix revival of "Lost In Space." Posey was cast as Dr. Smith, replacing Jonathan Harris, who played the character in the show's original incarnation. Entertainment Weekly called the casting choice "an act of icon gender-swapping that lets the actress take the idea of Nefarious Scientist Type in a whole new direction." Posey's Harris was given a darker backstory with some added criminal history. Posey was a fan of the show as a kid, telling the New York Times she would get up "at 5:30 in the morning to watch the static turn to color when the show came on at 6." Fans are currently awaiting Season 3 of "Lost In Space."