Last week, actor Parker Posey had TODAY’s Craig Melvin in giggles when she practiced her “White Lotus” character’s Southern drawl in a clip that since went viral. Now this week, her co-star Patrick Schwarzenegger got in on the joke.
In an interview on TODAY March 13, Craig played Schwarzenegger that clip of Posey from the week prior — in which she drawled phrases like “tsuuuunami” and “nooooo,” in character as Victoria Ratliff. Victoria, of course, is a mother to three kids on “The White Lotus,” including Schwarzenegger’s character, Saxton.
As the clip played, Schwarzenegger couldn’t help but laugh. Then he launched into his best impression of Posey.
When asked Craig asked Schwarzenegger how he kept a straight face while they were filming together, Schwarzenegger replied that he simply didn’t.
“I don’t. That’s the problem,” he said.
He then mimicked Posey’s body language, saying, “She just moves her body like this, and she puts her hands up, and then she’ll be like, ‘Piper, noooo!’” Schwarzenegger said. “And then everyone just starts cracking up during the scenes.”
“That’s why we filmed for seven months, by the way,” he joked. “That’s why it took seven months, is because of Parker Posey — but she’s so funny. It’s just out of control what she’s capable of doing.”
Since Posey’s clip went viral on TikTok, creators have been using the sound to re-create her Southern drawl. Craig and Savannah Guthrie got in on it, posting a video from the TODAY studio.
During her TODAY interview, Posey explained how she fine-tuned her Southern accent for “The White Lotus” and she said she perfected it by working on movies like “Best in Show.”
“We just played on that, so it just started to grow and grow,” she said.
