Parker Posey doesn’t seem to care too much about the tsunami of hate she initially got for her accent on “The White Lotus” — and her indifference isn’t due to Lorazepam.
The “Dazed and Confused” alum visited “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Thursday night, and Meyers couldn’t help but ask Posey if Southerners have given her any feedback about the comedically overdrawn Durham, North Carolina accent she’s been utilizing for her character, Victoria Ratliff, on Season 3 of the hit Max series.
It’s understandable why Meyers would be curious, since not long after Season 3 premiered last month, a lot of social media users panned Posey’s twang.
Despite the criticism, Posey told Meyers Thursday that she recently ran into some people from North Carolina who had a completely different opinion.
“I was in Paris, I was at the Valentino fashion show. … And there were these people from North Carolina at the hotel,” Posey told Meyers.
The “Party Girl” star then put on the thick drawl she uses on the show to explain the next bit.
“And they were like, ‘Uhm, we just have to say, we’re from North Carolina, we think you’re doing a great job. We love the accent, it’s dead on. You’ve got that part down, this is my mother, that’s my aunt,’” Posey said.
“We captured something,” she concluded. “So, that just feels so good!”
Although some fans have been critical of Posey’s “White Lotus” accent, plenty of people on social media have praised it. Some argue that it’s authentic to the region, while others point out that even if it’s not realistic, it’s still incredibly funny.
Although the indie actor has long been associated with New York City, Posey grew up in Mississippi and Louisiana. She told “Today” earlier this month that thanks to her upbringing, she’s been fascinated by Southern women since she was a little girl.
“I love Southern women, the characters,” Posey said, referring to her love of Tennessee Williams’ female characters. “So getting to be this dramatic and funny, it’s just so juicy and fun to do.”
She also admitted to “Today” that she’s been working on Victoria’s accent even before she was cast in “The White Lotus.”
She told the talk show that back when she used to work with Christopher Guest on films like “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best in Show,” she’d play around with her Southern accent with the filmmaker.
“Chris and I would joke, and I’d go, ‘Nooooo, noooooo,’” Posey said with a drawl.
She explained that when she was cast on “The White Lotus,” she decided to build this silly inflection with creator Mike White.
“And it just turned into, ‘Piper, noooooo,’” Posey said. “And we just played on that. It just started to grow and grow.”