Parker Posey has revealed that she and Jason Isaacs turned to reality television to prepare for their roles on season three of The White Lotus.
During Thursday’s Take Ten video interview for Deadline, the 56-year-old actor recalled playing Victoria Ratliff on the third season of the hit HBO show. Victoria and her husband, businessman Timothy Ratliff (portrayed by Jason Isaacs), traveled from North Carolina with their three children to vacation at the luxurious Thailand resort before things went awry.
To properly prepare for their roles, which required Southern accents, Posey and Isaacs watched the hit Bravo reality series, Southern Charm, following the lives of socialites in Charleston, South Carolina.
Posey, who is from the South, said her accent onThe White Lotus was inspired by a “mix of characters and accents” that the actor “heard growing up.”
“I said the lines in my head of that kind of cadence. I practiced a lot so it was technical, and then I had fun with it,” she added during the interview with Deadline. “I’m from the South, and it’s full of characters. The dialects alone and the way people talk is so charming and funny.”
Speaking of her co-star Isaacs, Posey said: “He’s got a great ear. You know, the English love their dialects, and the English and the South have a similar cadence.”
Both Posey and Isaacs received Emmy nominations for their work on the show.
When season three of The White Lotus was airing in March, fans were gushing over Victoria’s accent. Posey spoke about the viral reaction during an interview with Today at the time, reiterating that her acting skills were inspired by Southern Charm.
“I love Southern women, to be able to play them. We all watch Southern Charm. So being able to be this dramatic and funny, is just so juicy and fun to do. And of course, Mike White wrote it so well,” she explained, referring to the creator of The White Lotus.
Posey started her career in the 90s with celebrated independent films like Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused in 1993, Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming in 1995, and her standout role in Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Party Girl in 1995.
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However, she revealed in June that when Hollywood studios got involved in the independent film scene, she was made to feel that she couldn’t keep up.
“All of a sudden, I wasn’t viable to get a movie financed, and it was such a head trip because I would have to audition for Hollywood movies when I had carried the lead in independent movies that were shot in 23 days,” she said during an episode of the SmartLess podcast.
“I’m in a fluorescent-lit room, sweating and feeling like I’m being gaslit, you know?” she added. “Like, ‘I can promise I can memorize these lines in the script, and we’ll have a blast, trust me!’ So, I had, like, a good 20 years of that after, and then working with great auteurs and doing [films], not getting paid a lot, but being able to work and fulfill my creativity.”
