'Beau Is Afraid' Interview: Parker Posey

Moviefone speaks with Parker Posey about 'Beau Is Afraid.' "I'm just so thankful. I don't get roles unless the director really wants me," the actress said.

Opening in theaters on April 21st is the new Black-comedy/Horror film ‘Beau is Afraid’ from ‘Hereditary’ and ‘Midsommar’ director Ari Aster.

What is the plot of ‘Beau Is Afraid?’

‘Beau is Afraid’ follows Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix), a paranoid man who embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother (Patti LuPone).

Beau Is Afraid

"From his darkest fears comes the greatest adventure."

R2 hr 59 minApr 10th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Beau Is Afraid Online

Who is in the cast of ‘Beau Is Afraid?’

‘Beau Is Afraid’ stars Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix (‘Joker’) as Beau Wassermann, Patti LuPone ('Driving Miss Daisy') as Mona Wassermann, Zoe Lister-Jones ('State of Play') as young Mona, Amy Ryan ('Gone Baby Gone') as Grace, Nathan Lane ('The Birdcage') as Roger, Parker Posey as ('Dazed and Confused,' 'Best in Show') as Elaine Bray, and Richard Kind ('Argo') as Dr. Cohen.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Parker Posey about her work on ‘Beau Is Afraid,’ director Ari Aster's unique visual style, working with Joaquin Phoenix, and why she needs filmmakers and fellow actors to fight for her to get roles.

Parker Posey stars in director Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid.'

You can read the full interview below or please click on the video player above to watch the interview and clips from the film.

Moviefone: To begin with, how did director Ari Aster originally pitch this film to you and what was your first reaction to the extremely imaginative screenplay?

Parker Posey: Well, I heard that he wanted to meet me on Zoom. So we had a Zoom meeting, and I said, "I saw 'Hereditary' and there was one thing that I really didn't like about it." Then I was like, "That I wasn't in it." Because I'm such a fan. I mean, ‘Hereditary’, and this movie too, he’s a real auteur filmmaker, and a visionary filmmaker who create these worlds that are able to elicit feelings that no other filmmaker can make and that are special to the artist. So Ari, with his actors and his direction, his camera work, his storytelling, to me, it felt like when I read it, like it was a movie that he always wanted to make.

(L to R) Joaquin Phoenix and director Ari Aster on the set of 'Beau Is Afraid.'

MF: When you had your first meeting with Ari did you know immediately that you would work well with him on set?

PP: So when we met on Zoom, he just said, "I've been a fan of yours for so long. I really want you to be in this movie. It's a small part but Joaquin wants you too." I was like, "I'm just so thankful." I don't get to do roles unless the director really wants me, and the star really wants me. They can fight the financiers or whoever's in charge that is saying, "No, we want someone younger, or we want someone who was just in a movie last month." So I was really, really touched to have that support and to feel that support come seemingly out of nowhere and be like, "Oh, this is really sweet. This is how it used to be for me way back 30 years ago. Back in the day, darling." So it was lovely.

Joaquin Phoenix in director Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid.'

Related Article: Director Todd Phillips Posts New Pictures from ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ as Filming Wraps

MF: The movie is visually stunning. Can you talk about the unique look of the film and what you thought of the final product?

PP: It's a Kafkaesque landscape, and it's a labyrinth. We don't know where we are. We don't know who these people are, we don't know who they're working for. So he's making something culturally relevant today that audience members will want to go to a theater and see. But when I saw the screening, I was like, "This could be at Disney World." The art behind it, what Beau goes through, it just looks great.

Joaquin Phoenix in director Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid.'

MF: Finally, what was it like working with Joaquin Phoenix and watching his process as an actor?

PP: You're taken by Joaquin and what he does as an actor in bringing out our empathy. Also, he's so mysterious as well. He's got a lot going on. He's very loose and open, and fluid, as an actor, and also very physical. Ari had a lot of physical theater actors in this. So there's this gravitas that the performers carry that you don't see tonally in a lot of movies, which I really love.