When I was told that Parker Posey would call me to do the interview for this article, I assumed we would be connected by her publicist. Most stars, even minor ones, allow their handlers to serve as switchboard operators: The job—not unlike that of a middle school dance chaperone—is to ensure that the divide between celebrity and journalist is kept sufficiently wide. Sometimes the publicist will even listen in on the call. This is the status quo, nothing personal. So I’m completely disarmed when I pick up the phone to hear Posey herself, in the middle of a grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving, asking if it would be alright if she calls me back in half an hour.

It’s this endearing accessibility—the slightly kooky Everywoman vibe, equal parts Holly Golightly and Harvard librarian—that has granted Posey lasting star power in ever-fickle Hollywood. She may not have the megawatt, megawhite smile of Julia Roberts or the box office clout of Reese Witherspoon, but she has a thoughtful grace, quirky wit and dark, beguiling beauty—she is the thinking man’s muse, the thinking woman’s girl crush. Posey has made a career of playing smart, complex, oddball antiheroines, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that these adjectives apply to her as well. On the phone, she’s instantly warm and friendly, to the point where it’s easy to forget that you don’t actually know her. I ask Posey about her recent recovery from Lyme disease—she was set to star in Melissa James Gibson’s off-Broadway play This, which opened in November at the Mainstage Theater in New York, but had to drop out due to the illness—and we get into a discussion about holistic healing, after which she gives me the number of a practitioner she used, in case I ever need it. Then she tells me about the turkey she just bought, which comes from a farm in Vermont that plays classical music to the birds before they’re killed. “So we play classical music while we eat the turkey,” she says. “It’s a whole different experience.”

Posey, who comes by her stage-worthy name in part thanks to her father’s love of 1950s model Suzy Parker, grew up in Mississippi and Louisiana, and started acting while attending the State University of New York at Purchase. Shortly after graduating she landed a role on As the World Turns, and in 1993 made a memorable big-screen debut as a tyrannical, haze-crazed cheerleader in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused. This led to a string of meaty parts in independent films (among them Party Girl, The House of Yes, Clockwatchers and Henry Fool) that prompted Time magazine to declare her “Queen of the Indies” in 1997, a crown that, arguably, she still wears at 41.

Posey has appeared in big-budget studio movies—most recently the thriller The Eye and Superman Returns—and she’s good in them, but her talent comes alive in the offbeat, character-driven stories that made her famous. Her latest project, Happy Tears, is one of those. The second feature film from director Mitchell Lichtenstein (the son of pop artist Roy), Happy Tears was shot on location in and around Philadelphia last spring and tells the story of two sisters (Jayne, played by Posey, and Laura, played by Demi Moore) who return home to Pittsburgh to figure out how best to care for their dementia-afflicted father (Rip Torn). Once we dispense with the turkey talk, Posey fills me in on getting to know Philly, bonding with Demi and awkward requests from fans.

I hear that this was your first visit to Philly.
It was really sweet! [The cast] stayed on Rittenhouse Square; there were all of these restaurants to go into and this cute walking area. It was spring, and it was beautiful, and the sunflowers were out.

Did you take advantage of the restaurants?
Oh, yeah. I had these amazing burgers at Rouge. And [Stephen Starr’s] place, Alma de Cuba. And there is this tea store called Premium Steap that has delicious stuff like coconut-lime tea. Really good! Then we would have picnics on the weekends. I’d go to this Italian grocer somewhere in the neighborhood, and we’d get a blanket and just lie out eating.

What made you take the role of Jayne in Happy Tears? Had you seen Mitchell Lichtenstein’s first film, Teeth?
Yes, I had seen Teeth. It was an art film and a horror film. And just the talent and the direction and kind of the Americana of it all really interested me. Then Mitchell asked me to be in [this] movie. I was so happy to read a script about a human being, because those movies do not get made anymore. So when those films come along I’m really excited. It’s just so rare that you get to play a multidimensional person.

Jayne doesn’t really know who she is yet, even though she’s a grown woman. Is that hard to play as an actor?
Jayne is someone who would be described as being removed from herself. There’s some dialogue that was cut—her sister says, “You’re so susceptible, it’s like you’re in the ocean, just kind of fl oating around.” Jayne’s been shielded by her sister. She’s grown up to fall in love with another broken person like herself. So there’s a lot there. I felt like [through the film] we could really expose something about women, about sisters, about love and family. And we shot it in 23 days. [Laughs]

Wow, that’s fast.
It’s risky. It can be really stressful because you don’t have all the time to explore. Demi was amazing. She could just go on set and know exactly what was going on in five seconds. She was great to work with. I learned so much from her.

What did she teach you?
She just has so much experience. It seeps out of her. And she’s not too cool for school; she’s so down-to-earth. It’s inspiring when you’re around people who care and are passionate about what they do. And I feel like that’s rare, you know?

I saw some paparazzi shots of you two out in the city during filming. Were the paps a problem?
Well, Demi was able to go out to eat in Philadelphia without the attention she gets in LA. I’m not as famous as she is, so I’m not followed by the paparazzi like she and Ashton are. But for her it was great to be able to casually say, “Let’s go have a bite to eat.” Sometimes some guy would come over and go, “Can I take a picture?” Total paparazzi dude. But it wasn’t overwhelming. She would just say, “No, not right now. Thanks for asking and not just taking a photo of me, but I’m not really up for it. Some other time perhaps, thank you.” Which was great! You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. That was one of the things I learned from her, too. I get people who come up to me and are like, “This is really obnoxious, but can you talk to my boyfriend on the phone right now?”

People ask that?
Yep. I won’t say no. I can be way too accommodating. And then I’m there having the experience watching myself like, “This is something I don’t really like to do.” Demi was accommodating and nice, but she had her boundaries.

Do you feel like there are fewer good roles for women today, as opposed to when you started in the early ’90s?
The independent film scene came along in the early ’90s and started making little movies like they did in the ’70s, but that wasn’t able to survive because the studio system found a way to co-opt the whole movement. It’s a world market. Now you have these big movies that are really focused on becoming a game at some point. I mean that literally—I just got back from LA [and] I had a meeting with a company that just bought the movie rights to Lego.

Lego the toy?
Yeah, Lego—the little building blocks. So it’s like everything else; it’s a corporate thing that’s happening on every level. But it’s also the beginning of a change. I think a lot of people don’t go to movies anymore because it’s too expensive and they don’t know what’s good. Hopefully [financial backers] and producers will find a way to cast people who are right for the roles and find directors that are real directors, and it will become an art form again.

A lot of people are saying that the best writing now is actually on TV instead of in the movies.
That’s what film guys were telling me out in LA. Television is where it’s at. Have you seen Mad Men? I met with those people. I’m just so inspired by them! It’s great to go in there with what we’re talking about and bond.

You’re referred to as the “Queen of the Indies.” Do you seek out smaller, more independently produced movies?
No, I don’t seek them out at all. That stuff seeks me out. It’s like, I wait around for something good to come my way. And in the interim, I walk by movie theaters and I go, “No wonder I’m not working. Now I see! I’m not really a superhero!”

I think you’d make a good one.
You know what my big idea is? Demi Moore as the mighty Isis. Remember that show [The Secrets of Isis]? With the science teacher, who found the amulet and called on the powers of the ancient Egyptians?

You should pitch that.
I pitched that a little in LA, but they were kind of... eh.

Well, they want you to be a Lego.
Right, Isis can’t be a Lego.

So what’s next? Tell me about the projects you have coming up in 2010.
I filmed a movie a few weeks ago [Highland Park, starring Danny Glover], which was my first job back after being so sick. I’d like to do another play. And I’m going to be a juror at Sundance. It’s going to be really cool to see what’s getting made and if there is a new voice out there for independent cinema.