CINEMA: QUEEN OF THE INDIES

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She's been an indie omnipresence ever since, and doesn't fret about it. "It's not my business to overexpose myself," she says. "It's my business to work. Besides, even though I did five movies last year, nothing can compare to the drama of my personal life, which has escalated to outrageous levels." She had "nervous problems," lost two grandparents and broke up with a longtime boyfriend. "I won't get into it further," she says, "because I'm not paying you $125 an hour."

So here's the $125-an-hour question: How can someone who has It--the looks, the presence, the acting chops--not have it all? Because the major studios have yet to fall in love with her. Posey lost out to Sandra Bullock for the Speed role, to Renee Zellweger for Jerry Maguire. Just now she is too indie for the majors, too pert to get the serioso parts that win critics' awards. She's stranded between Tea Leoni and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Where are the leading roles in big films? Why doesn't she have her own Must-See TV series? Couldn't she at least be a Friend?

Her fans may be worried that she's missing out on conventional stardom, but Posey isn't. "I get a phone call, I get a script, I do the movie. That's where the fun is." And we'll have fun watching her bloom in indie films--if she can afford it.

--Reported by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles