Park City, Utah ? In the new romantic comedy “The Sweetest Thing,” Parker Posey plays a doubt-filled bride on her wedding day. Though it is a small part, her scene is the catalyst for Cameron Diaz’s star-crossed search for love.

Posey acquits herself with smarts and edge, much the way she has in small-budget movies such as “Party Girl,” “Henry Fool” and “Daytrippers.” In the mid-1990s, Posey became known as the indie queen for appearing in more than 30 movies, mostly made out of the Hollywood system.

But the prolific times for Posey, 33, have ended as quickly as they began. Posey’s bit on “The Sweetest Thing” was one of two weeks she worked in 2001. She spent the other week on Rebecca Miller’s ensemble, “Personal Velocity.”

“It’s hard to get work,” she said at a cafe recently. “It’s really competitive now as the movie business becomes more of a marketplace and people, when they’re casting, go with stars they feel are bankable.”

In May, Posey begins filming Christopher Guest’s satire on folk music. Guest previously had Posey in the spoofs “Waiting for Guffman” (1996) and “Best in Show” (2000). Indie auteur Hal Hartley is also a repeat customer, using Posey’s onscreen arrogance to complete his vision of New York.

The studios have not been so receptive. Since 1994, Posey has made modest appearances in a handful of mainstream movies the last three of which were “You’ve Got Mail” (1998), “Scream 3” (2000) and “Josie and the Pussycats” (2001). The latter was not exactly a resume booster because it bombed.

“Parker is a very intelligent person who is in every way her own person,” Miller said. “And I think she sometimes shies away from sentimentality and triteness. She goes for more original ideas in general and that’s often to be found in independent films.”

“I’m kind of an anomaly,” she said. “To have fame and still live in the same apartment you lived in 10 years ago and not be a millionaire is not the norm.”