I was thinking, what makes someone THE Indie king.queen? as for me, I know in the 80's winona was considered such a being, but now I don't know who takes the crown. at first I thought Scarlett Johannsen, but is she really India anymore? I guess so, because she hasn't done big titles, but is her name too well known? I thought about Jennifer Coolidge and Parker Posey, but each of them have gone Hollywood too many times I think (American Pie, Legally Blonde, and Josie, Mail, Attraction). I think I ultimately settled on Catherine O'Hara, whos done dozens of excellent movies but is still below the radar the Hollywood machine even when she does make appearances in big flicks. Cathy Bates too?

Men are trickier for me. I resort to steve Buschemi and John Tutturo, but maybe Philip Seymour Hoffman is a better pick? I'm not sure who reigns upon high here.

How do you define an Indie actor/actress, and who would your picks be?

-Dolce

The indie queens I can think of are Jennifer Jason Leigh, Parker Posey, and Lily Taylor. Indie King is hard to sort out but my current favorite one is Paul Giamonti who was robbed last year for not getting a nomination for American Splendor

Honestly, I don't think there is such a thing as a true inde king or queen now. Hollywood is too hell bent on finding the new "it" person for an actor to be successful and still not uber famous and in huge blockbusters. Almost every person that emerges as a possible indie king/queen goes on to make summer blockbuster fare.

HMmmm...how about Patricia Clarkson? She seems to be making about 3 or so movies a year recently, almost always independent (the only big hollywood movie i can think of her making recently is Miracle) and she still seems to get pretty high recognition with all her movies.

I can't think of many guys.

William H. Macy and Paul Giamatti are both great indie actors.

Frances McDormand appears in lots of interesting indie films, sometimes in very small roles. Besides her films with the Coens (Fargo, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and The Man Who Wasn't There) she's appeared in Lone Star, Laurel Canyon, Beyond Rangoon (independent?), and many others.

As for guys, maybe Harvey Keitel? Of course he's usually nude, so he ought to get some kind of an award for that, I guess.

The line between indie and not ist so blurry now that it is impossible to tell.

Willaim H. Macy is a good pick, though.