New Zealand actor Melanie Lynskey is arguably in the form of her career at the moment, with her recent appearances alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Don't Look Up and in the TV series Yellowjackets seeing her stocks rise even further.
Melanie Lynskey. Photo: Supplied
However, despite her standing in the industry, Lynskey is still battling some of the same problems that existed when she announced her arrival (at only 16) in Sir Peter Jackson's acclaimed 1994 drama Heavenly Creatures.
Indeed, a film production member on the set of Yellowjackets implied she needed to lose weight, while her husband, Jason Ritter, recently came to her defence against internet trolls mocking his wife's weight, telling them they can "swan dive directly into the sun".
Lynskey, who is currently filming the TV miniseries Candy, joined Sunday Morning to discuss her star-studded career, why she believes she's playing the best characters of her life, and how much she's looking forward to getting back to New Zealand... eventually.
Yellowjackets, which is set in 1996, follows the story of a champion girls soccer team who survive a plane crash in the wilderness of Ontario, with flashbacks to the present day, as they deal with the trauma of the experience as adults.
It's become a huge hit - boasting an impressive 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes - but it was a part Lynskey nearly refused, as she was still juggling the filming of the series Mrs America, while looking after her 6-month-old daughter.
However, after reading the script for the pilot she knew she had to figure out a way to do it. The pandemic disrupted things for a while, but a year after the pilot was filmed, work on the series began.
While the show deals with some often dark subject matter, Lynskey believes part of the reason it's been so successful is due to the trauma of life in a pandemic.
"I think there's also something that's resonated with people about this idea of what do you do with trauma, like I think not everyone lost somebody during the pandemic or got very ill, but everyone's been somewhat traumatised," she says.
"It's been a really dark and strange time and I think a big part of what the show is about is people sort of reckoning with their trauma and figuring out how to go on when your life is turned upside down."
She portrays the character Shauna - your average American housewife with a dark side - who still knows how to skin a rabbit for dinner. However Lynskey, who's never been camping, says she would be "absolutely terrible" in a survival situation.
"There's a character on the show called Jackie who didn't do anything, she just kind of sat there and complained - that would be me.
"If I'm going to stay in a hotel I have to read every single TripAdvisor review of that hotel, I need to know what the pillows are like, I'm such a princess."
And that rabbit she skins on the show? It was an intricate prop, made especially for the scene.
"Yes it was a fake rabbit, because I'm a vegetarian," she says. "So they'd made this incredibly realistic looking rabbit, it was absolutely terrifying and it was held together by magnets, it was the craziest thing I've ever seen."
The show switches between the present day and 1996, with a whole cast of young actors portraying the girls as they survive in the woods and descend into chaos.
Having started her career at age 16 with Heavenly Creatures, Lynskey says she felt the need to reach out to them - as she was looked out for by older actors like Katrin Cartlidge and Anjelica Huston during her time as a young actor.
"I sent them all an email at the beginning of production and I just said if any of you need anything at any time, if you're feeling uncomfortable, if anyone asks you to do nudity or wear a costume you don't like or do a scene that makes you feel weird, I'll go to the producers for you, I'll go to the producers with you, I'll do whatever you need, you know, I'm going to be your voice if you need it.
"And they all were like 'thank you so much, we're good'. They're so confident and really have a lot of agency and it was beautiful to see actually, to see these young people who are just so in charge of their own lives."
In the end, her costar Juliette Lewis ended up sticking up for her after a person on the set made multiple disparaging comments about her body.
"So I just kind of sat with it for a while and then Juliette was like, this is crazy, and other people were having issues and so she did write a letter where she talked about what had been happening to me.
"I wasn't going to do that, I wasn't going to complain about somebody, but I did appreciate that she stood up for me in that way. She's a very very loyal, wonderful friend."
Lynskey has worked on an wide range of independent films over the last decade - a choice she made for herself after spending years on the uber-popular TV series Two And a Half Men.
"When I realised that Two And a Half Men was very successful, that's when I realised I had to get off the show," she says.
"Because I thought, if this is my only job I'm going to become very very wealthy, because if you're on a show for a long time you get to keep asking for money and I realised that was all my life was going to be."
So to the horror of her agents at the time, she made a compromise with the show to stay on as a recurring character, while going for the film roles she really wanted to do.
"And I never ever regretted doing that because that was the way I got to build an independent film career and build a career doing interesting supporting parts."
Meanwhile, Lynskey is currently filming another rather dark miniseries called Candy, which tells the true story of killer Candy Montgomery and her victim Betty Gore, who she portrays - but she's hoping to land some lighter roles in the future.
"I have to say I do feel ready to do something fun, I feel ready to do a romantic comedy or something, because it's been a lot of emotion and fear and crying and intensity, so my next thing I hope is going to be more fun."
I am calling in live from my car, which is parked next to the playground, because neither my toddler nor I have any time management skills. Wish me luck! https://t.co/MK9d9I267K
— Melanie Lynskey (@melanielynskey) February 19, 2022
Lynskey called in from outside a playground, where she was waiting to pick up her young daughter - and says she's working a lot while she's still a toddler.
"While she's young enough to travel, I think this is why I'm working so much, because at a certain point I'm not going to be able to, I'm going to have to stay put and nothing shoots in Los Angeles.
"Also I have a dream of moving back to New Zealand and just raising her in New Zealand."
So we might even be seeing her in some local productions in the future.
