Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Lynskey
Melanie Jayne Lynskey (born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American dialects, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Critics' Choice Awards and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Lynskey made her screen debut at age 16 in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994), earning critical acclaim for her portrayal of murderer Pauline Parker. She later had supporting roles in Ever After (1998), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), and Coyote Ugly (2000). After moving to the United States, Lynskey became known as a character actress through parts in films such as Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Shattered Glass (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Away We Go, Up in the Air, The Informant! (all 2009), Win Win (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and Don't Look Up (2021). Her starring role as a depressed divorcee in Hello I Must Be Going (2012) proved to be a turning point in Lynskey's career, with subsequent lead roles in Happy Christmas (2014), The Intervention (2016), and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) establishing her as a prominent figure in independent cinema.
Outside film, Lynskey portrayed Rose on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003–2015). She also starred as Michelle Pierson on HBO's Togetherness (2015–2016) and Molly Strand on Hulu's Castle Rock (2018), and appeared in the miniseries Mrs. America (2020) and Candy (2022). She has played Shauna on Showtime's Yellowjackets since 2021, winning the 2022 Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series and being nominated twice for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress (2022, 2024). Lynskey is married to actor Jason Ritter, with whom she has a daughter.
Early life
Lynskey was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, to Kay Lynskey, a real estate agent, and Tim Lynskey, an orthopedic surgeon. Their surname is Irish. Lynskey is the eldest of five children, and has three brothers and one sister. She was actively involved in the raising of her siblings and has admitted to finding it a challenging responsibility.
When she was six, Lynskey's family moved to England for one year before returning to New Zealand. She recalls moving "a lot" due to her father's profession: "My dad was a medical student when I was born, so he was studying and going to different universities. And then he was doing his residency, so I was always the new kid in school". She later attended New Plymouth Girls' High School, where she was involved in the drama department and school plays. She has spoken about being "shy" at school and finding comfort in acting: "It was so freeing, having someone give me the words to say and not being myself for a minute. It just felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders". After graduating high school, Lynskey studied for eighteen months at Victoria University of Wellington, majoring in English literature, but dropped out to focus on her film career.
Career
1994–2002: Film debut and early work
Lynskey's professional debut came at age 15 with a starring role in Heavenly Creatures, a psychological drama based on a 1950s murder case. Lynskey played schoolgirl Pauline Parker, who carries out a brutal crime with the assistance of her best friend, Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet). She auditioned for the role when a casting director visited her high school; prior to this, five hundred girls had been considered for the part of Pauline, but "none were right". Fran Walsh, the script's co-writer, admired Lynskey's "quiet intensity" and said, "we knew immediately that she was right for the role". Lynskey turned 16 during the making of the film, and was 17 by the time of its release in 1994, whereupon it was met with critical acclaim. Roger Ebert praised its director, Peter Jackson, for picking "the right two actresses", noting that "there is a way Lynskey has of looking up from beneath glowering eyebrows that lets you know her insides are churning". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly described her work as "extraordinary", while Richard Corliss stated in his review for Time:
Heavenly Creatures is recognized as a landmark in New Zealand cinema. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards, while Lynskey was named Best Actress at the 1995 New Zealand Film Awards. She regards working with Jackson and Winslet as an important learning experience, and grew particularly close to Winslet during filming, who later told The Irish Times, "Mel is like the left side of my body. [We] had the exact relationship in terms of communication and love that Pauline and Juliet had. From the minute we saw each other". Despite the film's success, its creators tried to discourage Lynskey from pursuing a career in the industry, as it was not thought to be "practical". She later revealed, "[People were] looking out for me ... "Thanks for doing this movie for us, and now be sure that you go to university and get a normal job". No one wanted to be responsible for me being like, "I'm gonna run off to Hollywood!" ... New Zealanders are very practical. Everybody was kind of like, "That was fun [but] it's not what your life is gonna be"".
Following a three-year hiatus—during which she continued her education, auditioned for parts in The Craft and The Crucible, and made a brief, non-speaking cameo appearance in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners (1996)—Lynskey secured a leading role in the independent drama Foreign Correspondents, playing Melody, a timid receptionist who forms an unusual relationship with an overseas pen pal. The role was offered to Lynskey in an email from the film's director, who had seen Heavenly Creatures and read online that she was eager to work in America. Filming took place in Los Angeles in 1997, with the project garnering attention for its use of crowdfunding, a strategy considered a "breakthrough" at the time. That same year, Lynskey was cast as Jacqueline De Ghent—Drew Barrymore's "charming and funny" stepsister—in Ever After, a post-feminist re-imagining of the Cinderella fairy tale. Filmed in Southern France, it was a commercial and critical success upon its release in 1998.
In 1999, Lynskey appeared in four features: teen comedy Detroit Rock City, period drama The Cherry Orchard, British gangster drama Shooters, and the cult hit But I'm a Cheerleader, which is often referred to as one of the best LGBT films ever made. Next, she adopted a New Jersey accent for a key role as Gloria—Piper Perabo's best friend—in the romantic comedy Coyote Ugly (2000), and returned to New Zealand to star as Alice—a free-spirited drifter who embarks on a dangerous road trip—in the award-winning Snakeskin (2001), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. For the latter, she received strong reviews and a nomination for Best Actress at the New Zealand Film Awards.
In 2002, Lynskey re-teamed with director Andy Tennant—whom she previously worked with on Ever After—to play a childhood acquaintance of Reese Witherspoon in the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, which had a record-breaking opening weekend in North America. In a mixed review for The Austin Chronicle, Kimberley Jones called it an "earnest, affectionate portrait of a town that refuses to keep pace with the rest of the world", adding that it features a "nice [turn] from Heavenly Creatures''' Melanie Lynskey". In recent years, the scene in which her character (Lurlynn) nurses her baby in a crowded bar has been noted for its cultural relevance. Next, she appeared alongside Katie Holmes in psychological thriller Abandon, the directorial debut of Stephen Gaghan. The film received negative reviews from critics, but Lynskey's performance was considered to be one of its strong points, with Todd McCarthy of Variety pointing out that she "does some self-conscious scene stealing". That same year, she made her television debut in Rose Red, a miniseries written by Stephen King. The series was a ratings hit with an average of 18.5 million viewers over three consecutive nights.
2003–2011: Supporting film roles and Two and a Half Men
In 2003, Lynskey played the role of Amy Brand—a writer for The New Republic—in Shattered Glass, a film based on the career of former journalist Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen). Jeff Otto of IGN called it "a tension-filled drama with great performances", while Andrew Sarris felt it was "as well executed as any movie I've seen this year", noting that "the performances of ... Ms. Sevigny, Ms. Dawson and Ms. Lynskey do more than complement Mr. Christensen's central characterization; they provide a sane backdrop for [his] pathological deceptions to steadily unravel against". Later that year, she landed the part of Rose, the devious but lovable neighbor of Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. After initially appearing in the pilot episode as a guest character, she was invited by the producers to become a series regular, and went on to appear frequently throughout the first two seasons. Fearing that she might become typecast as a result of her involvement with the show, Lynskey decided to leave the main ensemble in 2005 to concentrate on film work—a move that executive producer Chuck Lorre said he had "a lot of respect for", despite "not [being] happy at first"—but continued to make guest appearances up until its final episode, which aired in February 2015.
In 2006, Lynskey played the female lead—Pauline Harnois, the fiancée of Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford)—in the Clint Eastwood-directed war epic Flags of Our Fathers. Writing for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Burl Burlingame called it "the richest testament Hollywood has yet made about the paroxysm of World War II", while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone believed it to be "a film of awesome power". The following year, she played one of the principal characters—a woman desperate to get away from her abusive husband (Brad Rowe)—on the short-lived television series Drive, which was cancelled by Fox midway through its first season run. In her review for the Los Angeles Times of the series' first two episodes, Mary McNamara described Lynskey as "especially compelling".
In 2008, Lynskey had a supporting role in the three-part Western miniseries Comanche Moon, a prequel to Lonesome Dove (1989), which aired on CBS. The series received mixed reviews from critics, but People commented that Lynskey's performance was among the "best" in the cast. Later that year, she returned once again to New Zealand to star in the romantic drama Show of Hands, for which she earned a nomination for Best Actress at the Qantas Film and Television Awards.
Lynskey received strong reviews in 2009 for her appearance in Away We Go, a comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes, where she played a woman who has suffered a series of miscarriages. Referring to the scene in which her character, Munch, performs a pole dance in front of her grieving husband (Chris Messina), Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe stated, "Lynskey dramatizes sadness and dysfunction with quiet, moving physicality. [Her] character's whole life is there in her long face and drooping limbs. It's the best performance in the movie". Next, she co-starred as Matt Damon's wife, Ginger, in Steven Soderbergh's comedic biographical drama The Informant!. Based on real events, the film was described as "devilish fun" by Rolling Stone, while Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent noted that Lynskey provided "sterling support". During promotion of the film in September that year, Soderbergh told the Los Angeles Times:
While making the film, Soderbergh discouraged Lynskey from contacting the real person on which her character was based, as he wanted Lynskey to reach her own conclusion about whether Ginger had been complicit in her husband's crimes. "I decided she had no idea what was going on", she later said. "She was trusting, she was the kind of wife who thinks her job is to stay in the house and take care of the kids ... even though some things didn't necessarily add up ... She wasn't asking too many questions". Lynskey counts her time working on The Informant! as one of her favorite professional experiences.
Also in 2009, Lynskey appeared as Edward Norton's pregnant fiancée in Tim Blake Nelson's black comedy Leaves of Grass, with RogerEbert.coms Seongyong Cho writing that her performance was one of the key contributors to the film's "quirky charm". Nelson said of her casting, "Melanie came in and read for me and, though she's from New Zealand, she was by far the most credible version of an Oklahoma girl I saw. And I probably auditioned 50 actresses for that role". Next, she appeared as Julie—the younger sister of George Clooney's character—in Up in the Air, which was directed by Jason Reitman and was nominated in six categories, including Best Picture, at the 82nd Academy Awards. Timothy Malcolm of the Times Herald-Record referred to Lynskey's performance as "fun [and] revealing". In his previous work, Reitman had always rejected the idea of casting non-Americans as American characters, but Lynskey said she "tricked" him into giving her the part by avoiding conversation with him during her audition, thus concealing her real accent. Reitman said he was "thrilled" by this. In October 2009, Lynskey was presented with a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Lynskey had a starring role in 2010's Helena from the Wedding, which The Hollywood Reporter felt was a "wise, luminous low-budget comedy", adding, "The actors form a seamless ensemble, but [the film] belongs to ... Lynskey". The following year, she starred opposite Brian Presley in the sports drama Touchback, which Melissa Starker of The Columbus Dispatch felt was "shallowly sentimental and openly derivative", but believed it contained "strong work from Lynskey". She then received praise for her portrayal of Cindy, a recovering drug addict, in Win Win (2011), where she co-starred with Paul Giamatti. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney commended the film's director (Tom McCarthy) for his "unerring touch with minor-key character-based comedy and emotionally honest drama", while noting that Lynskey "brings welcome soft shadings to the story's disruptive element". Meanwhile, Mary Pols stated in her review for Time that "[Lynskey] has become one of the most reliably intriguing supporting actresses in film ... she had [parts in] Away We Go, The Informant! and Up in the Air ... she was wonderful in all three. In Win Win she gives a very different kind of performance and is even better".
2012–2020: Transition to leading roles and critical acclaim
In 2012, Lynskey appeared alongside Steve Carell in Lorene Scafaria's apocalyptic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and had a key role as the teenage main character's (Logan Lerman) sexually abusive Aunt Helen in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a coming-of-age drama based on the novel of the same name. In his review of the latter for The Tuscaloosa News, Corey Craft said the film's strengths "lie in its details and performances", and believed the cast to be "uniformly strong". Due to the nature of her character, Lynskey said it had been a difficult decision to take the part. Also that year, she starred in the romantic comedy Putzel, with Mark Hinson of the Tallahassee Democrat writing that her performance—in the role of Sally, a professional dancer and love interest of protagonist Walter (Jack T. Carpenter)—"steals the show ... [the film] sparks to life whenever the charming Lynskey arrives on the screen"; while in his review for Redefine, Allen Huang described her as "delightful" and "deftly believable".
Lynskey's portrayal of Amy Minsky—a divorcee who finds herself having to move back in with her parents, played by John Rubinstein and Blythe Danner—in Hello I Must Be Going (2012) was particularly well received by critics. For the first time in her career, Lynskey appeared in every scene throughout the film; she described the experience as "a lot of pressure", and said that she initially assumed the part would be given to somebody like Michelle Williams or Maggie Gyllenhaal. Speaking of his decision to cast Lynskey, director Todd Louiso said, "I knew if I cast her, the film had the potential to resonate on a thousand different levels". In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote:USA Today praised the film for being "funny, well-written, involving and emotionally honest", while noting that "Lynskey brings dimension and intelligence" and a "sympathetic blend of humor, dignity and naturalness to the role". The performance earned her a nomination for the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor at that year's ceremony. In 2015, Screen Rant placed Lynskey's portrayal of Amy at #6 in their ranking of the best film performances of the previous five years.
In 2013, Lynskey had a starring role in The Big Ask, an independent dramedy. The film received a mixed reception from critics, but Lynskey's portrayal of Hannah was praised, with Brian Tallerico stating in his review for RogerEbert.com: "Lynskey … so often finds ways to elevate lackluster screenwriting, and does so again here. She's the best thing about the movie". In April the following year, she was named an Emerging Master honoree at the RiverRun International Film Festival. Her next role was in Happy Christmas (2014), where she played Kelly, an aspiring novelist whose passion for writing is rekindled when her sister-in-law (Anna Kendrick) comes to visit. The film drew attention for being almost entirely improvised. Stephen Holden of The New York Times commented, "The performances in Happy Christmas are so natural that the actors melt into their characters", while other critics singled out Lynskey as a highlight. Later that year, she appeared as Amy Poehler's best friend in David Wain's satirical romantic comedy They Came Together, and played the female leads in We'll Never Have Paris and Goodbye to All That. In his review of the latter, Bilge Ebiri said that Lynskey's portrayal of a frustrated wife was "fantastic", while Variety described her as "heartbreaking ... This is what falling out of love looks like. It's not screaming matches and altercations; it's apathy and indifference".
Also in 2014, Lynskey provided the voice of Beatrice, an ill-tempered bluebird, for the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall. Writing for The Guardian, Brian Moylan said the ten-part animation was "appealing to both children and the adults that either watch it with them or are enjoying it on their own", adding that it was filled with "existential dread" and "profound uneasiness", while Kevin Johnson of The A.V. Club noted, "Lynskey steals the show with her amazing putdowns and passive-aggressiveness, smartly avoiding overdone sass or sarcasm". The series went on to receive three Creative Arts Emmy Awards—including Outstanding Animated Program—and has since been labelled a "cult classic".
From 2015 to 2016, Lynskey played Michelle Pierson on the HBO series Togetherness, which focused on the lives of two couples (Lynskey and Mark Duplass; Amanda Peet and Steve Zissis) living under the same roof. The show—which was created by the Duplass brothers—ran for two seasons, and was praised for its intimate storytelling and the performances of its cast. Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote:
The performance earned Lynskey a nomination for the 2015 Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Despite missing out on a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2016, she was singled out as a worthy candidate in the run-up to that year's ceremony. In March 2016, it was announced that HBO had decided not to renew Togetherness for a third season. Lynskey later compared this to having her "heart broken by someone I'm still in love with".
For her role in The Intervention (2016), Lynskey received the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Individual Performance at the Sundance Film Festival. In his review for IndieWire, Russ Fischer pointed out Lynskey's "tremendously good comic timing", while Ethan Anderton of /Film noted, "Lynskey is the standout, delivering a performance that is genuine, funny and touching all at the same time". The film was the directorial debut of actress Clea DuVall, who wrote the character of Annie, an uptight alcoholic, specifically for Lynskey. She sought the help of a therapist before the film went into production to prepare herself for working with DuVall, a close friend of several years: "I didn't want anything to happen to our friendship and a big challenge was being able to stick up for myself and my perspective in regard to the script and this character". Also that year, she appeared with Robert Webb in the BBC Two comedy pilot Our Ex-Wife, and had prominent roles in the independent features Rainbow Time, Little Boxes, and The Great & The Small. Joe Leydon of Variety described her performance in the latter as "quietly devastating".
Lynskey's performance in the Netflix crime thriller I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) was roundly praised by critics. The film's director (Macon Blair) wrote the character of Ruth, a downtrodden vigilante who teams up with her socially awkward neighbor (Elijah Wood) to track down a burglar, with Lynskey in mind. The role proved to be physically challenging, as it involved stunt work and the use of prosthetics. Peter Debruge of Variety commended Blair for giving Lynskey "something unforgettable to do" and felt that she delivered her "best work yet", while Time Out described her as "seething and magnetic". In his review for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz said:
The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, while Lynskey received a nomination for that year's Gotham Award for Best Actress.
Following the release of I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, Lynskey had starring roles that same year as the parent of a troubled high schooler in the controversial drama And Then I Go; a headstrong defense lawyer in the Australian miniseries Sunshine, for which she received a Golden Nymph Award nomination; the mother of a girl (Erana James) with supernatural powers in The Changeover; and in the horror film XX, in which her character frantically tries to hide her husband's (Seth Duhame) body after finding him dead. In her review of the latter, Stephanie Zacharek of Time wrote, "The picture has a wry, comic charge, and Lynskey, terrific as always, brings a grace note of pathos to the wicked proceedings".
Lynskey had a starring role in the independent drama Sadie in 2018, playing a woman struggling to raise her daughter (Sophia Mitri Schloss) while her husband is on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Variety described Lynskey's work in the film as "compelling", while Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "It's no surprise that Lynskey, who has quietly [been] establishing herself as one of indie cinema's finest actors, is once again superb in her emotionally complex turn". Next, she appeared in the principal role of Molly Strand on the first season of Castle Rock, a psychological horror series based on characters and settings from the novels of Stephen King. The series premiered on Hulu in July 2018 and garnered positive reviews, particularly for the cast: Paste referred to Lynskey as "delicately complex", while Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone felt the show was "the latest example of how much humanity and grounding [Lynskey] can bring to the most surreal and macabre of stories ... a tradition that goes back to when she was a teenager in Heavenly Creatures". The series was later renewed for a second season; however, due to the anthological nature of the narrative, it featured a different set of actors.
Between April and May 2020, Lynskey co-starred with Cate Blanchett in the nine-part miniseries Mrs. America, a political drama centred on the career of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. The series ran on FX on Hulu and was widely acclaimed by critics, with James Poniewozik of The New York Times calling it "breathtaking ... a meticulously created and observed mural that finds the germ of contemporary America in the striving of righteously mad women". Lynskey's portrayal of the real-life Rosemary Thomson, a staunch supporter of Schlafly's, was described as "delightful" and a "standout" among the cast. She later called working with Blanchett "one of the great experiences of my life".
2021–present: Yellowjackets and awards recognition
In 2021, Lynskey played the principal role of Hannah—a layabout stoner who unwittingly lands a job as a tour guide in a historic mansion—in the buddy comedy Lady of the Manor, the directorial debut of actor Justin Long and his brother, Christian. Lynskey said that she agreed to take the part because "the thought of being in sweatpants and just acting like I was high for a whole movie was so freeing". Critics were dismissive of the film's reliance on toilet humour, but Lynskey's performance was well received, with Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter commenting that she "brings the same airtight commitment to hot mess Hannah that she does to all her varied roles" and finding her chemistry with co-star Judy Greer to be "warm and genuine"; while Screen Rant felt that she "shines as ... the rudderless, classless ... screw-up. [She] unabashedly embraces physical humor ... and really commits to the gags. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments in the film, and Lynskey is at the center of all of them". Adam McKay's satirical tackling of the climate change crisis, Don't Look Up, was Lynskey's second film role of 2021. Her portrayal of June—the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio's Randall—was picked out as a highlight among the cast, with David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter describing her as "terrific", and IndieWire's David Ehrlich writing, "[She's] low-key brilliant as [DiCaprio's] clear-headed wife, her grounded performance paving the way for a surprisingly poignant [climax]". In January 2022, it was reported that Don't Look Up had set a record for the most viewings of any film on Netflix (the film's distributor) in a single week, making it the third most-watched item in the company's history.
On the Showtime series Yellowjackets, which premiered on 14 November 2021, Lynskey stars in the role of Shauna Sadecki (née Shipman), a suburban housewife and mother who, along with three old high school friends (Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis), has been harbouring secrets about a plane crash that occurred 25 years ago. The series was praised by Judy Berman of Time for its "psychological realism" and ability to mix different genres together successfully, while Lacy Baugher Milas of Paste felt it was "one of the fall television season's most compelling new offerings, a twisty mystery that ... grounds its story in a specifically female experience in a way that other [shows] like this have never bothered to try". The cast were unanimously commended for their performances, but Rolling Stone believed "The standout ... is Lynskey. She's always great, but Shauna feels like the kind of dark, messy, and charismatic part she's been waiting her whole career to play". In a similar review, The Guardian agreed that "Lynskey does by far the most emotional heavy lifting of the series". Lynskey said it was the character's "internalized rage" that attracted her to the role, as well as "a real dark streak that I ... loved and was also terrified of".
It was announced in December 2021 that Lynskey had been nominated for the 2022 Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Shauna. She was revealed as the winner during the ceremony on 13 March 2022. She has since received various other accolades for the performance, including two nominations for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2022 and 2024.
In May 2022, Lynskey starred as Betty Gore—the victim of real-life murderer Candy Montgomery, played by Jessica Biel—in the true crime miniseries Candy, which aired over five consecutive nights on Hulu. Despite a mixed critical reaction, with some finding the show too similar to others of its type, Biel and Lynskey's work was unanimously praised: Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Lynskey ... captures the sadness and seething resentment of a woman stifled by the confines of stay-at-home motherhood", while Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com said, "She does so much with just a sigh or defeated body language". Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper called the series "a fascinating psychological character study", adding that "Although Candy devotes the majority of screen time to telling events from the title character's point of view, Lynskey gives Betty a memorable and constant presence ... [she] was clearly depressed and in need of help ... and through Lynskey's performance, we find that tragic and heartbreaking". It was announced in December 2022 that Lynskey had been nominated for Critics' Choice and Satellite Awards for her portrayal of Betty.
On HBO's The Last of Us—an adaptation of the 2013 action-adventure game—Lynskey appeared in the guest role of Kathleen (an original character created especially for the series by showrunner Craig Mazin), the "ruthless leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City". The show premiered in January 2023 to strong reviews: Stephen Kelly of BBC Culture called it "The best video game adaptation ever", noting that Lynskey's "chillingly violent and vengeful" performance was "superb". Daniel Fienberg felt she was "excellent ... thoroughly effective" in his review for The Hollywood Reporter, while Ben Travers of IndieWire wrote that one piece of dialogue in particular—"kids die, they die all the time"—stood out for him as "an all-time cold-blooded bad guy quote, delivered with exhausted gravity by [Lynskey]". The performance earned her a nomination for the 2024 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Acting style
Lynskey described herself as a character actress in the earlier stages of her career, though has since renounced the term.
Regarding her acting technique, Lynskey has said, "I don't have any [professional] training ... so the only thing I have to go on is my own instinct. So if a director gives me a note that doesn't feel like it's in line with my instinct, it's very hard for me to do something that ... feels like a lie. So, I'll argue it, and I can get kind of feisty because I feel it in my body, I know what is right".
Asked by a journalist in 2012 about how she felt being cast—up to that point in her career—as a supporting player rather than a lead, Lynskey said it was something she had thought about a lot, and that the "meaty" parts are mostly written for men, or actresses like Meryl Streep. She told a different journalist that same year, "It's been a big issue that I'm not [famous] ... I'll audition for something and then the feedback has been, 'The director wants you, the creative people want you, but the studio is saying no' ... but I understand. People are investing a lot of money and they want somewhat of a guarantee". Lynskey has subsequently taken on leading roles in numerous independent films and has been labelled an "indie queen".
Speaking in 2017 about taking risks in her film work, Lynskey said, "I want to tell stories about women who are interesting and complicated and not like people you've seen before ... There aren't that many opportunities [to do that] except in the independent film world. I've made films that have cost $50,000 for the entire film. If you're willing to work like that, you get chances to do really creative, interesting stuff".
Lynskey is often complimented on her ability to perform an American accent. She attributes this to staying with Joss Whedon when she first moved to Los Angeles: "When I came here, I stayed in his guest bedroom ... I watched movie after movie and learned American accents". Tim Blake Nelson recalled that when she auditioned for the part of Colleen in Leaves of Grass, "she came in and auditioned for me and then ... opened [her] mouth and started talking in a New Zealand accent and I just couldn't believe it, because her south-eastern Oklahoma accent was so spot on, and it's a very specific accent".
Lynskey is known for her improvisation skills, which she attributes to "dramatic improv" classes she attended as a youngster. She regularly employs dreamwork when preparing for projects, and uses music to help her get into character.
Other work
In 2012, Lynskey voiced an animated version of herself in an airline safety video for Air New Zealand.
In February 2013, she participated in a Live Read performance of the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross. The read-through was directed by Jason Reitman, who assembled a cast of women to read the all-male script; Lynskey portrayed the role of George Aaronow (originally played by Alan Arkin).
Between 2014 and 2016, Lynskey featured on several occasions as part of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged production and podcast in the style of old-time radio, which was held monthly in Los Angeles.
In 2015, she starred in the music video for the song "Waiting on Love" by Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, alongside Jason Ritter.
In June 2018, Lynskey was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 2023, Lynskey narrated the children's book Memoirs of a Hamster (by Devin Scillian) in a video for Storyline Online, a branch of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation that specialises in child literacy.
Public image
Lynskey has appeared on the covers of magazines such as The Hollywood Reporter, InStyle, Variety, TheWrap, and Backstage.
Writing for InStyle in 2022, Laura Norkin referred to Lynskey as "the nicest person in Hollywood" and "one of the most skilled and compelling [actresses] of our time". In the same article, actress Danielle Brooks said of Lynskey's reputation in the industry: "People are like, 'She's the real deal. She will deliver'".
In a 2023 article for The New York Times, Alexis Soloski described Lynskey as "polite almost to the point of pathology", adding: "Offscreen, Lynskey is a very nice lady. Unnervingly nice. Onscreen she specializes in a ferocious deconstruction of that same type. For the past decade, and particularly in the past couple of years ... she has embodied women who seem innocuous on the surface — breathy, meek, bland — only to reveal limitless anger and desire". Writing for TheWrap that same year, Libby Hill called Lynskey a "pop culture fan favorite".
Lynskey told a journalist in 2012 that, for a while, the only roles she was being offered were "fat-girl parts", adding: "Seriously? Sometimes I feel like I'm making some kind of radical statement because I'm a size 6". In a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she discussed being body shamed early on in her career: "It was ridiculous. I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be ... and I was still a [size] four ... people [were] putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings ... [costume designers would say], "Nobody told me there would be girls like you" ... the feedback [around that time] was constantly ... 'You're not beautiful'". That same year, when asked how she was currently dealing with the response to her role on Yellowjackets, Lynskey explained to The Guardian that a lot of attention was being placed on her weight: "It's [about] trying to tune out [the negative comments] and just listen to the women who say: thank you for just being on screen and not pinching your tummy, or being like: 'I wish I was thinner'".
Lynskey responded to criticism from fashion model Adrianne Curry in February 2023, when Curry implied that Lynskey's body shape made her unsuitable for the role of a villain on The Last of Us: "[The character is] supposed to be smart, ma'am. I don't need to be muscly. That's what henchmen are for".
Though not gay herself, Lynskey is widely considered a "gay icon".
Personal life
In 2001, Lynskey met American actor Jimmi Simpson during the filming of Rose Red, in which they both appeared. They became engaged in 2005 and were married on 14 April 2007, in a chapel on Lake Hayes, near Queenstown, New Zealand. Lynskey filed for divorce from Simpson on 25 September 2012, citing irreconcilable differences, with TMZ referring to it as "the nicest divorce ever". The divorce was finalized on 23 May 2014, and the two remain good friends. In February 2017, Lynskey announced that she was engaged to Jason Ritter, whom she had been dating for four years. In December the following year, they became parents to a daughter, whose name—Kahikatea—derives from the Māori term for a type of conifer tree native to New Zealand. Lynskey and Ritter were married in 2020.
Lynskey has lived in Los Angeles since 2000. She is a close friend of Clea DuVall, whom she met when they appeared together in But I'm a Cheerleader''. She became a vegetarian at age 10 after learning about sheep farming, but now identifies as pescetarian. Lynskey has misophonia. She describes herself as a feminist.
Lynskey has been open about her past struggle with an eating disorder. Speaking in 2016, she said that she was "very unwell for a long time", and later recalled that "even when I was like I would still be shamed in wardrobe fittings for not being sample size".
Filmography
Accolades
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
20th-century New Zealand actresses
21st-century New Zealand actresses
New Zealand expatriate actresses in the United States
New Zealand film actresses
New Zealand television actresses
New Zealand voice actresses
People from New Plymouth
People educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School
People with misophonia
Victoria University of Wellington alumni
Sundance Film Festival award winners