Melanie Lynskey later had supporting roles in But I'm a Cheerleader, Coyote Ugly, Sweet Home Alabama, and Shattered Glass.
43 Facts About Melanie Lynskey
2.
Melanie Lynskey's starring role as a depressed divorcee in Hello I Must Be Going proved to be a turning point in her career, with subsequent parts in films such as Happy Christmas, The Intervention and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore establishing her as a prominent figure in independent cinema, while leading to parts in bigger projects such as Don't Look Up.
3.
Outside of film, Melanie Lynskey achieved fame with her portrayal of Rose on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
4.
Melanie Lynskey starred in the HBO series Togetherness, the first season of Hulu's Castle Rock, the FX miniseries Mrs America, and the Hulu miniseries Candy.
5.
Melanie Lynskey has starred as Shauna on Showtime's Yellowjackets since 2021, for which she won the 2022 Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress that same year.
6.
Melanie Lynskey is married to actor Jason Ritter, with whom she has a daughter.
7.
Melanie Lynskey is the eldest of five children, and has three brothers and one sister.
8.
Melanie Lynskey attended New Plymouth Girls' High School, where she was involved in the drama department and school plays.
9.
Melanie Lynskey played Pauline Parker, a teenager who carries out a brutal crime with the assistance of her best friend.
10.
Melanie Lynskey 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".
11.
Melanie Lynskey regards working with Jackson and Winslet as an important learning experience.
12.
In 1999, Melanie 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.
13.
The film received negative reviews from critics, but Melanie 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".
14.
In 2006, Melanie Lynskey appeared as the wife of Rene Gagnon in the Clint Eastwood-directed war epic Flags of Our Fathers.
15.
In 2008, Melanie Lynskey had a supporting role in the three-part Western miniseries Comanche Moon, which aired on CBS.
16.
The series received mixed reviews from critics, but People commented that Melanie Lynskey's performance was among the "best" in the cast.
17.
Melanie 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.
18.
Melanie Lynskey's rhythms are really unusual, like her cadence and her reaction times to things, and the way she sort of lays out a sentence.
19.
Also in 2009, Melanie Lynskey appeared as Edward Norton's pregnant fiancee in Tim Blake Nelson's black comedy Leaves of Grass, with Seongyong Cho of RogerEbert.
20.
In October 2009, Melanie Lynskey was presented with a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival.
21.
In 2013, Melanie Lynskey had a starring role in The Big Ask, an independent comedy-drama.
22.
From 2015 to 2016, Melanie Lynskey played Michelle Pierson on the HBO series Togetherness, which focused on the lives of two couples living under the same roof.
23.
Melanie Lynskey later compared this to having her "heart broken by someone I'm still in love with".
24.
Melanie Lynskey 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".
25.
The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, while Melanie Lynskey received a nomination for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress.
26.
Melanie Lynskey had a starring role in the independent drama Sadie in 2018, playing a woman struggling to raise her daughter while her husband is on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
27.
Between April and May 2020, Melanie 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.
28.
Melanie Lynskey later called working with Blanchett "one of the great experiences of my life".
29.
Melanie 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".
30.
Melanie Lynskey was revealed as the winner during the ceremony on 13 March 2022.
31.
Melanie Lynskey has since received various other accolades for the performance, including a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
32.
Melanie Lynskey has subsequently taken on leading roles in numerous independent films and has been labelled an "indie queen".
33.
Melanie Lynskey is often complimented on her ability to perform an American accent.
34.
Melanie Lynskey regularly uses dreamwork in preparation for a role.
35.
In 2012, Melanie Lynskey voiced an animated version of herself in an airline safety video for Air New Zealand.
36.
The read-through was directed by Jason Reitman, who assembled a cast of women to read the all-male script; Melanie Lynskey portrayed the role of George Aaronow.
37.
In June 2018, Melanie Lynskey was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
38.
In 2001, Melanie Lynskey met American actor Jimmi Simpson during the filming of Rose Red, in which they both appeared.
39.
Melanie Lynskey filed for divorce from Simpson on 25 September 2012, citing irreconcilable differences.
40.
In February 2017, Melanie Lynskey announced that she was engaged to Jason Ritter, whom she had been dating for four years.
41.
Melanie Lynskey is a close friend of Clea DuVall, whom she met when they appeared together in But I'm a Cheerleader.
42.
Melanie Lynskey became a vegetarian at age 10 after learning about sheep farming, but now identifies as a pescetarian.
43.
Melanie Lynskey has been open about her struggle with an eating disorder, which lasted for several years.