Shining the Light on Actor Melanie Lynskey

The Yellowjackets star New Zealander Melanie Lynskey has gone from character actor to leading lady thanks to her singular ability to project simmering rage beneath a placid exterior, EJ Dickson writes for Rolling Stone.

This juxtaposition – sweetness and light versus somewhat terrifying inner mettle – is integral to the female experience documented in Yellowjackets, according to Dickson. The show shines a light on the dichotomy of girlhood. It’s a duality that Lynskey gives off in person, and is key to her inhabiting her character Shauna so fully, says Karyn Kusama, executive producer of Yellowjackets.

Yellowjackets had Showtime’s second-biggest streaming debut, and garnered an exceedingly rare 100 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating.

“I never expect anything to blow up. I never expect anything to take off. I’ve learned to not have any expectations at all,” Lynskey, 44, tells Dickson.

Lynskey, who grew up in New Plymouth, also recently starred in popular Netflix sci fi, Don’t Look Up, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

Original article by EJ Dickson, Rolling Stone, January 16, 2022.