Melanie Lynskey biography:
Melanie Lynskey dazzled the film industry with an eruptive star turn in Peter Jackson's true crime masterpiece, Heavenly Creatures (1994). She won the Best Actress trophy in her motherland, New Zealand, for her portrayal of teenage misfit Pauline Parker.
After a prolonged sabbatical, Lynskey resurfaced in the teen movie Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998). She went on to appear in a mix of teen movies, romcoms, and serious films, including Detroit Rock City (1999),But I'm a Cheerleader (1999),Coyote Ugly (2000),Abandon (2002),and Sweet Home Alabama (2002).
In the late 2000s, Lynskey began to establish herself as a supporting actress, appearing in Away We Go (2009),Up in the Air (2009),The Informant! (2009),and Leaves of Grass (2009). She continued to impress in Win Win (2011),The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012),and Don't Look Up (2021).
Lynskey has also had success in indie films, including Hello I Must Be Going (2012),Happy Christmas (2014),The Intervention (2016),and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017). She received a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her role in The Intervention.
On television, Lynskey has appeared in Two and a Half Men (2003),Togetherness (2015),Castle Rock (2018),Mrs. America (2020),and Yellowjackets (2021). She won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Yellowjackets.
Lynskey has also appeared in the TV series Candy (2022) and The Last of Us (2023),where she played a troubled real-life murder victim and a cold-blooded war criminal, respectively.
