The protagonist of the renowned series revealed that a member of the team asked her what she planned to do with her body and suggested she ask for a personal trainer.
According to critics, 2021 was an "excellent" year for television productions: the themes diversified, dozens of series renewed their contracts and the platforms managed to "make money" through fiction such as Succession, Ted Lasso, Mare of Easttown, Only Murders in the Building and Yellowjackets.
A supernatural drama, the latter, developed by Showtime, tells the story of a women's soccer team that survives 19 months in the wilderness. According to experts, Yellowjackets is a brilliant series because of the eccentricity of its script, but also because of the stellar performances of its protagonists. Among them, are Juliette Lewis, Cristina Ricci, Tawyne Crypress - known for playing Nez Rowan in The Blacklist - and Melanie Lynskey (44). The New Zealand actress is famous for playing Rose in Two and a Half Men.
During her 28-year career, Lynskey has appeared in 34 films (e.g., Coyote Bar, The Informant, and Don't Look Up), as well as 17 television series. In most of it, Melanie has only developed secondary characters. Something that, according to herself, has a lot to do with her personality. According to what she has told about her own story, the actress always had to take care of her five siblings, while she saw her mother get overwhelmed by things that made no sense. A sensation that she ended up transmitting to her daughter, who, for several years, wanted to live "hidden" for fear of nuclear wars. "She had the feeling that everything could always go wrong," she told Rolling Stone last year, in an interview in which she also revealed how she learned to always be in the background. Even in labor issues.
Melanie began her career when she was only 17 years old and had not even finished school. But the opportunity that presented itself to her was impossible to refuse: a Peter Jackson film, in which she would act alongside the "magical" - as she calls - Kate Winslet. Kate was only 18 years old at the time and had not yet stood out in the movies, so the New Zealander and the British were nothing more than two young actresses receiving praise and awards for her performance. However, three years later, Winslet filmed Titanic, while Lynskey's phone never rang again. In fact, she had to go back to school, enter university like anyone else, and wait for a new opportunity. "It's hard to see your dreams come true and then have to go back to your small town. I felt like an imposter," she said last year.
But Melanie did not give up, she studied film and television, got an agent, and, in 1998, moved to Los Angeles to shoot her first big movie: Forever and Ever, alongside Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. Still, until 2012, Lynskey didn't land a leading role... And when she did, her illusions were shattered. The reason? Some media commented that the performer's body was not appetizing, which led her to have various image problems and eating disorders. Despite this, over the years, Lynskey has managed to face her demons and last 2021 she landed the role of Shauna in Yellowjackets, with a confidence that she had never felt before. So much so that when her costume production suggested that she should change her weight, she did not remain silent.
"They told me 'What are you going to do with your weight? What is your plan going to be? We are sure that the production would pay you a trainer if you asked for one. They would love to help you with that,'" someone from the team told him, which caused Melanie to file a formal complaint, which was supported by Lewis, Ricci, and Cypress, who also sent a letter to the production company. What's more, the actress began to talk about the importance of not making any type of reference to her weight in the series and not talking about her body as if this were a reason for anguish or sadness. On the contrary, Lynskey wanted to show Shauna as an active woman in her 40s, who feels desires like any other human being. "I think it's important for this character to feel comfortable and not stop thinking about her weight," she recently stated.
"Actually, what I want is for other women to be able to watch Yellowjackets and say 'Wow, Shauna looks like me and no one on the show is pointing her out as the fat girl.' That's why representation is important," she revealed less than a year ago. one month. A speech that she vindicated this Sunday night at the Critics' Choice Awards when she went on stage to receive her award for best actress in a drama series. "I feel like I'm going to faint, I hope not. I thank my family, my friends, and those who gave me this opportunity. Thank you for freeing me.
