Lynskey finally lands dream job
The Changeover star gets the role she once aspired to in real life, writes James Croot.
Working on The Changeover gave Melanie Lynskey a chance to not only revisit Christchurch, but also finally live out a teenage dream.
The 40-year-old Kiwi actress’ character in the adaptation of Margaret Mahy’s much-loved young adult novel about a young woman facing a fantastical family crisis works in a Garden City bookshop – a job Lynskey aspired to after making Heavenly Creatures there.
‘‘I was living with my boyfriend and needed a job, so I applied for a bookstore vacancy, but they wouldn’t give me a job because I didn’t have any retail experience,’’ she laments. ‘‘So this sort of felt like I was fulfilling my dream job.’’
In truth, though, Lynskey is living many other Kiwis’ ultimate fantasy.
Currently shooting Stephen King-inspired TV series Castle Rock, she’s also had roles on Netflix shows Girlboss and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later this year, as well as headlining the Sundance-winning movie I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
However, the charming and down-to-earth New Plymouth-born actress was particularly excited about playing mother-of-two Kate Chant in The Changeover because it gave her a chance to work with her beloved younger sister Millie, the production’s art assistant coordinator.
‘‘She’s staying with me right now. She’s my favourite person. It was very fun to work with her and I was very impressed. I thought she did a great job and it was very gratifying to hear other people say ‘your sister is so good at her job’. I felt very proud.’’
Lynskey, though, was a little less impressed when told that her own singing (of Bic Runga’s classic Kiwi ballad Sway) made the final cut.
‘‘Oh God, yes I realised when I had to do the ADR [additional dialogue recording]. I told them [directors Miranda Harcourt and Stuart Mckenzie] it was torture that they made me film it in the first place, so it was horrible to have to do it again.
‘‘I’m so afraid of singing. My mother always told me that I’m a horrible singer. I literally won’t even sing Happy Birthday when other people are singing it. So I apologise to Bic for ruining her beautiful song.’’
More pleasurable for her was working with the legendary Timothy Spall, who plays The Changeover‘ s chief villain, Carmody Braque.
‘‘The kind of magical thing about him playing this character is that he’s done a lot of work with Mike Leigh, who can really get the most nuanced, understated performances from people, but still create characters with a lot of personality. Timothy makes this character all the more terrifying because he just seems like this sweet man.
‘‘I was very impressed with the balance he was able to strike, particularly in the scene where he was manipulating my character. It’s very hard to play two distinct things at once, but he’s a master at it.’’
Lynskey is also in awe of The Changeover co-director Harcourt and her ability to talk to actors. ‘‘She gives you a very good sense of your own agency and decisionmaking. She allows you to feel in control, as well as believing that it is a collaboration.
‘‘She’ll come over and look annoyed, but express that frustration visually and with a grunt. To me, I love that. The worst thing is when someone comes up and goes ‘can you say it more like this’ and gives you a line reading. Miranda comes at it just knowing the feeling she wants from it. It’s very powerful because it’s up to you to interpret what she’s after.
‘‘I feel that’s something that works so well with children. Everyone’s seen those kids who seem terrified and sound like they are reading off a cue card.
‘‘You’re like, ‘who are those parents who put those kids in that situation?’ But Miranda makes it playful and is able to communicate to the children the stakes, while also making them still feel safe to go to a place where they feel sad or afraid.
‘‘It’s something I remember from when she coached me in my audition for Heavenly Creatures. I felt very powerful after working with her and she did that again so beautifully with Erana [James, who plays Lynskey’s onscreen daughter and the film’s heroine Laura Chant] here.’’
But did Lynskey have any advice of her own for her young charge?
‘‘Well, she certainly didn’t need any acting help – she was amazing. The main thing we kind of talked about was the pressure of being a young woman and having all the responsibility of leading a film and not wanting to let anyone down. She was working with very kind people, but on every shoot there are moments where people are asking a lot of you and you’re not 100 per cent sure about a lot of things.
‘‘I always try to communicate to any young women that their voice is as important as anyone else’s.
‘‘If something is troubling you, for whatever reason, you deserve to have as much of a say in conversation as anyone else. I wanted to help her to feel like she could ask a lot of questions, which Stuart and Miranda were very responsive to.’’
Looking forward to seeing the finished film (work commitments mean she won’t be able to attend its September 25 world premiere in Christchurch), Lynskey admits she wishes there had been a Kiwi film like this when she was growing up in Taranaki.
‘‘Oh my gosh, for sure. First of all, it’s a supernatural love story. Most teenage girls are into those, as we’ve seen from the success of Twilight. Also, I like that Laura is a very, very strong person. I think that’s very important to see.
‘‘I would love for this to catch on with a younger audience. It feel very accessible to them. Erana has this grounded, down-to-earth quality that I think young women are going to really respond to.’’
❚ The Changeover (M) will have its world premiere at Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal on September 25. The film opens nationwide on September 28.