Why Lynskey almost gave up after Heavenly Creatures
Melanie Lynskey has revealed how she almost gave up acting after her first disastrous trip to Los Angeles.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the 40-year-old Kiwi actress opened up about how unprepared she was for life in Hollywood when she first set foot there 22 years ago.
After the success of her debut film Heavenly Creatures, the New Plymouth born and raised Lynskey had taken the time to finish school and get an agent before jetting off to America.
However, as she competed with Tara Reid lookalikes and failed to get callbacks, it seemed casting agents were only interested – or rather not interested – in her physical appearance.
‘‘It was very, very painful. Especially because I was basically anorexic at the time,’’ she said. ‘‘I was having some really bad disordered eating and it really f...ed with that part of my brain, because this is me trying really hard to be skinny, and if this isn’t enough, I don’t know what I have to do.’’
Back in New Zealand, she did an audition for Gaylene Preston that was so half-hearted the director ended up spending an hour with her, discussing the things that were making her unhappy and how to remedy them.
‘‘It was the first time someone had sat down with me and said ‘I see that you’re in trouble’, basically.’’
She didn’t get the part, but the therapy session gave her the courage to continue.
Despite starring in films that have taken home awards from the past two Sundance Film Festivals, Lynskey is still best known as Rose, Charlie Sheen’s weirdly possessive neighbour in Two and a Half Men.
She said she auditioned for the pilot on a whim, thinking it would be fun to do a sitcom, and regretted it when the golden handcuffs of a seven-year contract began to chafe.
After the first season, she asked to see the show runner, Chuck Lorre, to express concerns about her character.
After the second, she told him she wanted out.
Lorre was initially furious but agreed to let her go on condition that she would return as a guest when the storyline required it.