Fabulous Lynskey performances
The first Kiwi to be nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series, Melanie Lynskey is finally getting the recognition she deserves.
Although the Taranakiborn 45-year-old is in the middle of a purple patch, thanks to her critically acclaimed turns in Yellowjackets and Candy, she has produced some consistently brilliant performances since her debut in Sir Peter Jackson’s 1994 true-crime drama Heavenly Creatures.
To celebrate her potential Emmy’s date with destiny next month, Stuff to Watch has picked out five of her most underrated roles (and where you can watch them).
Castle Rock
Filled with flashbacks, dark dealings and a plethora of mysteries to be solved, the first season richly rewarded familiarity with the extensive works of horrormeister, Stephen King. However, its real strength was in its ensemble cast that included Ann Cusack, Sissy Spacek and Bill Skarsgard. Lynskey though is a standout as toughtalking, drug-taking property queen Molly Strand, who might just have more powers than the ability to sell a house.
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
One of the big winners at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, this is the story of Lynskey’s Ruth Kimke. Unfulfilled by her career as a nurse, Ruth lives a lonely existence. Already upset the plot of her favourite book was spoiled by a bar patron, she returns home to find her house ransacked and her laptop and grandmother’s silverware taken. So when Tony (Elijah Wood) lets his dog leave a deposit on her lawn, Ruth finally snaps – berating him and beginning a quest for justice. Lynskey crafts perhaps the best deadpan justice seeker since Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson in Fargo.
The Intervention
Lynskey won a special jury prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for her performance in this dramedy about a weekend getaway undertaken by four couples. Things take a sharp turn when one of the pairings discovers the trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage. ‘‘A movie that can have you laughing, especially thanks to Lynskey’s expert comic timing, just as easily as it can have you covering your eyes as a couple’s relationship comes to breaking point,’’ wrote Collider’s Matt Goldberg.
Sweet Home Alabama
This is Reese Witherspoon’s rom-com, but Lynskey is a scene-stealing sensation as Witherspoon’s New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael’s old high school friend Lurlynn. Carmichael gets into a lot of predictable rom-com trouble trying to get a divorce from her childhood sweetheart Jake (Josh Lucas) so she can get engaged to eligible bachelor, Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), but Lurlynn has attracted a cult following for her relaxed attitude to parenting and down-to-earth nature. As she says, ‘‘it’s funny how things don’t turn out’’.
Togetherness
This romantic-dramedy ran for two seasons and 16 episodes from 2015. Lynskey was nominated for a Critic’s Choice TV Award for best supporting actress for her role as Michelle Pierson, wife of Mark Duplass’ Brett, and part of one of the two couples living under the same roof and struggling to keep their relationships alive while pursuing their individual dreams.