MELANIE STEALS THE SHOW!
On Taranaki Anniversary Day, New Plymouth-born star Melanie Lynskey stole the spotlight at the Critics Choice Awards in LA with her hilarious and emotional acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
“I really wasn’t expecting this – I’m gonna be really bad at this speech,” joked the modest Kiwi, 44, before acknowledging the “amazing women” she was nominated against, including Christine Baranski and Uzo Aduba, as well as her Yellowjackets co-stars Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis.
Confessing she felt “like I’m gonna faint”, Melanie then thanked the show’s producers for “letting me be exactly as I am, not asking me to change anything” after another crew member suggested she might want to lose weight for the role. “It means a lot.”
The Don’t Look Up actress also thanked husband Jason Ritter, “the love of my life”, and their threeyear-old daughter Kahikatea, as well as “the most important person, my nanny Sally”, who she called “an absolute angel who allows me to do my work”.
Another Kiwi winner was Dame Jane Campion, who picked up Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for The Power Of The Dog, although she attracted criticism for seemingly downplaying the sporting achievements of Venus and Serena Williams, who were in the audience, in one of her speeches.
The filmmaker, 67, later apologised for her “thoughtless comment” about them not having to compete against men, saying, “The last thing I would ever want to do is minimise remarkable women.”
The same day, Jane took out Best Film and Best Film Direction at the Baftas, just 24 hours after collecting a trophy for Outstanding Directing at the Directors Guild of America Awards, making her a favourite for next week’s Oscars.