Actress Melanie Lynskey says that her co-stars on the TV series Yellowjackets banded together to complain to producers about an insensitive comment one crew member made about her body.
Lynskey (pictured, far right) told Rolling Stone in a recent interview that a crew member of the Yellowjackets production commented critically on her body during filming, telling her, “I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this.”
The actress added that when she complained to her co-stars, Tawny Cypress (pictured, third from left), Christina Ricci (pictured, far left), and Juliette Lewis (pictured, second from left), they banded together to raise the incident with producers; Lewis wrote a letter to them on Lynskey’s behalf.
In the Showtime series, Lynskey’s character has an affair with Peter Gadiot’s character — a younger, attractive artist. The actress also told Rolling Stone that she is bothered by people who don’t appear to believe that Gadiot’s character would take interest in her character.
“I’m just like, ‘Wow, really? That’s where people’s heads are at, that the most important thing is being thin or young?'” she said.
“It was really important to me for [my character] to not ever comment on my body, to not have me putting a dress on and being like, ‘I wish I looked a bit better,'” the actress added.
“I did find it important that this character is just comfortable and sexual and not thinking or talking about it, because I want women to be able to watch it and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.’ That representation is important,” she said.
Lynskey also mentioned a time in 2012 when people expressed similar criticism about her on-screen relationship with Christopher Abbott’s character in the film Hello I Must Be Going. In the movie, she plays a 30-something divorcée having a fling with a teenager.
“It was a real bummer because I was like, ‘The movie’s about this couple who find each other and have this fling for a summer.’ Like, really, you don’t think an 18-year-old would just want to spend the summer sleeping with me?” the actress said.
“From experience, some 18-year-olds are willing to sleep with me,” she added.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.