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New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey made her film debut in 1994 when she played teenage murderess Pauline Parker in Heavenly Creatures, a crime drama directed by Peter Jackson. Following a hiatus, she resumed her career with a supporting role in the fairytale romance Ever After (1998), and spent the next few years appearing in a variety of big-budget and small-scale features, such as Detroit Rock City, But I'm a Cheerleader (both 1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), Snakeskin (2001), Abandon (2002), and the commercially successful romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama (2002).

Lynskey appeared as Rose, the conniving love interest of Charlie Harper, on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men between 2003 and 2015. During this time she played supporting parts in Shattered Glass (2003), Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Sam Mendes's Away We Go, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! (all 2009), Win Win (2011), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). Her starring role as a depressed divorcee in Hello I Must Be Going (2012) proved to be a turning point in Lynskey's career, with headline parts in dramedies such as Happy Christmas, Goodbye to All That (both 2014) and The Intervention (2016) coming next, establishing her as a prominent figure on the American independent film scene. For her portrayal of a disgruntled vigilante in the 2017 thriller I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, she was nominated for the Gotham Award for Best Actress.

Lynskey starred as a conflicted housewife on HBO's Togetherness from 2015 to 2016, earning praise and a Critics' Choice nomination. She then appeared as an ambitious defence lawyer in the Australian drama series Sunshine (2017), a troubled psychic on Hulu's Castle Rock (2018), a conservative activist in the FX miniseries Mrs. America (2020), and real-life murder victim Betty Gore in the Hulu miniseries Candy (2022). Her transition to mainstream success continued with her role as a put-upon wife in the 2021 film Don't Look Up, as well as her portrayal of Shauna, a secretive plane crash survivor, on the Showtime thriller series Yellowjackets (2021–present), for which she won the 2022 Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress and was nominated twice for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress (2022, 2023). She received a further Emmy nomination (Outstanding Guest Actress, 2023) for her role as a ruthless war criminal on the first season of HBO's The Last of Us.

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References

1. Breznican, Anthony (22 September 2012). "Melanie Lynskey makes sexy splash in 'Hello I Must Be Going'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
2. "Sweet Home Alabama tops the weekend box office". Entertainment Weekly. 29 September 2002. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
3. "Melanie Lynskey Could Have Been Just The Wacky Sitcom Neighbor. She Chose Otherwise". Fast Company. 24 February 2017. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
4. James, Maris (4 September 2012). "The Playlist Profile: Melanie Lynskey Talks Hollywood, 'Hello I Must Be Going,' 'Heavenly Creatures' & More". The Playlist. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
5. Strauss, Bob (24 February 2017). "How Melanie Lynskey's risky instincts brought her to Netflix". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
6. Cox, Gordon (19 October 2017). "'Get Out' Leads 2017 Gotham Awards Nominations". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
7. "2015 Critics' Choice TV Award Nominations Are Outstanding & More Than Make Up For Some Big Emmy Snubs". Bustle. 6 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
8. Saner, Emine (24 February 2022). "'I was filled with self-loathing': Yellowjackets' Melanie Lynskey on insecurity, ambition and her idol Kate Winslet". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
9. Wynne, Kelly (13 March 2022). "Melanie Lynskey Thanks Husband Jason Ritter and Her 'Angel' Nanny in Critics Choice Speech". People. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
10. "Here are the 2022 Emmy nominees (full list)". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
11. ^ "Emmys nominations 2023: See the full list of nominees". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

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