Melanie Lynskey has had a huge year thanks to the success of Showtime’s surprise hit Yellowjackets, and her role in Don’t Look Up, which is one of Netflix’s biggest movies ever. But with that increased attention has come some increased negativity, too.
Over the weekend, Lynskey commented on a since-deleted tweet from body positivity advocate and writer Ashley C. Ford. Per Us Weekly, Ford wrote about people being “confused” that she’s “not thin and also not trying to lose weight,” something Lynskey clearly identifies with.
“The story of my life since Yellowjackets premiered,” Lynskey wrote in response. “Most egregious are the ‘I care about her health!!’ people… bitch you don’t see me on my Peloton! You don’t see me running through the park with my child. Skinny does not always equal healthy.”
Calling out body-shaming and unrealistic notions of beauty in Hollywood is nothing new for Lynskey, who previously told Rolling Stone that a member of the show’s production team questioned her weight on set. As a result, her co-stars came to her defense, and Juliette Lewis even wrote a letter to producers.
“They were asking me, ‘What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this,’” Lynskey said, adding that she wanted to make sure her character of Shauna was body positive in the show.
“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 to watch it and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one,’” she said. “That representation is important.”
If you haven’t been keeping up with Showtime’s latest hit, read more about Yellowjackets in our rundown here.
