Melanie Lynskey
New Zealand actress (born 1977) · New Zealand · Actors
Melanie Lynskey is read about 5,460 times a day, in 33 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?She's been the face you recognize without placing for decades - the stalker girlfriend on Two and a Half Men, the friend in a dozen films you've seen - until Yellowjackets made her the center, playing adult Shauna with the kind of contained wreckage that finally landed her the awards attention character actors spend...
A life in dates
Don't Say Good LuckFilm, Elizabeth Birenbaum2025
Griffin in SummerFilm, Helen2024
After MidnightSeries2023“I had a very old-school agent who was like, 'TV? That's for has-beens!”In their words18 July 2023On almost playing Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Shut Up Evan, Evan Ross Katz (18 July 2023)“When I read a script for the first time, I have to have something instinctive happen where I feel like that character is there somewhere.”In their words16 March 2023Today.com, Sarah Lemire (16 March 2023)2022“When I first came [to America], I watched a lot of movies. I couldn't afford a dialect coach. And so I just watched everything I could.”In their words11 August 2022On perfecting accents, AwardsWatch, Erik Anderson (11 August 2022)“I started calling myself a character actor in interviews when I was really young because I think it was reclaiming the term or something.”In their words3 August 2022The Hollywood Reporter, Rebecca Keegan (3 August 2022)“It's good in New Zealand to be humble; it's good to be a quieter person.”In their words8 June 2022On moving to Los Angeles in her 20s, Backstage, Cameron Scheetz (8 June 2022)“I said to [my] agency, I have a real problem being a size six - which is what I was at the time - and playing a chubby friend. I hate that these roles exist.”In their words23 May 2022On being typecast early in her career, Vulture, E. Alex Jung (23 May 2022)
The Jennifer Hudson ShowSeries, 20222019
The Kelly Clarkson ShowSeries2017
Young SheldonSeries, Dora Ericson
1 Mile To YouFilm, 2017Coach Rowan2016
Rainbow TimeFilm, Lindsay2014
Late Night with Seth MeyersSeries
Goodbye to All ThatFilm, 2014Annie Wall2013
MomSeries, Shannon2012
Hello I Must Be GoingFilm, Amy2011
TouchbackFilm, Macy2009
Watch What Happens Live with Andy CohenSeries2007
Itty Bitty Titty CommitteeFilm, Pat (uncredited)2006
Flags of Our FathersFilm, Pauline Harnois2005
American Dad!Series, Sharon (voice)2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!Series
Shattered GlassFilm, 2003Amy Brand2000
Big BrotherSeries
But I'm a CheerleaderFilm, 2000Hilary1999
Detroit Rock CityFilm, Beth Bumsteen1996
The FrightenersFilm, Deputy1994
Heavenly CreaturesFilm, Pauline Parker1977Born16 May 1977Photos 3
In their own words 10
, I had a very old-school agent who was like, 'TV? That's for has-beens!
I am quite shy sometimes. I do have some social anxiety. I am soft-spoken. But I'm quite ferocious.
When I read a script for the first time, I have to have something instinctive happen where I feel like that character is there somewhere.
Filmography 40
DLDon't Say Good LuckGSGriffin in Summer
DUDon't Look Up
LMLady of the Manor
IAI Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
XXXXMY1 Mile To You
TCThe Changeover
LBLittle Boxes
AGAnd Then I Go
TIThe InterventionRTRainbow Time
DFDigging for Fire
TTThey Came Together
HCHappy Christmas
WPWe'll Never Have ParisGTGoodbye to All That
TWThe Perks of Being a Wallflower
SWSeeking a Friend for the End of the WorldHGHello I Must Be Going
WWWin WinTOTouchback
UAUp in the Air
TIThe Informant!
AGAway We Go
LGLeaves of GrassICItty Bitty Titty CommitteeFFFlags of Our Fathers
PAPark
SUSay UncleSGShattered Glass
SASweet Home Alabama
ABAbandon
SHShooters
CUCoyote UglyBCBut I'm a CheerleaderDCDetroit Rock City
EVEverAfterTFThe FrightenersHCHeavenly Creatures106 credits on file
Television 24
AMAfter Midnight
MAMatlock
TUThe Last of UsTSThe Jennifer Hudson Show
YEYellowjacketsTSThe Kelly Clarkson Show
SISummer Camp IslandYSYoung Sheldon
TCThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TCThe Late Late Show with James Corden
TFThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonLMLate Night with Seth Meyers
VAVariety Studio: Actors on ActorsMOMom
KPKey & PeeleWCWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
PSPsychADAmerican Dad!
IPIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
HOHouse
TMTwo and a Half MenJLJimmy Kimmel Live!
TSThe ShieldBBBig BrotherIn their orbit 2
About this person
Lynskey broke in at 17 as Pauline Parker in Heavenly Creatures (1994), then spent the next two decades building a career in the margins: supporting turns in Sweet Home Alabama, Shattered Glass, Up in the Air, roles that used her command of American accents to slip her into ensemble casts as the complicated woman off to the side. Hello I Must Be Going (2012) was the hinge - her first lead - and a string of indie leads followed through the 2010s, though the industry kept her at character-actor altitude. Television gave her Rose on Two and a Half Men (2003-2015), a recurring stalker played for uncomfortable laughs across twelve seasons. Then Yellowjackets arrived in 2021, Lynskey as the adult Shauna, and the ground shifted: a Critics' Choice win, back-to-back Emmy nominations, and a second nomination for Kathleen on The Last of Us. She'd been working all along; the room just finally turned to look.
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