Melanie Lynskey opens up about ageing in Hollywood

Melanie Lynskey has spoken candidly about ageing in Hollywood, with the Yellowjackets star revealing she feels more comfortable in her body now than ever before.

"It’s pretty amazing to be 44 and still feeling challenged and excited," she told People. "I had a lot of beliefs when I started about what I was supposed to look like, and it feels very nice to be in a body that I’m comfortable in, to be ageing and have people want to cast me."

The New Zealand native made her acting debut in 1994, in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures opposite Kate Winslet. Throughout her career, which has spanned three decades, Lynskey had a 12-year run as Rose in Two and a Half Men, and most recently starred in Don’t Look Up.

“I never needed to be rich, and I didn’t want to be famous," the actress said about her memorable career. “I wanted to work as much as I could and do work that I liked without people necessarily recognising me.”

However, she also noted that she has had her own experiences with body image struggles, which she described as a “real bummer”.

“There’s not a time in my life where I was free from thinking how I could look better, which is a real bummer, but it’s very normal for women,” she said.

The actress has been open about the “egregious” body-shaming comments she’s received on social media since Yellowjackets premiered last November. Lynskey also revealed she was body-shamed behind the scenes of the Showtimeseries, when a crew member approached her about losing weight.

“The story of my life since Yellowjackets premiered,” the actor tweeted in response to the social media trolls. “Most egregious are the ‘I care about her health!’ people… b**** 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.”

Last March, Lynskey took home the Critics Choice Award for her role as Shauna in Yellowjackets. She received praise for thanking her daughter’s nanny during her acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

“The most important person I think I have to thank before I finish is my nanny, Sally. I love her,” Lynskey said. “She’s an absolute angel. She’s with my child and my child is safe and taken care of and she allows me to go and do my work.”

Lynskey also thanked her husband of two years, Jason Ritter, who she called “the love of my life”.

"He’s so helpful, so supportive, and he’s willing to travel with me so the family can be together," she told PEOPLE. "I do the same for him, but I’ve been working a lot recently, so he’s been making the sacrifice more often than I have.”

Lynskey and Ritter were married in 2020 after first meeting while filming 2013’s The Big Ask. The two announced their engagement in February 2017 and welcomed their daughter in December 2018.