Lesbian cinephiles will know Melanie Lynskey instantly from her debut role as Pauline Parker, the teenager who fell hard for Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures. The actress who was Winslet’s first on-screen kiss went on to co-star as the uptight fink Hilary in Jamie Babbit’s lesbian fave But I’m a Cheerleader and will soon share the screen in Up in the Air, playing George Clooney’s small-town sister. The native New Zealander recently took time out to talk with SheWired about a the best picture Oscar race, playing gay and Heavenly Creatures.
SheWired: You’ve worked with some incredible directors – Sam Mendes (Away We Go), Peter Jackson (Heavenly Creatures), Clint Eastwood (Flags of Our Fathers), Steven Soderbergh (The Informant!) and now Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno). How have those experiences helped shape your career?
Melanie Lynskey: You just learn so much working with somebody who knows what they’re doing. Each one of those experiences has been so different and so just great. It’s hard to articulate but I feel very fortunate for all of them.
SW: There’s already Oscar talk about Up in the Air. What would being part of the best picture of the year mean to you?
It’s so bizarre. It’s so far outside the world I live in. This last year has been really wonderful but I’m not usually participating in things that people are saying “Oscary” things about; I don’t even feel part of it (laughs); it feels strange to me. I would be so happy for Jason; I think he’s so talented. I found out the other day that he’s only 31, which is incredibly intimidating. But I’d be very happy for him and for everyone involved. I think George is so lovely in the movie and (co-star) Vera Farmiga is incredible, so I hope that people pay attention to that.
SW: What was working with George Clooney like?
It was lovely. He was so warm and kind and good and thoughtful. He’s just somebody who cares a lot about the world and about people. It kind of surprised me how gentle and lovely he was. I don’t know what I was expecting; I think I was expecting some kind of playboy-type or something (laughs). But he’s a really lovely man.
SW: You’ve had some great on-screen love interests: Most recently Danny McBride (Up in the Air) and Matt Damon (The Informant!), this year alone, plus this lady named Kate Winslet as well as Leisha Hailey on The L Word. Who was the best kisser?
(Laughs.) I didn’t really kiss any of them properly! They were just little pecks! I don’t know; it just doesn’t feel like I’ve really kissed any of them, so it’s sort of hard to answer.
SW: You’ve played gay four times — Heavenly Creatures, But I’m a Cheerleader, and the short The Nearly Unadventurous Life of Zoe Cadwaulder and a pair of episodes of The L Word — in your career. Do you specifically look for those parts?
I like those parts. I feel like I’m drawn to those stories because I’m always interested in a story that hasn’t been told a whole lot. And there aren’t enough films about lesbian women, I don’t think. So it’s always interesting to me when I read a script; I guess I’m more willing to see if it’s any good or not, because then I’m like, “OK, I like this, someone wants to tell this story.” So maybe that’s it. I’m not saying to my agent, “Bring me the lesbian roles!” (Laughs.)
SW: How did you become the sort of go-to girl for playing gay? Is it because of Heavenly Creatures?
Oh I’m sure. I think it must have because I know that (writer-director) Jamie Babbit — who made But I’m a Cheerleader — was a big fan of Heavenly Creatures and that’s why she asked me to do But I’m a Cheerleader. Then it sort of started happening from there.
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SW: What sort of research did you do to play Pauline?
(Filmmakers) Peter (Jackson) and Fran (Walsh) had done so much research and they had given each of us a huge folder of information, and all her diaries because they were admitted as court evidence — they couldn’t get all of them, but they did get everything that was written in court. And that’s a pretty crazy thing to have, someone’s inner-workings. Typically they (Jackson and Walsh) were very concerned that I look like her so I looked at photos and did everything I could. I was 16 and I’d never acted professionally before so I was like, “Tell me anything!”
SW: Do you feel like having that as your first role and achieving such success out of the gate typecast you so early in your career?
I think part of it had to do with the fact that I was just like a kid who was in high school, so I feel like now I know so much more about the industry and how people work, but at the time — I was talking about this with a friend the other day — but at the time I just didn’t know how to present myself. Kate was very smart about it; she was very much (of the thought) “I look this way in the movie so when we do anything publicly, I have to be very careful to look beautiful and do this and that and get outfits.” She got a publicist and was very smart about presenting herself in a different way, and I was like a little scruff. I went to the Venice Film Festival for the gala premiere of our movie wearing sneakers! I just had no clue. So I think I was in this movie in this very specific kind of character and I wasn’t doing anything to counter-act that. I didn’t have an agent; I didn’t know anything. So I think people were just like, “Well, she was found for this one movie and that’s that.” It took me a while to regroup and think, “OK, if I’m going to do this I need to work out how to do it.” And then I started to work in a lot of diverse projects, but for a while it was hard for me to break out of that.
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SW: You just received the Hollywood Spotlight Award from the Hollywood Film Festival. When you were just starting out with Heavenly Creatures, is this something that you thought you’d achieve?
No, my God. When I did Heavenly Creatures I was so amazed that I was even in a movie. I didn’t have any kind of career plan. I wanted to act, but I always thought I’d be doing plays in Wellington. So that was already beyond my wildest dreams. Everything that’s happened to me is already bigger than what I thought would happen to me.
SW: What’s next after Up in the Air?
I don’t know. I’m sort of in this weird position where I’ve done all the stuff that I liked this year so I want to do something else that I like but there’s not an awful lot around. So I’m going to wait for something good.
SW: You have a loyal legion of lesbian fans. What does the support from the lesbian community mean to you?
I feel really, really honored that you say that. I have so many friends that are gay and I think it’s wonderful that people would like me and I hope that I get to do more roles that people respond to. I think it’s awesome.
Up in the Air opens Dec. 4 in limited release.
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