Melanie Lynskey Biography

Melanie Jayne Lynskey (born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress, best known for playing Rose on Two and a Half Men and for films Hello I Must Be Going, The Informant!, Ever After and Heavenly Creatures.

She has also played a range of characters in films such as Win Win, Up in the Air, Away We Go, Flags of Our Fathers, Shattered Glass and Sweet Home Alabama.

Early life

Lynskey was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand. She attended New Plymouth Girls' High School, graduating in 1996. She then studied English literature at Victoria University of Wellington.

Career

1993"2002

At the age of 15, Lynskey won her first professional acting role as Pauline Parker in the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures, based on the 1954 Parker"Hulme murder case, opposite Kate Winslet. The film was released to critical acclaim in 1994 with Richard Corliss of TIME magazine describing her performance as "perfect, fearless in embodying teenage hysteria". Heavenly Creatures won Jackson and partner Fran Walsh a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and is now considered a cult film. Lynskey was named Best Actress at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards in 1995 for her performance.

After release of the film, Lynskey completed high school and began studying at the Victoria University of Wellington. During that time she made a brief appearance as a police deputy in Jackson's next film, The Frighteners. Her next major film appearance was as Jacqueline de Ghent in the 20th Century Fox production Ever After, opposite Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston, which was followed by roles in Detroit Rock City, But I'm a Cheerleader, The Cherry Orchard (an adaptation of the Anton Chekhov play) and the Jerry Bruckheimer produced Coyote Ugly, where she took on a New Jersey accent.

In 2002, she played her first television role in the Stephen King mini series Rose Red. She then appeared alongside Katie Holmes in Abandon and Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama, and guest starred twice on The Shield.

2003"present

In Shattered Glass, a 2003 drama revolving around political journalism, Lynskey played a writer for The New Republic. Based on a true story, the film depicted the downfall of fraudulent Washington, D. C. journalist Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen) and received extremely positive reviews, with A. O. Scott of The New York Times referring to it as "a serious, well-observed examination of the practice of journalism", and "an astute and surprisingly gripping drama".

Also in 2003, she landed the part of Rose, Charlie Sheen's sweet and zany stalker neighbor on the Emmy Award-winning Two and a Half Men, which frequently appears in the top 10 of the most-watched television shows in America. Although she left her regular slot on the show in 2005 to appear on Drive, she returned after Drive had been cancelled.

In 2006, she had a small but substantial role in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers and returned to New Zealand in late 2007 to a starring role in Show of Hands, which premiered at the Montreal Film Festival in 2008, and earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the Qantas Television Awards.

More recently, she earned rave reviews for her performance in the Sam Mendes comedy-drama Away We Go, playing a seemingly happy adoptive parent who hides a secret heartache. Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe wrote "Lynskey dramatizes sadness and dysfunction with quiet, moving physicality... It's the best performance in the movie".

She also played the female lead opposite Matt Damon in the Steven Soderbergh black comedy The Informant!, based on the true story of FBI whistleblower Mark Whitacre. The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival with The Independent noting "sterling support comes from Melanie Lynskey as Whitacre's ever-loyal wife". Soderbergh told the Los Angeles Times, "She is so watchable, you never quite know what you're going to get, you just know it's going to be good. Her rhythms are really unusual, like her cadence and her reaction times to things, and the way she sort of lays out a sentence. It's just really, really interesting".

Lynskey's 2009 films also included Leaves of Grass, in which she co-starred with Edward Norton and Susan Sarandon, and the Academy Award-nominated Up in the Air, in which she played Julie Bingham, the younger sister of George Clooney's character.

Lynskey starred in the 2011 films Win Win, opposite Paul Giamatti, Touchback opposite Kurt Russell, and Eye of the Hurricane, opposite Campbell Scott. In 2012, she appeared in Focus Features' comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, alongside Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, and had a role in the adaptation of Stephen Chbosky's teen novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, playing the late aunt of Charlie (Logan Lerman).

Lynskey had described herself as a character actress.

Personal life

In 2001, Lynskey met American actor Jimmi Simpson, while co-starring in the Stephen King miniseries Rose Red. They became engaged in 2005 and married on 14 April 2007, in a chapel overlooking a vineyard on Lake Hayes, near Queenstown, New Zealand. Also in attendance was her best friend and Rose Red co-star Emily Deschanel, who was one of her bridesmaids. Lynskey filed for divorce from Simpson on 25 September 2012, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Film

List of film performances

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Heavenly Creatures	Pauline Parker	Winner "? Best Actress New Zealand Film and TV Awards
1996	'	Deputy
1998	Ever After	Jacqueline De Ghent
1999	Detroit Rock City	Beth
1999	'	Dunyasha
1999	But I'm a Cheerleader	Hilary
1999	Foreign Correspondents	Melody	Nominated "? Best Actress, Chicago Alt.Film Fest
2000	Coyote Ugly	Gloria
2001	Snakeskin	Alice	Nominated "? Best Actress New Zealand Film and TV Awards
2002	Shooters	Marie
2002	Abandon	Julie
2002	Sweet Home Alabama	Lurlynn
2003	Shattered Glass	Amy Brand
2004	Claustrophobia	Lauren
2005	Say Uncle	Susan
2006	Park	Sheryl
2006	Flags of our Fathers	Pauline Harnois
2007	Itty Bitty Titty Committee	Plastic Surgery Lady	Uncredited
2008	Show of Hands	Jess	Nominated "? Best Leading Actress Qantas Television Awards
2008	'	Monique
2009	Away We Go	Munch Garnett
2009	'	Ginger Whitacre
2009	Up in the Air	Julie Bingham	Nominated "? Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated "? Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated "? Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2009	Leaves of Grass	Colleen
2010	Helena from the Wedding	Alice
2011	Win Win	Cindy
2011	Touchback	Macy
2011	Eye of the Hurricane	Amelia Kyte
2012	Hello I Must Be Going	Amy	Nominated "? Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor
2012	Seeking a Friend for the End of the World	Karen Amalfi
2012	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Aunt Helen
2013	Teddy Bears	Hannah

Television

List of television performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Rose Red	Rachel Wheaton	Television mini series
2003	'	Marcy	Television series Ep. 2.3 & 2.7
2003"present	Two and a Half Men	Rose	Main Cast (Seasons 1"2)/Recurring (seasons 3"present)
2007	Drive	Wendy Patrakas	Television series, 6 episodes
2008	'	Clea Mason	Television series Ep. 5.11 & 5.12
	Comanche Moon	Pearl Coleman	Television miniseries
	Psych	Emily Bloom	Television series Ep. 2.15
2009	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Kate	Television series Ep. 5.1
2010	'	Becky	Television series Ep. 2.3, 2.6, 2.8 & 2.9
	Memphis Beat	Annalise	Television series Ep. 1.4
2012	House	Natalie Tavares	Television series Season 8, Ep. 9