Melanie Lynskey has recently shared her experience with body shaming from Yellowjackets fans.
The 44-year-old actress shared some of the criticism she received since the hit Showtime series Yellowjackets premiered in November 2021.
On January 29, 2022, Lynskey tweeted a post from author and body positivity advocate Ashley C. Ford. She wrote, “The story of my life since Yellowjackets premiered. 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.”
She previously opened up about body shaming criticism that took place behind the scenes. She revealed that a member of the Yellowjackets production team criticized her body shape during filming.
Earlier this month, she said in an interview with Rolling Stone, “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 also said that her costars Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, and Juliette Lewis came to her defense, with Lewis penning a letter to the producers.
The New Zealand actress went on to say that body positivity was an important factor in how she developed the character.
She said, “It was really important to me for [Shauna] to not ever comment on my body, to not have me putting a dress on and being like, ‘I wish I looked a bit better.’” Lynskey plays Shauna in Yellowjackets.
“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 watch it and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one,’” she added. “That representation is important.”
In 2016, Lynskey told PEOPLE about her insecurities and eating issues.
She said at the time, “I was losing my mind trying to conform to something that was not physically possible for me. I was very unwell for a long time. I had eating issues and at a certain point I was like, ‘I’m not going to survive’ — not like I was on death’s door or anything, but I was so unhappy and my hair was falling out.”
“I was like, ‘I just need to look the way I’m supposed to look’ and have faith that people are going to want to put someone in a film or on a show who looks like this.” She added. “I did have to truly become comfortable with myself because you can’t fake it.”
