Melanie Lynskey on the Hollywood Cliché That Will Make Her Hate Working With You

How has Melanie Lynskey persevered in the entertainment biz and become one of its most compelling screen actors? Through a combination of hard work, passion for the craft, and learning—often the hard way—that originality trumps imitation. Rather than striving to deliver what the industry might want, she’s guided by a principle other working artists can live by: “There’s one me. As soon as I learned that lesson, things got a lot easier for me.” Melanie had an improbable career breakout, cast in her feature film debut as a teenager in Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures.” From working and studying in her native New Zealand, to eventually appearing to American audiences on “Two and a Half Men,” she’s steadily risen through Hollywood’s ranks, appearing in “Ever After,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Hello I Must Be Going,” “Togetherness,” and “Mrs. America.” Now, she’s earned SAG ensemble award recognition for Netflix and Adam McKay’s Oscar-nominated “Don’t Look Up,” plus a Critics’ Choice Award nod