The Story So Far
Born on the 16th May
1977, Melanie Lynskey spent much of
her school life taking a serious
interest in drama. In 1992,
she was chosen by Fran Walsh, wife
of one of NZ's top
directors, Peter Jackson, to play
Pauline Parker in his movie
version of the Hulme-Parker affair
- "Heavenly Creatures".
When the film was released internationally,
it catapulted her
co-star, Kate Winslet to instant recognition and celebrity
status, but it didn't open any doors for Lynskey. With
no
offers of film or any sort of acting work coming in,
she decided
to head to Hollywood, in the hope of emulating Winslet's
success, but the majority of producers only saw her
as
Pauline Parker and little else. Failing to win any of
the roles
she auditioned for, Lynskey returned to New Zealand
and
threw herself into college life, in order to forget
the ordeal she
had gone through in L.A.
Two years after having failed to secure any acting roles,
Lynskey's luck started to change for the better when
she won
the role of Jacqueline De Ghent in the 1998 re-telling
of the
Cinderella story, "Ever After". It's success as
a sleeper hit
began to open doors for her that had once remained closed.
Ever since then, Melanie has built an impressive CV,
working
with some of Hollywood's top names and has managed to
make friends with some of the A-List Young Hollywood
stars,
as well as lesser known film actors and actresses.
Currently, she is one of the stars
of the new hit US comedy,
"Two-And-A-Half Men", alongside Charlie Sheen and Jon
Cryer. Now living in Los Angeles, she shares the
house she
recently bought with her partner of four years, New
York-born
actor Jimmi Simpson, and her pet dog, Mouse.
2005 was another busy year for her. Whilst
doing post-production work on "Say Uncle", Lynskey
signed
to another movie project 'Heart Of Gold', but the project
went
into limbo.
This year has seen her again work on two films back-to-back,
'Flags Of Our Fathers' & 'Park', as well as the third season of
'Two And A Half Men'. Last month also saw her make a
significant decision regarding her relationship with fellow actor
Jimmi Simpson. The two of them are set to become husband
and wife.
