A team that really sticks together.
Melanie Lynskey says a member of the Yellowjackets production allegedly made critical comments about her body during filming. The series' production company had no immediate comment when reached by E! News.
"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,'" the actress recalled being told in an interview with Rolling Stone, published on Jan. 15.
Lynskey said her co-stars Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis rallied around her in defense and that Lewis even wrote a letter to the Showtime series' producers on her behalf.
The 41-year-old actress from New Zealand told the magazine she previously struggled with diminished confidence and disordered eating and also said she has also dealt with online body shaming from Yellowjackets fans. After her character Shauna had an affair with hunky young artist Adam (Peter Gadiot), some viewers questioned the storyline, claiming there was no way he would be attracted to her.
She lamented, "I'm just like, 'Wow, really? That's where people's heads are at, that the most important thing is being thin or young?'"
Lynskey, a mom to a 3–year-old-daughter she shares with husband Jason Ritter, said it is important to her to keep the focus off the character's physical appearance.
"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,'" she said. "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."
The Season 1 finale of Yellowjackets airs Sunday, Jan. 16 on Showtime.