Melanie Lynskey talks about her once good friend and her drifting apart Celestial creatures opponent Kate Winslet.
During a conversation with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast Thursday on the nature of the industry and how people “move on” after projects, the Yellow jackets actress explained, “When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups I’ve had.”
“It was so painful because it wasn’t like anything happened, she just became a huge international movie star and she didn’t have much time,” she added. “I didn’t want to hear from her, you know, and it just happened gradually, and it happens in relationships. People kind of drift apart, but it was so painful for me.
But before their bond even existed and before she landed the role of Pauline Parker in the Oscar-nominated film, Lynskey said she looked up to Winslet for “setting the bar.”
When she initially auditioned for the role, the Togetherness actress said that director Peter Jackson showed her Winslet’s audition tape and told her, “This is how good you have to be.” She found it helpful and once she got the part, she said, “He must have felt like I did.”
Though the two haven’t crossed paths much since then Celestial creaturesexcept for Lynskey’s 2009 movie premiere We’re gone, she said that Winslet has always been a “huge source of inspiration” to her. Lynskey particularly appreciated “how gracefully she handled” the negative comments about her body image, something Lynskey also had to deal with throughout her career.
“She’s like a very, very confident person, but… she’s very sensitive and the way she was dissected and talked about, and I remember being so furious on her behalf at the time,” she explained. “The way Kate Winslet is in the world, the way Kate Winslet makes movies and you’re going to see that talent. … This is like an actor who comes along once in a generation, just focus on that.
They’ve both built successful careers since their 1994 movie, but the Intervention actress explained that her and Winslet’s friendship wasn’t the only one that hit her hard. Lynskey said it actually “happened a few times”.
“I remember one time I did a movie with this actor and when we finished I said, ‘Oh my God, I’m just so glad I met you and we have this friendship,’ and she said : ‘Yes, I’m not friends with actors. I don’t stay friends with actors.’”
While she used to be “so touchy” about losing relationships in the industry, over time she learned that’s how it worked. She added, “I was always so hurt by losing these great loves that I had and you know it got easier.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Winslet’s team for comment.
