Melanie Lynskey Was Body-Shamed While Filming ‘Coyote Ugly’

Melanie Lynskey, a veteran actress who has rocked both the small and big screens in hits like Yellowjackets and Don’t Look Up, has always been open about how she has been repeatedly shamed in the industry (and public eye) for her body type. Being the badass she is, Lynskey has not only repeatedly shed light on the unfair treatment, she even stood up to producers who have commented on her weight.

And in a recent interview, Lynskey opened up about one of her earlier roles in a little movie called Coyote Ugly, where she played Gloria, aka “the best friend from Jersey.”

“But the scrutiny that was on Piper [Perabo], who’s one of the coolest, smartest women, just the way people were talking about her body, talking about her appearance, focusing on what she was eating. All the girls had this regimen they had to go on. It was ridiculous. I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be for this body, and I was still a [size] four,” Lynskey explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“That was already people putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and being very disappointed when they saw me, the costume designer being like, ‘Nobody told me there would be girls like you.’” Wow.

Lynskey went on to explain that there was “Really intense feedback about my physicality, my body, people doing my makeup and being like, ‘I’m just going to help you out by giving you a bit more of a jawline and stuff.’ Just the feedback was constantly like, ‘You’re not beautiful. You’re not beautiful.’”

Naturally, people came to Lynskey’s defense and wanted names. She clarified on Twitter that the costume designer she was referring to left the set early and was ultimately not credited for the film.

“In your early 20s, so much of it is about beauty, and how people respond to you, and do people want to f*ck you? Do people think you’re their best friend? Even the best friend thing, I started to be like, ‘I don’t want to do that too many times,’” she said.

The interviewer talked to all the stars of Yellowjackets about their trials and tribulations throughout their Hollywood careers. And, given what Lynskey and the others had been through in terms of body-shaming, they asked if she felt “protective of the younger actresses who play the younger versions of your characters?”

Lynskey started to cry and went full mama bear when she answered “So much. I feel very protective. At the beginning of production, I sent them all an email, and I just was like, “Whatever you need, if you need a voice, if you need someone to go to the producers for you, whatever you need,” and they were kind of like, “Cool. Thanks.” They’re fine.”

Previously, Lynskey talked about how she faced a similar situation on Yellowjackets, but that was quickly rectified when she and her co-stars stood up to the producers. “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 told Rolling Stone back in January.

“I want women to be able to watch [‘Yellowjackets’] and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.’ That representation is important,” Lynskey said. Damn straight.