Melanie Lynskey fans got a pleasant surprise when the actress made her debut on Sunday’s episode of HBO’s The Last of Us as the leader of a group of survivors who have somehow brilliantly overtaken a military group called FEDRA. But apparently not everyone was happy with Lynskey’s casting.
On Wednesday, Adrianne Curry, the winner of the first season of America’s Next Top Model who has a long history of posting racist and sexist and fatphobic comments and videos online, tweeted a photo of Lynskey in a glittery, form-fitting Christian Siriano dress and Valentino cape with the caption: “Her body says life of luxury … not post apocalyptic warlord.” She later deleted the tweet.
Lynskey responded, calling Curry out for using the photo, which was from a photoshoot for InStyle. She noted that in the show she is “playing a person who meticulously planned & executed an overthrow of FEDRA. I am supposed to be SMART, ma’am. I don’t need to be muscly.”
Although scores of Lynskey’s fans defended and complimented her, this isn’t the first time someone has unnecessarily brought up her weight. In 2022, she told Rolling Stone that a member of the Yellowjackets production team implied that she needed to lose weight.
“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. She also talked about being disappointed that some viewers couldn’t believe that Peter Gadiot’s character, Adam — a young, conventionally attractive artist — could genuinely be interested in and attracted to her character, Shauna. “I’m just like, ‘Wow, really? That’s where people’s heads are at, that the most important thing is being thin or young?’” she said.
And I have to say, though Curry intended “her body says life of luxury” as an insult, we should reclaim that idea. Who doesn’t want everything about themselves to scream “life of luxury”?
