Melanie Lynskey knew the Emmy nominations were today. Coming off of a best-actress Critics Choice win, she knew there was a chance her name would be read for the first time in her career. She also realized she could not be awake for it. “I’ve always heard of people sleeping through and I was like, ‘Bullshit! Wake up and watch it happen,’” she says. “And then I just couldn’t.”
You can hear it in Lynskey’s voice—this is a major career moment. She leads an impressive haul for freshman breakout Yellowjackets, which is now nominated for outstanding drama series as well as for its writing, directing, casting, and supporting actress Christina Ricci. The industry recognition is a long time coming for the Kiwi actor who’s stolen scenes across film and TV for decades, going back to her iconic 1994 debut in Heavenly Creatures. And she’s showing no signs of slowing down, with Yellowjackets getting back into production next month.
In fact, as Lynskey tells me hours after learning of her Emmy nomination, today’s dizzying routine of congratulations from friends and family (and reporters) has brought her right back to that Heavenly Creatures period, nearly 30 years ago.
Vanity Fair: Congrats! How are you feeling?
Melanie Lynskey: Honestly, it’s very overwhelming. I’ve have never had a date like this. I remember years ago, calling Kate Winslet the first time she got nominated for an Oscar [for 1995’s Sense and Sensibility], I was like, “Oh my God.” She was explaining, “I’ve had to do all these interviews!” And it just sounded like such a crazy, exciting day. I’m just like, “Oh gosh, this is one of those days.” I’ve never had this. It’s really a very lovely feeling.
I heard you intentionally slept through the nominations announcement.
Yes. I just was so nervous. I’ve always heard of people sleeping through and I was like, “Bullshit! Wake up and watch it happen.” And then I just couldn’t. I was like, I don’t really want to see that unfold. I think I just want somebody to tell me if it happens. I want someone to get a text, and if it doesn’t happen, then I want to be able to sleep in. So I just got a bunch of texts and my publicist texted me, and my friend Nick Davis texted me, and then it all just started coming in. I’m glad that I did that for myself.
But Jason and your daughter were watching, right?
Yeah. Jason was up, he got up with our daughter today. She was watching Curious George and he was watching the nomination announcements. [Laughs]
How did she react to the moment? Obviously it becomes a thing in the household.
She was saying “Yay!” because he was saying “Yay!” [Laughs] He said, “Come and tell mama what I told you to say.” And she said, “Mama got Emmy,” or something. I was like, “No.” She had been coached on what to say, but she didn’t know what she was saying. It was cute though. She was just mostly happy that she was getting a babysitter today.
Well we all have different victories for the day.
Exactly. Exactly.
Beyond your nomination, it was thrilling to see how well the show did overall, and Christina getting nominated. How did it feel seeing that really broad recognition for the show?
Honestly, I didn’t really breathe until I saw that Christina had been nominated. Jason told me and I got these texts about myself—I was like, “Well that’s nice,” and then when [I heard about] Christina, I just started weeping. I love our cast so much. I wish every single person could’ve been nominated. My heart kind of hurts for everyone who wasn’t, but I’m just so thrilled for Christina. She’s so weird and so great in that role. And then Karyn Kusama and our writers and our casting directors and the show. The most exciting thing is that we all get to go there together and celebrate the show as a whole.
It’s got to be pretty good fuel going into season two, right?
We’re all so grateful to be on a show that’s getting a season two, honestly. That feels like enough of a triumph. We’ve all been doing this a long time, and it just feels really nice to be on something that people are watching and responding to. So this is all just icing on the cake. Extra amazing.