Lynskey Honoured for Early Mastery of Her Craft

New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey has earned herself an Emerging Master award from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) School of Filmmaking in Winston-Salem, one of the major events of the 16th annual RiverRun International Film Festival.

Along with filmmaker Debra Granik (director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Winter’s Bone), Lynskey becomes the second female artist to receive the award from the Festival – an honour both richly deserve, according to executive director Andrew Rodgers, who hosted the presentation alongside Angus MacLachlan, the noted playwright-turned-filmmaker who cast Lynskey in his feature directorial debut, Goodbye to All That, which premiered last week at the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York City.

The actress is as much known for her television work as her film work, having played the obsessed neighbour Rose on the blockbuster CBS series Two and a Half Men, in which she relentlessly stalked Charlie Sheen.

Lynskey, whose natural New Zealand accent occasionally surprises people because of her aptitude for different dialects, seeks diversity in her roles. Whether it’s lead, supporting or merely a brief appearance, the self-described character actress has no perfect role in mind.

Lynskey is the voice of a bluebird named Beatrice alongside Elijah Wood in the upcoming American animated television miniseries Over the Garden Wall.

Lynskey, 36, was born in New Plymouth.

Original article by Mark Burger, YES! Weekly, April 16, 2014.