Melanie Lysnkey’s Togetherness Performance a Stand-Out

It’s hard to pinpoint what is brilliant about new comedy series Togetherness, but a good place to start is its casting of Melanie Lynskey, according to Salon television critic Sonia Saraiya.

“Lynskey is a New Zealand-born actress who has been on the fringes of stardom for some time now, playing the best friend, the sister, the kindly neighbour, whatever’s convenient. It’s to her credit that she’s made those roles memorable: Her burlesque crooning in Away We Go is one of the highlights of that film; her Midwestern marriage is Up In The Air’s plot pivot; and she’s played Drew Barrymore’s stepsister and Reese Witherspoon’s hometown friend.

“Togetherness brings an actress typecast by nearly everyone else in Hollywood as a wholesome, compassionate type to centre stage. As Michelle, Lynskey plays a woman who is beginning to see the limits of how marriage and family life can make her happy. And though Michelle has an air of domesticity to her that aligns with Lynskey’s past roles, in Togetherness it feels like Lynskey, and the type she’s been asked to play for years, is suddenly, finally, coming to life.”

Variety and Slate magazine also praise Lynskey’s performance. Variety says that the show “proves watchable … thanks in part to the cast – perhaps especially Melanie Lynskey.”

While Slate critic Willa Paskin says: “Lynskey, charming and vulnerable, is a much better actor than [co-star Mark] Duplass is.”

Lynskey, 37, was born in New Plymouth. She made her feature film debut at age 16, starring as Pauline Parker in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, co-starring Kate Winslet.

She lives in Los Angeles.

Original article by Sonia Saraiya, Salon, January 10, 2015.