TLOU Star Melanie Lynskey Reacts To People Who Criticized Her Character's Appearance: "I Don't Need To Be Muscly"

Actress Melanie Lynskey has responded to someone who criticized her appearance in HBO's The Last of Us. Adrianne Curry, who won the first edition of America's Next Top Model in 2003, tweeted at Lynskey to diss the actress' body and how, according to Curry, her lack of muscles doesn't sync up with the post-apocalyptic environment of the show.

Lynskey started off by reminding Curry that the photo she was talking about was from Lynskey's cover shoot for InStyle magazine; it is not a shot from HBO's series. She went on to say that her character, Kathleen, doesn't need to be muscly because she has henchmen.

"I'm playing a person who meticulously planned and executed an overthrow of FEDRA. I am supposed to be SMART, ma'am. I don't need to be muscly. That's what henchmen are for," she said.

In a series of follow-up tweets, Lynskey said she was inspired in part to take on the role for The Last of Us because it "suggested the possibility of a future in which people start listening to the person with the best ideas not the coolest or the toughest person. The organizer. The person who knows where everything is. The person who is doing the planning. The person who can multitask. The one who is decisive."

The actress, who hails from New Zealand also stars on Showtime's Yellowjackets, went on to say that women, especially women in leadership positions, are "scrutinized incessantly."

"Her voice is too shrill. Her voice is too quiet. She pays too much attention to how she looks. She doesn't pay enough attention to how she looks. She's too angry. She's not angry enough," Lynskey said. "I was excited at the idea of playing a woman who had, in a desperate and tragic time, jumped into a role she had never planned on having and nobody else had planned on her having, and then she actually got shit done."

She added: "I wanted her to look like she should have a notepad on her at all times. I wanted her to be feminine, and soft-voiced, and all the things that we’ve been told are 'weak.' Because honestly, f**k that."

Lynskey said she understands people are mad that she is "not the typical casting" for the role, and remarked that this is "thrilling" to her. "Other than the moments after action is called, when you feel like you're actually in someone else's body, the most exciting part of my job is subverting expectations," she said.

The character Kathleen was invented for the TV version of The Last of Us, and Lynskey said she feels grateful to writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for creating her.

Episode 5 of The Last of Us airs early this week to avoid a clash with the Super Bowl. For more, check out the trailer for Episode 5, which airs this Friday, February 10.