Melanie Lynskey & Husband Jason Ritter Confront Body Shaming: 'Swan Dive Directly Into The Sun'

“Yellowjackets” star Melanie Lynskey is getting some support after experiencing body shaming from someone on the show’s production team.

The New Zealand actress, 44, has made several appearances in the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” which ran for twelve seasons from 2003 to 2015. From there, she has starred in everything from Hulu’s “Castle Rock” series to 2002’s “Sweet Home Alabama” with Reese Witherspoon, to Adam McKay’s 2021 climate change parody, “Don’t Look Up,” which became the second-most-watched film on Netflix last month.

The “Heavenly Creatures” star is now starring in Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” series, which has been described by fans as “a female ‘Lord of the Flies.’” The series tells the story of a girl’s high-school soccer team that survives a plane crash in the Ontario wilderness and must do everything they can to survive.

In addition to Lynskey, the show features an all-star cast of JulietteLewis, ChristinaRicci, EllaPurnell, SophieThatcher, TawnyCypress, and SamanthaHanratty.

As The Blast previously reported, Lynskey said that someone on the “Yellowjackets” production team criticized her appearance.

“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,’” she shared.

Fortunately, the rest of the cast had her back. Lynskey said that Ricci, Lewis, and Cypress expressed their support for her after the embarrassing conversation. Lewis even went as far as to write a letter to the producers to complain about the way Lynskey was treated!

Melanie has received plenty of criticism from fans, not only due to her appearance, but because her character has a fling with a character that was younger than she was.

“I’m just like, ‘Wow, really? That’s where people’s heads are at, that the most important thing is being thin or wrong?’” she asked, adding that her character of Shauna is supposed to look like a “real woman” – not a thin, young model that is often portrayed in Hollywood stereotypes.

“It was really important to me for [Shauna] to not ever comment on my body, to not have me putting a dress on and being like, 'I wish I looked a bit better,'” she shared.

“I did find it important that this character is just comfortable and sexual and not thinking or talking about it because I want women to be able to watch it and be like, 'Wow, she looks like me and nobody's saying she's the fat one,’” she added. “That representation is important.”

Lynskey retweeted a tweet that had since been deleted by the author about body shaming.

“The story of my life since Yellowjackets premiered,” Lynskey tweeted. “Most egregious are the ‘I care about her health!!’ people…b---- you don’t see me on my Peleton! You don’t see me running through the park with my child. Skinny does not always equal healthy.”

Many fans applauded her stance. One fan wrote, “I’m thin. I get complimented for being thin. I’m not healthy. Walking down the street in LA a woman asked me, ‘How do you stay so thin?’ I replied, ‘Lung disease!’”

Actress Donna Lynne Champlin also commented on Lynskey’s post, saying, “Been there, momma. You owe no one a god--- thing but a brilliant performance which you are turning out in SPADES. Keep being f—ing gorgeous and talented and know you’ve got fans out here who think you are a beautiful queen and a magnificent actress.”

Melanie Lynskey’s husband, Jason Ritter, came to his wife’s defense, tweeting, “If anyone has any further unsolicited comments about *anybody* else’s body, they can feel free to write them in permanent ink onto their own foreheads and swan dive directly into the sun.”

Hopefully, the only comments Melanie Lynskey will receive now are the speculation about what’s next for her character in “Yellowjackets” season 2!