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‘The Last Of Us’ Actress Recalls Being Cast As ‘The Fat Friend’: ‘A Candy Bar In Every Scene’

   DailyWire.com
Melanie Lynskey
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“The Last of Us” actress Melanie Lynskey recently reflected on being typecast as the fat sidekick in many of her previous roles.

The 45-year-old actress made the remarks while speaking with The New York Times, saying she has always landed parts that could be classified as “the fat friend or the jokey kind of fat person.”

“There was one thing I read where the person had a candy bar in every scene,” Lynskey told the publication. Her previous work, including the sitcom “Two and a Half Men” and the romantic comedy “Sweet Home Alabama,” made Lynskey want to redefine how she was perceived in the industry.

“I very much want to be onscreen representing an interesting person who’s not paying attention to what her tummy looks like,” the “Yellowjackets” star said. “If there were more people who look like me [on screen], then I wouldn’t have to talk about it as much.”

Lynskey previously talked about body image while discussing how she related to the late actress Brittany Murphy, who she claimed was also typecast as the chubby friend in “Clueless.” Murphy died from a heart attack at the age of 32 in 2009.

“I’m trying to just say to myself, ‘OK, you’re normalizing this, and hopefully more women will come along who look like you, and people won’t feel like they have to say things like that,’ because there is kind of a backhanded compliment,” Lynskey said at the time, per IndieWire.

“Sometimes, I get tired of hearing about my body, even when it is positive, I just, you know, feel like I need a break from thinking about it and hearing about it and I think all women feel that way,” she continued.

Lynskey also discussed the backlash she got for being cast as Kathleen, the leader of a revolutionary movement in post-apocalyptic Kansas City in the hit HBO Max series “The Last of Us.”

“I understand that some people are mad that I’m not the typical casting for this role. That’s thrilling to me. 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 tweeted February 8.

“I’m playing a person who meticulously planned & executed an overthrow of FEDRA,” Lynskey wrote in a follow-up. “I am supposed to be SMART, ma’am. I don’t need to be muscly. That’s what henchmen are for.”

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