Melanie Lynskey Says Husband Jason Ritter Is 'Genuinely Sacrificing' Roles for Her Career Success (Exclusive)

'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' actress tells PEOPLE she and her husband since 2020 pick roles based on what will "help move the person's career forward"

The saying goes that behind every great man is a great woman, but that goes both ways in Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter’s marriage.

Lynskey, 46, finds herself hitting a career peak after 30 years in Hollywood, receiving critical acclaim for her recent starring roles in Candy, The Last of Us and Yellowjackets. She credits Ritter, 44, with supporting her and their 5-year-old daughter while she focused on work.

“He's the most supportive person in the world,” Lynskey, who stars next in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “The last few years we've had this role of like, whoever's job makes the most sense, whether it's the most exciting career wise or it's more money, we would prioritize the one that was going to help move the person's career forward.”

Related: Melanie Lynskey on What Saved Her Relationship with Jason Ritter in Its 'Darkest and Most Difficult Moments'

The New Zealand native adds that this comes at the expense of Ritter’s career, as he’s been “getting offered stuff all the time” and has been passing on those offers to support Lynskey.

“It's like genuinely sacrificing,” she says.

Ritter constantly gushes about Lynskey on social media, from declaring he loves her "with my whole heart" on Instagram on Valentine's Day to cheering her on after her Emmy nomination and the finale of Yellowjacketson X (formerly known as Twitter).

Lynskey does the same, shouting him out on Instagram for "being the best dad our sweet daughter could possibly have" and giving him a mention when she won a Critics Choice Award in 2022.

When Lynskey received the offer to appear in The Last of Usafter filming Candy and Yellowjackets back to back, Ritter, who she married in 2020, urged her to take the part.

“He was like, ‘There's no way you're not going to do The Last of Us. You have to do it,’” Lynskey says. “So it was months and months and months that he was just being a dad and hanging out with me, and I'm so, so, so grateful to him. I think a lot of men don't have that kind of self-esteem and that respect for their partner. I'm grateful that I have someone who does.”

Lynskey considers it "a blessing" to have worked on The Last of Us.

“I just feel so honored to have been part of it,” the Togetherness alum says. “It was a dream. I just kept thinking at some point something's going to go wrong. Nothing can be this good and this happy and this fun to make. Then it was just great beginning to end. And the response was wonderful. I was just like, OK, sometimes things can just be wonderful. That's my lesson as a pessimist.”

For more on Melanie Lynskey, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

The Last of Us earned three Golden Globe nominations and 24 Emmy nods, including one for Lynskey for outstanding guest actress. While Lynskey won’t join Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in season 2 of the HBO series, she’s stayed in touch with showrunner Craig Mazin and heard from him that the upcoming season “is going to be crazy.”

“They're filming right now,” she continues. “He and I were just trying to find a time to play Zoom Mafia, but his schedule's very busy. He was like, ‘Well, I'm in Canada doing my job,’ but, it's going to be amazing.”

Related: Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter's Relationship Timeline

Lynskey has stayed busy, too. In early May, she stars in The Tattooist of Auschwitz as author Heather Morris, who interviews Holocaust survivor Lali Sokolov (Harvey Keitel) about his experience serving as one of the tätowierer (tattooists) in charge of applying ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms at Auschwitz-Birkenau. And soon, Lynskey will go back to work filming season 3 of Yellowjackets.

“To make a living as an actor was all I ever dreamed of,” she says. “So once it got to a point where I was like, OK, I'm steadily paying the bills through this job, I felt like my dreams had come true.”

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The Tattooist of Auschwitz premieres Thursday, May 2, on Peacock.

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