‘Yellowjackets’ Star Melanie Lynskey Says Crew Member Body Shamed Her, Suggested Trainer

“Yellowjackets” star Melanie Lynskey revealed in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that a member of the Showtime series’ production crew body shamed her during filming. Lynskey stars in the series as Shauna. The actress’ “Yellowjackets” co-stars Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress reportedly banded together to support Lynskey, with Lewis writing a letter to the producers of the show about the incident on Lynskey’s behalf.

“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,'” Lynskey said of the crew member’s comments on her body.

“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,'” Lynskey added. “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 to watch it and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one.’ That representation is important.”

One of the plot threads on “Yellowjackets” this season found Lynskey’s Shauna having an affair with a hunky young male artist played by Peter Gadiot. Some viewers reacted to this storyline on social media in disbelief, claiming a man who looks like Gadiot’s Adam would never get into bed with a woman who looks like Shauna. Lynksey said, “I’m just like, ‘Wow, really? That’s where people’s heads are at, that the most important thing is being thin or young?'”

Breakout hit “Yellowjackets” wrapped up its first season run on Jan. 16, with Showtime already renewing the drama for a second season. Lynskey earned a Critics Choice Award nomination for best actress in a drama series thanks to her performance as the adult version of Shauna, a restless stay-at-home mom reckoning with her past as a teenage survivor of a plane crash. The show is also nominated in the drama series category at the Critics Choice Awards.

For more on “Yellowjackets,” read Variety’s season finale interview with executive producer and co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco.

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