Melanie Lynskey responds to criticism of her character in The Last of Us: ‘I don’t need to be muscly’

Melanie Lynskey is not staying silent on trolls that targeted her appearance after she played a a Kansas City warlord who apparently defeated the FEDRA militia in that city in the latest episode of The Last of Us. The Yellowjackets actor clapped back at a tweet that targeted her physical appearance to claim that she was not a good fit for the role in the adaptation of the zombie video game. (Also read: Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor won’t return for Season 3: ‘I did my two seasons’)

Melanie, who plays the character of Kathleen in the popular series, took to Twitter to post a screenshot of a tweet that was posted by America’s Next Top Model first-season winner Adrianne Curry’s now-deleted comment. Adrianne claimed Melanie’s body was not appropriate for the character in the show. “Her body says life of luxury…not post apocolyptic (sp) warlord. Where is (the actor in The Terminator) linda hamilton when you need her?” she wrote. Melanie then posted the photo that Adrianne was referring to, that was taken in a photoshoot, and tweeted, “Firstly- this is a photo from my cover shoot for InStyle magazine, not a still from HBO’s The Last Of Us. And I’m playing a person who meticulously planned & 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”

The Heavenly Creatures actor then tweeted in a separate thread that she was grateful to be working with the creative minds behind the show, The Last of Us series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for their encouragement in casting a person who is “Not the coolest or the toughest person. The organiser. The person who knows where everything is. The person who is doing the planning. The person who can multitask. The one who’s decisive.” She further wrote about the scrutiny that women undergo for occupying leadership positions, adding, “Women, and 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…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*** that.”

The Last of Us, also starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.