“Yellowjackets” star Melanie Lynskey vividly recalls body-shaming herself and other actresses while filming the 2000 movie “Coyote Ugly.”
“All the girls had this rule that they had to go. It was ridiculous,” the actress told the Hollywood Reporter, “I was already starving myself and being as skinny as I could for this body, and I was still a [size] four.”
Lynskey, now 45, played Gloria, a woman who was the best friend of actress Piper Perabo’s character, Violet, in the film. The “Don’t Look Up” actress said that while she was filming, she faced harsh criticism from the flick’s original costume designer, makeup artist and others.
“There were already guys putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and when they saw me they were so disappointed, the costume designer was like, ‘No one told me there would be girls like you,'” Lynskey continued. .
“A really intense reaction to my physicality, my body, the people doing my makeup and being like, ‘I’m going to help you out by giving you a little more jawline and stuff.’ The response was just like, ‘You’re not pretty. You’re not pretty.'”
Lynskey later clarified that the costume designer she was credited for in the film was not the person she was referring to in her comments.
“The costume designer who initially worked on Coyote Ugly left for some reason, and a lovely kind lady named Marlene Stewart took over and she was awesome,” Lynskey tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
“The first person was mean, not the person to give credit,” she wrote. “And my answer was kind of a mess — I had experiences with makeup artists to help my face look better but that didn’t happen on Coyote Ugly. The hair and makeup team was amazing and so kind and I’m one of the best I’ve ever had.” Worked with one of the
But body shaming didn’t stop in the early 2000s.
In January, Linsky revealed that he recently encountered a similar situation with a crew member while filming Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.”
“They were asking me, ‘What are you planning to do? I’m sure the producers will give you a trainer. They’d love to help you with that,'” she told Rolling Stone.
The actress’ co-star Juliette Lewis became aware of the conversation and wrote a letter to the production on Lynskey’s behalf.
“I wish women could see [“Yellowjackets”] And be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and no one is saying she’s fat.’ This representation is important,” Linsky concluded.
