(July 12, 1998) - Thanks to a covert tip from our "mole" in Hollywood - known to the HC Site only as "Deep GIF" - we have obtained an exclusive publicity photo (at left) of the bewitching Melanie Lynskey costumed for her role as one of the Wicked Stepsisters in the upcoming "Ever After", a new take on the Cinderella story.
Click on the photo to get the "Big Picture"!
By Adam Abrams, HC WebFaq Correspondent
(March 11, 1997) - More than two years after her remarkable debut in "Heavenly Creatures," Melanie Lynskey is slated to make her long-awaited return to the big screen at last - much to the delight of her many fans.
Note: I will be referring to the writer/director by only his first name of Mark for now, as he wishes to insure himself, his actors, and the project from unwarranted distraction during the critical preproduction phase.
July and August 1997 will see cameras roll on "Foreign Correspondents," an independent film which Mark is directing from his own screenplay. The film, to be shot in Los Angeles, features Lynskey starring in one of the two separate storylines, playing a young woman whose lonely life is shaken up by a series of mysterious postcards she receives, which are meant for someone else.
(February 21, 1998) - Here is a transcript of the recent interview with Melanie Lynskey that appeared in the New York Daily News. Thanks to Sandra Bowdler for making this available!
Fairytale Ending to Actor's Long Search for Work
By Brendan Cole
NY Daily News, Wednesday, August 27, 1997 - Copyright 1997
The career of actor Melanie Lynskey has taken a fairytale turn.
The 20-year-old New Plymouth woman will star alongside Hollywood luminary Drew Barrymore -- who plays the title role in the 20th Century Fox film Cinderella.
It has been three years since Lynskey starred in Peter Jackson's award-winning film Heavenly Creatures in which she played Pauline Parker, a wallflower whose obsessive friendship with Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) led the pair to bludgeon Parker's mother to death.
Lynskey then travelled to Los Angeles last year to audition for further film roles but was unsuccessful.
However, on her return visit in June, before she began her part in a forthcoming film called Foreign Correspondents, she tried for the part of Jacqueline de Ghent -- Cinderella's ugly sister.
"The audition was great, they were very enthusiastic -- usually an audition is terrifying because you only have a few minutes to put everything into it. You really feel the pressure, but this was just really fun," she said.
And it was her agent who told her the good news.
"I was just amazed. Whenever I am waiting to hear from someone, I am used to my agent saying 'they loved you but the other person was more famous, or something like that. My agent has always been honest.
"But halfway through the conversation she said: 'Oh that's right, you got the part', I was like 'are you sure?'."
Lynskey said learning how to overcome audition nerves was one of the reasons behind her success and she attributed part of her new- found confidence to advice from top New Zealand director Gaylene Preston.
"In Hollywood auditions, no matter what sort of character you play, they like you to be totally confident as if the part is yours. This time I really got the confidence to go in there and feel good about myself."
After narrowly missing out on a part in the film The Crucible, Lynskey returned to New Zealand last year to ponder her future and deal with constant questioning about what and when her next film would be. While Lynskey toiled away in audition after audition, Heavenly Creatures co-star Kate Winslet experienced a meteoric rise to fame.
"People are eager to draw comparisons between us, but we are two completely different actresses who will always be doing different things. She does wonderful work. People in the industry understand how hard it is to get work, but a lot of people expected that if you do one movie, then you just do more. I felt that a lot of people thought there was something wrong with me."
Lynskey will not reveal too much about Cinderella, except that it is a "different" version of the age-old fairytale. Today she flies to London for costume fitting and then will spend time with her co-star Drew Barrymore before rehearsals start on Monday.
And from being a Victoria University student used to living in draughty flats, she is looking forward to working on a set in the sunny south of France with some of Hollywood's greatest stars.
"My agents are so excited about the future and I'm a bit scared to walk towards it because I have not worked in four years. It has not sunk in yet."
(August 23, 1997) - Here's a report from Mark Tapio Kines, director of Melanie Lynskey's forthcoming film "Foreign Correspondents". It features information on the filming of "FC", and a few tidbits about Mel herself. Also: Mel's confirmed movie deal with a major studio!
Also, courtesy of the director, there are some great photos of Melanie with himself and her costar Wil Wheaton. Excepting an all-too-brief cameo in "The Frighteners," this is the first we've seen of her since HC!
| Picture One
Director Mark Kines: "Here's Mel and Wil smiling for the camera. I took the picture from about 2 feet away, hence the blur." |
Anyway, some notes on the experience, focusing on Melanie Lynskey, since that's what your audience wants to read about.
Mel arrived in Los Angeles on August 11. I picked her up at the airport and quickly took her to Loyola Marymount University, since the character she portrays had gone to that college. We walked around and took some pictures. I introduced her to some of the crew, who were hanging out in the production office, and she seemed a bit bewildered by the whole thing.
We went to her agent's house, where she stayed for the first few days of her sojourn in America, and chatted a while over tea. She brought some photos with her, mostly of life back in New Zealand, but also including some fun candids of herself, Peter Jackson, Sarah Peirse and Kate Winslet on promotional tours for "Heavenly Creatures."
She and I hung out most of the weekend, getting to know each other better. On August 13, she had an audition for a role in a 20th Century Fox film. More on that later.
| Picture Two
"This is a photo of me (in the middle), with Mel looking a little distracted and Wil acting normal again. It was impossible to get a photo of Wil just smiling. But that's his choice!" |
During the next week, Mel was getting fitted for costumes, had her hair done, and got in a few days rehearsal with me and her costar, Wil Wheaton (whom most will remember from "Stand By Me" and "Star Trek: the Next Generation"). Rehearsals were a little shaky at the start, because Mel and Wil both prefer to be somewhat fresh in front of the camera. But we all had lots of nice conversation.
July 20 was the first day of actual filming. Went well. And so it went for the next 11 days, as we shot first on location in my old neighborhood in Los Angeles (some long nights, there), then on a stage outside of L.A. I must say, Mel was a genuine joy on the set. The entire crew fell in love with her. She was bright, funny, and very friendly. She also happened to put in a lovely performance. The character she portrays is an American, and not until shortly before she arrived in LA did I hear her American accent. But as soon as the cameras started rolling, she slipped into a totally convincing Yankee dialect. And since many of the scenes in the film involved her by herself, I must give her high praise for her abilities. Acting can be very difficult when you have nobody to act off of. Very difficult to just lean against a wall and look interesting, but Mel pulled it off.
On July 31, the crew and I all went up to the San Francisco Bay Area to shoot the second part of the film, and as Mel was not part of the cast that would be shooting up north, we had to say goodbye. (The film is divided into two separate stories: Mel and Wil head up the cast for the first story, and the second story stars Corin Nemec, best known as Parker Lewis in the TV series "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," and a talented Russian actress named Yelena Danova.) Mel stayed in L.A. for another week, then returned to New Zealand.
| Picture Three
"This is Mel giving the camera that 'Betty Boop' look." |
So what's she doing now?
Well, that audition she went to went extraordinarily well - she got the part in the Fox film! So I was one of the first to congratulate Mel on her first real Hollywood feature. The movie is "Cinderella," and it's a live action spin on the old fairy tale. The feature stars Drew Barrymore as Cinderella and Anjelica Huston as the wicked stepmother. Mel, alas, has a secondary role: that of one of the stepsisters. She assures me that hers isn't the "wicked" stepsister, just the "sweet but plain" one. Well, a part's a part, and I'm sure Mel will do her best to steal the film away from Drew Barrymore. In any case, that film will be shooting in the south of France this fall. No idea when they plan to release it, but my guess is Summer 1998.
More good news for Mel: her agent managed to wrangle a 2-picture deal with Fox, and at last report was still aiming for a 3-picture deal. So Mel is guaranteed at least one more big role in a Fox film after "Cinderella." Her fans can rest assured that her career is definitely on the upswing again.
Here's some personal facts about Mel which your readers might enjoy:
That's the update for now! I will keep you posted on whether I can get any more money or distribution in the near future. Again, all offers are open for anybody who wants to own a little piece of this film. I'm dirt poor and incredibly in debt!
Mark
