Melanie Lynskey Quotes

Honestly, doing three or four episodes a year [of Two and a Half Men] enabled me to pay my mortgage and do independent films.

It's very challenging to put yourself out there and be like, 'You know what, this is what I look like. I am having thyroid issues and I gained 20 lbs. and I still have to be naked on television.'

I knew I had to get out and start building up something else.

Matt Damon said something to me that I really have lived by ever since ... "At the end of your career, when someone looks over your filmography, all they remember is if the movie was good or not. They're not saying, "Oh, he got [to] play that crazy character!" Or, "Oh, all those people were in that movie." He says "all people know is if the movie was good or not," and all that has to do with whether the script is any good; so, if you consistently choose good scripts — whether you're in three scenes or every scene — you're going to build a very strong résumé.

I always wanted to be an actor, but I had this whole plan to go to a good drama school and do it that way. I wasn't trying to get into movies; someone came to my high school and auditioned some girls, so it was a complete accident.

Every time someone comes with the Kate Winslet question I think it's lazy journalism.

The first audition I ever did [in America], the casting director said, "I don't know why you're here. You're never going to work [here]. You don't look right. You don't have the right kind of personality. I don't even know if you can do an American accent. Maybe you can try England." ... It made me more determined.

I was picking my luggage up, and I turned around and there she was. She looked like this vision. I said, 'Oh my God, you look like a movie star!' I was so in awe of her. And she had head shots! I'd never seen such a thing. She had these black-and-white photos with her hair blown back. And I said, 'What do you do with them?' And she said, 'Send them to fans.'

I want to be like Julianne Moore and get to do things that scare me — and keep on doing them until I'm very old.