Melanie Lynskey on Her New Film ‘Rainbow Time’ and Some Of Her Early Roles

In Rainbow Time, writer/director Linas Phillips plays a developmentally delayed man named Shonzi whose inabilities to respect or recognize other people’s borders makes him a particular thorn in the side of his brother Todd (Timm Sharp). But that very obtrusiveness also makes him a catalyst for Todd’s stalled relationship with Lindsay. Lindsay is played by Melanie Lynskey, who brings to the film not only the warmth and relatability that she’s become known for but also the gravitas of an actress who has become as reliable a barometer of indie quality as there is. Recent roles in the Sundance hit The Intervention and HBO’s Togetherness have only bolstered this, but this goes all the way back to her exalted debut opposite Kate Winslet in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures.

With Rainbow Time available to rent now on Amazon and iTunes, we sat down with Melanie Lynskey at the brand new Alamo Draft House location in Brooklyn to talk about her new film and also some of the highlights of her delightful career.

Decider: How did Rainbow Time come to you? What is the origin of you and this movie?

Melanie Lynskey: I knew Linas a little bit because he did an episode of Togetherness, and then he became best friends with [Togetherness co-star] Steve Zissis, like they were together all the time. And he would come to my house for parties and stuff, and then he started sending me ransom-note-style notes in the mail with letters cut out of magazines — he does the weirdest things. He came to a party at my house once, and he was outside taking pictures through the window for like 10 minutes. And then he came in and he took this picture of me and James, then he sent that to me in the mail. So, one day I got a package from Linas, and I was like, “Oh, here’s another thing from Linas,” and it had another little ransom note, and it said, “Will you do my movie?” and it had the script. And I really liked it.

I would think that getting to know someone in that way would make getting a script like this a little less jarring.

That’s Linas.

Because I feel like, watching the movie, I wonder if there was a little trepidation over the subject matter and a character’s who, while not Downs Syndrome, is mentally handicapped in some way. Was there any kind of reticence to do the movie because of that?

I felt a little bit nervous, but I knew Linas well enough, and I trusted his sensitivity, and I knew about his history working with special-needs kids and how much love and compassion he has. And I knew what he wanted to do with this movie and I also had seen him do this character at a stand-up night so I knew how funny and interesting the character was. And I wrote to Linas and said, “Have Jay Duplass send this to my agent because I want to do it, but get as high up as you can to send it,” so Jay sent it to my agent and was like, “Here’s a movie we’d love her to do.”

So, Mark and Jay [Duplass] were producers on this?

Yeah, they were like executive producers, which I think just means that they gave him some money. A very tiny amount of money. And then Jay obviously was in it. And I know that they were very helpful with Linas in reading drafts and talking to him about developing it, and certainly since he finished the movie have been so hands-on in a producer capacity. But they were really great when he was making it. There was no looking over his shoulder.

And they seem to attract a family of actors and filmmakers. Did you feel that way after you started doing Togetherness, like you were part of a larger collective?

Yeah, very much, because they try to work with the same crew a lot of the time, and they bring actors in who they’ve worked with before. It’s a really nice thing.

What is it that you love most about working with them and working in that environment?

I just love how supportive they are and how loving. They are a really good team, and working together they have such different skill sets. They sort of make the perfect director working together, the two of them. I really miss them. I really miss working with them.

How long ago was filming Togetherness now?

I think we finished in June last year or May last year, so it was almost a year [before we heard], because we shot the season cause they’re so busy, and then it aired in January or February, and then I was doing something in Portland in March. We had a start date and everything for season 3.

That’s a tough way to hear about it.

Yeah, it was hard.

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More than most actresses, Melanie Lynskey has enjoyed a career that has been thick with interesting movies, with large and small roles in a huge variety of projects since her debut in Peter Jackson’s 1994 breakthrough Heavenly Creatures. With many of those films currently available to stream online, Decider wanted to ask her about a handful of those roles. 

The Intervention
20016, Director: Clea DuVall
Stream on Amazon Video and iTunes

Lynskey won an acting award at the Sundance Film Festival for her role as Annie, an alcoholic who plans an intervention among her friends to convince two of them that they shouldn’t be married anymore. In addition to Lynskey and writer/director DuVall, the cast included Natasha Lyonne, Cobie Smulders, Ben Schwartz, and Jason Ritter, who is also Lynskey’s real-life boyfriend.

It was very stressful. It was so hot. We had a tiny window where we could make the movie, and we somehow managed to get this cast together [Lynskey, her boyfriend Jason Ritter, director Clea DuVall, Cobie Smulders, Natasha Lyonne], who I think are all so great. But then filming in Savannah in the summer and trying to get everything done in three weeks, and I was having a personal meltdown because everyone is so cool and naturalistic and there was a lot of improvising, so I was just so worried that I was over the top because I was playing the crazy one. Every night I would say to Jason, “Was it too much? What about this and this? What about that?” He had to talk me off the ledge.

It must have been helpful to have him there.

It was helpful for me, I’m not sure how it was for him.

Hello, I Must Be Going
2012, Director: Todd Louiso
Stream on Amazon Video and iTunes

After earning raves for this indie about a divorced young woman who moves back home to live with her parents, Lynskey was nominated for a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor.

It was so exciting. And it’s funny that you say “breakthrough” because I got nominated for a Breakthrough Actor award. It did feel like a breakthrough because I felt like I had been working for so long and working so hard and I got to be the lead in a movie and it got into Sundance and I was like, “Oh my God, oh my God.” Then everyone was like, “You’re not allowed to have a breakthrough,” and then the next year Katherine Hahn was nominated and everyone was like, “I love Katherine Hahn,” and I was like hey…she’s more famous than I am! But it felt really special and I loved that movie. And initially I just got asked to do a reading of it and I 100% expected to see a famous person do the movie, or like an indie famous person. So when they chose me – and I knew they’d make the movie for less money so they could have me – it just was such a validation. It was so nice.

Coyote Ugly
2000, Director: David McNally
Stream on HBO GO

In Coyote Ugly, Lynskey played hometown bestie to Piper Perabo, who subsequently left Jersey behind for a life stomping stop the titular bar. 

It came at a very odd time, because I had done Ever After and then I did The Cherry Orchard, so I did those kind of period movies, and then I had done But I’m a Cheerleader. [So] for my audition for Coyote Ugly, I just did an impersonation of Natasha [Lyonne], and Natasha also auditioned for it, and I got it and she was like, “What the fuck?” And I was like, “Sorry I was just doing an impression of you.” That was weird, it was my first big American studio movie. But I’m still friends with Piper Perabo.

Up in the Air
2009, Director: Jason Reitman
Stream on Prime Video

Up in the Air was an Oscar-nominated film in 2009, and Lynskey was cast to play George Clooney’s sister. Did she feel like this was going to be the big movie it became? 

It didn’t. It felt very intimate. It sounds weird because it’s George Clooney, and he’s the most famous man in the world, but he just creates such a casual vibe. He’s on set all the time and just really easy-going, so it just felt really fun and really loving and it didn’t feel like anybody was walking around like, “I can’t wait until the Oscars!”

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
2012, Director: Lorene Scafaria
Stream on Netflix

Lynskey shows up in the trailer for the apocalyptic comedy that starred Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, playing an end-of-the-world party guest who shows up decked out in everything she never wore before. 

I had one scene. It’s funny, I ran into Connie Britton at a party and she was like, “Wasn’t that so crazy in that scene? Patton Oswalt and Steve Carell, what a crazy day!” And I was like, “Yeah, Amy Schumer had that one line in it.” And she was like, “What?”

I don’t remember that either!

Because I was a huge fan of Amy Schumer’s stand-up, so she walked on and I was like, “Are you fucking kidding me? It’s Amy Schumer!” I was so starstruck, and she had auditioned, I think, and she just got cast to do this one line in the scene. Nobody was paying a ton of attention to her, and I was like, “You’re so amazing. I just wanted you to know,” and she was like, “Oh my God, thanks.” And then we struck up a little friendship; now she’s like a fucking super star, which I’m not surprised by. She had this one line, and every time she did it everyone laughed.