How Melanie Lynskey Knew Her Friendship With Kate Winslet Was Over

Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet met while co-starring in 1994's "Heavenly Creatures," which was directed by Peter Jackson in New Zealand. The actors played teenage girls who formed a close relationship that spiraled out of control and led to murder. It was the first feature film for both Lynskey and Winslet. After working on the movie, the pair travelled to New York together to promote the project. "I don't think I could live as a star," a then-19-year-old Winslet said at the time, per an interview aired on Entertainment Tonight. That trip was also the first time the "Sense and Sensibility" star rode in a limousine, as she had not yet become a Hollywood A-lister. 

Prior to working on "Heavenly Creatures," Winslet had experience in television, but the film was Lynskey's first paid acting gig. "She was this beautiful, professional, successful actress from London and I was very intimidated," Lynskey told Page Six in 2009 when speaking of her co-star. Although the "Up in the Air" actor added that both Winslet and director Jackson "were so kind" when showing her the ropes of acting on film.

The movie led to the two stars becoming extremely close. "Our relationship was very intense; it was more intense than some love affairs that I have had in my life," Lynskey told Time in 2012. When the film wrapped, the actors stayed in touch and continued their friendship for years, but eventually drifted apart.

Not only has Melanie Lynskey been open about her feelings during her friendship with Kate Winslet, but she has also not been shy about discussing how the friendship ended. After working on "Heavenly Creatures" together, Lynskey stayed in New Zealand while Winslet's career took off including her role in 1995's "Sense and Sensibility," but the two managed to stay close initially. "Then around the time of 'Titanic' her life got crazy because she became a superstar," the "Togetherness" actor told Time in 2012, while mentioning that the pair "lost touch" after the film's release in 1997. The fracturing of that friendship was as intense as the forming of the initial bond. "When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I've had," Lynskey said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in April, according to Us Weekly.

More than a decade after growing apart, the two reconnected in 2009 when Lynskey worked on "Away We Go," which was directed by Winslet's then-husband, Sam Mendes. "We went through such an intense experience together [making 'Heavenly Creatures'] and it was like we still knew each other," the "Yellowjackets" actor told Page Six at the time.

It's unsurprising that the former friends were able to seamlessly reconnect. "And I would never want to forget anything that I've experienced," the "Revolutionary Road" star told Good Housekeeping in 2007 while speaking about past relationships. While fame came relatively quickly for Winslet, Lynskey's career initially struggled to take off. 

Even after their friendship had faded, Melanie Lynskey continued to follow Kate Winslet's career closely. "I cried so much when she won the Oscar," she told USA Today in 2009 about Winslet's best actress win for "The Reader," via Pride. "I adore her and I respect her so much," Lynskey added.

Of course, Lynskey went on to find her own success in Hollywood, but unlike Winslet, it was not smooth sailing for the "Two and a Half Men" actor. Once filming on "Heavenly Creatures" wrapped, Lynskey was encouraged to go back to school in lieu of pursuing acting. "It's not like I was some gorgeous movie star," she said on "The Nerdist" podcast in 2009, via IndieWire.

Immediately following her film debut, Lynskey landed an agent in the United States and flew stateside for some auditions, but she had no luck. "The Last of Us" actor had doubts she belonged in the same profession as her "Heavenly Creatures" co-star. "I started to feel like, 'Well, acting is her thing. How dare I think I could just show up and say, 'Oh, me too?'" Lynskey told IndieWire in 2012. With her acting career in doubt, she returned to New Zealand in the mid-'90s and went back to school. Eventually, Lynskey landed a screen test for 1996's "The Crucible" opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, which gave her the confidence to pursue acting full-time.