‘It was heartbreaking’: Melanie Lynskey reflects on losing touch with Kate Winslet after ‘Heavenly Creatures’
“Yellowjackets” star and Emmy Award nominee Melanie Lynskey said in a recent interview it was “heartbreaking” to lose touch with her “Heavenly Creatures” co-star Kate Winslet after the 1994 film.
“When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had,” Lynskey told Josh Horowitz on his “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “It was so painful and it wasn’t like anything happened, it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star and she didn’t have a lot of time and then, suddenly, she’d be in Los Angeles and not have time.”
She added, “People kind of drift apart, but that was so painful for me.” While Lynskey said the pair of former co-stars remained on good terms, she hasn’t seen Winslet since the premiere of 2009’s “Away We Go,” the Sam Mendes film in which Lynskey had a role. (Winslet was married to Mendes at the time.)
While the comments on “Happy Sad Confused” made headlines all over the internet – and here on this very site – Lynskey has spoken about her relationship with Winslet before. In 2012, during an interview with TIME, Lynskey was asked if she still kept in touch with the “Titanic” star.
“Our relationship was very intense; it was more intense than some love affairs that I have had in my life,” Lynskey said in response. “We developed such a bond that for a long time we couldn’t let it go. We would write each other letters and talk on the phone all the time. We were in constant contact for so long. Then around the time of ‘Titanic’ her life got crazy because she became a superstar. I was staying with her right after she filmed that and then we totally lost touch at that time. I admire her so much though. She is so brilliant and so brave. I have literally seen everything she has done.”
Speaking to Vulture last year, Lynskey was asked about Winslet and “Heavenly Creatures” and relayed that the pair were very close during production. Of their current relationship status, Lynskey said, “It’s not like we don’t speak. But we have not been in touch. It’s just very hard to be so famous, like… she got very, very busy. I was in Los Angeles, and one time she came and we didn’t see each other. And then I stopped knowing if she was in Los Angeles. It just dropped off. The last time I saw her was at the premiere of ‘Away We Go.’”
While Lynskey and Winslet haven’t kept up their friendship, the “Last of Us” actress said she has always admired Winslet – particularly for the way Winslet, an Oscar winner, has spoken out about body shaming.
“I know she’s a very, very confident person, but everyone’s sensitive and she’s very sensitive. And the way she was dissected and talked about … I remember at the time being so furious on her behalf,” Lynskey said to Horowitz. “Especially because Kate Winslet is now in the world. Kate Winslet is doing movies. And you’re getting to witness that talent and those performances … this is an actor who comes along once in a generation. Just focus on that!”
Watch the full interview with Lynskey below.
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