What a warlord looks like. Melanie Lynskey clapped back after Adrianne Curry questioned whether she’s the right person to play Kathleen on The Last of Us.
The drama began when the America’s Next Top Model winner, 40, tweeted, “Her body says life of luxury … not post apocolyptic [sic] warlord. Where is [The Terminator star] Linda Hamilton when you need her?” A screenshot of the since-deleted tweet included a photo of Lynskey, 45, but Curry claimed in a separate tweet that she wasn’t the person who posted the picture.
In response, Lynskey shared a screenshot of the photo and Curry’s tweet, noting that the snap doesn’t show her in character as Kathleen. “Firstly- this is a photo from my cover shoot for InStyle magazine, not a still from HBO’s The Last of Us,” the Yellowjackets star tweeted on Wednesday, February 8. “And I’m playing a person who meticulously planned & executed an overthrow of FEDRA. I am supposed to be SMART, ma’am. I don’t need to be muscly. That’s what henchmen are for.”
The Heavenly Creatures actress made her Last of Us debut during the Sunday, February 5, episode of the HBO drama, playing a new character who did not appear in the video game on which the show is based. Viewers haven’t yet learned a lot about Kathleen, but she’s seemingly the leader of a resistance faction fighting the government’s control of American cities following the cordyceps outbreak.
After Lynskey’s response, Curry claimed that the New Zealand native had altered her original tweet. “She edited out my tweet where I said she had a perfect hour glass frame that I did not associate with warriors. Actors taking character criticism as personal attacks is mind blowing,” the My Fair Brady alum wrote on Wednesday, adding in a separate tweet: “She cropped out what I said about her perfect hour glass frame being the most desirable to men. Seems quite manipulative. Also, she is NOT her character.”
When other social media users questioned Curry, she doubled down, writing: “Curvaceous babes aren’t a thing in post apocalyptic scenarios. People are working hard and starving. This is a fictional character! Fiction!”
In a recent interview, Lynskey said she was happy her character can’t be compared to a video game counterpart. “I know how committed the fandom is,” the Castle Rock veteran told Variety in an interview published on Sunday. “People can be like, ‘That doesn’t look like the person I imagined!’ So, I was grateful to not have that.”
The Emmy nominee added that some fans may wonder why Kathleen is there because she wasn’t in the game, but Lynskey isn’t too worried about it. “None of that is my responsibility,” she explained. “I’m there because I trust [cocreator] Craig [Mazin]. And Neil [Druckmann] is also so brilliant, and was the creator of the game, and he’s on board and signing off on every decision.”
