After the close of its phenomenally successful first season on HBO, one of the stars of The Last Of Us is calling for a deeper dive into one of the show's most compelling original characters. The Last of Us finished strong with its story of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and teenage Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traveling across a zombie-laden and human horror-filled world to safety and a possible cure.
While they didn’t quite find what they expected, the duo encountered numerous characters, both drawn from the game and new, that helped or hindered their success. These included Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), a woman at the head of the anti-Fedra factions in Kansas City Missouri, who was ruthless in the pursuit of her enemies and those she felt betrayed her. While no one got out alive in Kansas City except Joel and Ellie, Kathleen’s character, driven to avenge her brother who dies after falling in the hands of Fedra, was both chilling and convincing.
According to Variety, Melanie Lynskey thinks that Kathleen really needs a full-fleshed origin story to explain how her character end up where she was, including her bloodthirstiness toward revenge. Lynskey says “If they wanted to go back and do an origin story, I would be there for it,” Lynskey tells me. “The story of how this woman got into this crazy position would be really interesting.”
Lynskey’s role as Kathleen exhibits the actress’ ultimate skill at playing characters that are both at once mild-mannered and absolutely deadly, which carries over into Lynskey’s other recent hit show, Yellowjackets, now serving up carnage and cannibalism in season two over at Showtime. There, Lynskey plays the adult version of the teen Shawna, one of the more complicated and emotionally messy characters in a show devoted to a group of teenagers stranded in the mountains after a plane crash.
Lynskey, who first made her name in 1994s Heavenly Creatures opposite Kate Winslet about two murderous girls, , has gone on to many memorable roles on the big and small screen, though only recently has she began to get credit for her chilling performances in shows like The Last of Us and Yellowjackets. Fame for a role in a video game-inspired show took Lynskey by surprise. “I’ve never played a video game,” she says. “My thumbs don’t work that way. I didn’t even play Atari. I was reading books. I was reading D.H. Lawrence when I was a child.” According to Lynskey, her husband, Jason Ritter convinced her to take the small part, which made a big impact even over just two episodes of the first season, “You have to do it, no questions asked.’ I was like, ‘But I’m tired.’ He was like, ‘I don’t care.’
However she arrived there, Lynskey’s curiosity over a possible deeper dig into Kathleen's backstory is an intriguing one for fans. Even though she didn’t make it out of season one, it doesn’t necessarily mean audiences have seen the last of her in a show known for its interesting choices and surprises.
All episodes of season one of The Last of Us are available on HBO Max.
Source: Variety