Melanie's heavenly advice: HOW I TURNED MY UNHAPPINESS AROUND

Even as a successful actress in Hollywood, the Kiwi star constantly felt judged – until she decided enough was enough

In the decades since she shot to fame in Peter Jackson’s award-winning Heavenly Creatures, there have been myriad ways to describe the roles Melanie Lynskey has played in Hollywood – quirky, headstrong, slightly unhinged…

Now, there’s a new one to add to the mix – angry!

In her hit new psychological drama Yellowjackets, currently streaming on Neon, the Kiwi actress plays Shauna, an unassuming mum with a secret. Simmering just below her sweet smile – and collection of ceramic bunny ornaments – is a streak of barely disguised fury, and Melanie, 44, admits she had to dig deep to find her inner wrath for the part.

“The way I was brought up was to not show a ton of emotion and not get angry,” Melanie shared in a recent interview. “I’m trying to get better at letting the anger come out at all. There’s so many years of just not knowing what to do with it.

“I had a therapist once say something about, ‘You’re scared that if you even let a little bit of it out, it’ll just never stop. It’ll just overwhelm you and you’ll just be furious forever,’ which really resonated with me.”

Not that the New Plymouth-born-and-bred star has so much to be angry about right now. Three years ago, she and her actor partner Jason Ritter, 41, were over the moon to welcome their first child, a baby daughter.