Quotes from Melanie Lynskey

If I could be working every day, I would be.

I really like 'Girls.' I know everybody does, but I love 'Girls.

The interesting thing about acting is using all your own stuff and having some kind of personal catharsis while you're working.

The acting life is different than I thought it would be. I love it - it's actually a lot less pressure than I thought it would be.

I love festivals because I feel like I'm more of a movie fan than a person who's in the film industry.

I read every single review, because I love film criticism and I'm interested.

I feel so lucky to have done so many things that I love in the past few years so I'm just going to keep trying to do them.

People in New Zealand go out of their way to not be impressed by things.

Sometimes you just feel so fortunate to be in the company that you're in and you just want to soak it all up.

I think there's so many little specific things in the script [of "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore"]. And the script was also structured so beautifully that I didn't want to mess with it.

I like to play the grey areas in life - that's the most uncomfortable place to be. Nobody likes to be in that in-between state where there don't know what's going to happen. There's a lot of tension in that, and a lot of stuff to play with - where it's uncomfortable and awkward and sad and scary.

For a while, I was only being sent fat-girl parts. Seriously? Sometimes I feel like I'm making some kind of radical statement because I'm a size 6.

I'm not one of those people who can cry on cue. If I have to cry in an audition, I'm like, 'Okay, let me see what I can do.'

I'll audition for something and then the feedback has been, 'The director wants you, the creative people want you, but the studio is saying no.' It's depressing, but I understand. People are investing a lot of money and they want somewhat of a guarantee; they want someone who's been on the cover of magazines.

I guess I've never really had a great desire to be a leading lady, or be seen as an ingenue.

I want to go and have a real experience and it's just lovely to sit and watch a movie and just be really transported by a story and care about the characters. That's always what I'm looking for.

There's not much of a follow-your-dreams kind of vibe in New Zealand or my family.