It’s 2023 and yet it seemingly makes no difference for people to still be critical when it comes to diverse body types on screen. Unfortunately, even actress Melanie Lynskey, who debuted as Kathleen in The Last of Us Episode 4, seems to continue receiving negative remarks regarding her physical build for the role.
On Twitter, Lynskey opened up about the body-shaming comments she has already encountered upon stepping up for the role. In the tweet, the Yellowjackets actress addresses one of the most outrageous comments on her cover shoot for InStyle magazine, noting that Lynskey’s body was NOT made for “post-apocalyptic warlord”. Check out the tweet below:
The tweet reads: “Firstly — this is a photo from my cover shoot for InStyle magazine, not a still from HBO’s The Last of US. 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.”
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To recap: the role of Kathleen is a newly established character in HBO’s The Last of Us, confirmed antagonist by showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin who leads a group of hunters and raiders looking for Henry and Sam in The Last of Us Episode 4.
This isn’t the first time the Naughty Dog video game faced body-shaming issues, seeing as in The Last of Us Part II actually featured Abby, whose body build was similar to that of a man’s. Various players were found outraged at the “too muscly”, “too masculine” character despite being a woman. It is quite disappointing that the people are more concerned about the body fit of a woman during the post-apocalypse, rather than their struggle for survival in an even more brutal and terrifying world.
Lynskey couldn’t have handled this in any better way, seeing as the comment was clearly directed at her body weight than actual concern for the show’s “appropriate representation” of the survivors. For now, we’ll still be seeing Kathleen again in the upcoming episodes of The Last of Us.
The Last of Us Episode 5 airs early this Friday on HBO Max.
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