The Last of Us star Melanie Lynskey has shared a sweet tribute to the show, explaining how "excited" she was to portray her original character.
The Yellowjackets star made her debut on the HBO drama earlier this week as Kathleen Coghlan, the leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City.
Taking to Twitter following the episode's broadcast, Lynskey said that her casting suggested "the possibility of a future in which people start listening to the person with the best ideas".
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"Not the coolest or the toughest person. The organiser. The person who knows where everything is. The person who is doing the planning. The person who can multitask. The one who’s decisive," she noted.
"Women, and especially women in leadership positions, are scrutinized incessantly. Her voice is too shrill. Her voice is too quiet. She pays too much attention to how she looks. She doesn’t pay enough attention to how she looks. She’s too angry. She’s not angry enough."
The star explained that she was excited to play a woman who "in a desperate and tragic time, jumped into a role she had never planned on having and nobody else had planned on her having, and then she actually got shit done".
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The star continued: "I wanted her to look like she should have a notepad on her at all times. I wanted her to be feminine, and soft-voiced, and all the things that we’ve been told are 'weak'. Because honestly, f**k that."
"I understand that some people are mad that I’m not the typical casting for this role," Lynskey wrote, adding that she finds the idea "thrilling" and elaborating: "Other than the moments after action is called, when you feel like you’re actually in someone else’s body, the most exciting part of my job is subverting expectations.
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"I’m so grateful to [creators] Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] for creating a truly new character. Someone I have never seen before. And for trusting me with her. And for letting me be on THE MOST AMAZING SHOW.
"And I’m also grateful because the love and support I receive from you all is so overwhelming and powerful – I feel like we are a community and I feel very seen and loved. OK, rant over and thank you all so very much."
Following on from the fourth episode, The Last of Us' fifth episode is set to debut early today (February 10) in the US to avoid clashing with Sunday's Super Bowl.
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
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