Kiwi actress Melanie Lynskey up for two Emmy Awards

Melanie Lynskey has been nominated for two 2024 Emmy Awards. The awards take place later today. Photo: FRAZER HARRISON

Melanie Lynskey missed out on two coveted Emmy Awards today.

Lynskey, 46, was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Shauna in Yellowjackets, a series following the story of a high-school girls' football team who survive a plane crash.

It was won by Sarah Snook for Succession.

Lynskey was also nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress for playing Kathleen Coghlan in The Last Of Us, a post-apocalyptic drama based on a video game franchise.

The Emmy was won by Ayo Edebiri for her role in The Bear.

In a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lynskey said she had no reservations about the dark worlds of both series.

"The only reservation I ever have is that I'm so tired. I have a four-year-old. I'm 45. But I didn't have reservations about the material. I was excited to read something in both cases where it was a woman who was going through it and it was being shown. It's exhausting to try to be likable."

Sarah Peirse, Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures. Photo: Archives du 7e Art/DR

Lynskey, who grew up in New Plymouth, has been working as an actress for 30 years. She first came to fame as a teenager for her portrayal of Pauline Parker in Peter Jackson's Oscar-nominated Heavenly Creatures in 1994.

Since then, she has carved out a career in the US, where she is best-known for appearing in more than 60 episodes of sitcom Two And A Half Men. She has also appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, but these are her first Emmy nominations.

In 2022, Lynskey won a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Yellowjackets.

The 2024 Emmys, like most Hollywood activity, were disrupted by 2023's writers' strike action. They'll be live on The Television Academy's YouTube channel from 2pm today.