-Our next guest is a talented actress you know from shows
such as "Yellowjackets," "Castle Rock,"
and "Mrs. America."
She stars in Hulu's limited series "Candy,"
which premieres on Monday, May 9th.
Let's take a look.
-Are you having an affair with Alan?
-No.
-But you did...didn't you?
-Yes, but it was a long time ago.
-Just a minute.
-Please welcome to the show Melanie Lynskey, everyone.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Melanie, I'm so happy you're here.
-Oh, my goodness! I'm so happy to be here.
I'm a little bit nervous. This is my first-ever talk show.
-Well, you're off to an amazing start.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.
So supportive.
-Usually first-timers fall on the stairs.
It's -- you've just -- -I was concerned.
-Everything has been really gracefully so far.
-I was like, "Why am I not in sneakers?"
[ Laughter ]
-I've been a huge fan of yours for a long time,
but I really love "Yellowjackets,"
which was a show that came out this year.
-Thank you. -And for those who haven't
seen it, I guess it's sort of hard to explain.
It's sort of a coming-of-age, horror, cannibal, plane crash?
-I think that's perfect. -Thank you.
-Yeah, I don't think you need any more information than that.
Yeah, it's a very intense show,
and the response has been amazing.
I'm used to doing something and then having, like,
a couple of people be like, "I saw that," you know?
And then it just kind of, like, floats away.
[ Laughter ]
But to have people watching it week after week
and be excited, it's been amazing.
-It was one of those old-school, watching it every week,
not knowing what was happening, finding a sort of
klatch of people who are watching it along with you.
-Yeah. -And it was also really --
I mean, this is strange to say, we were saying backstage,
it's really fun. I mean, I think that not enough
cannibalistic stuff is fun these days.
-It's true. It's true.
There's such judgment on it. [ Laughter ]
No, it's really fun.
I'm happy that I don't have to play a current-day cannibal.
-Yeah. -The person I'm playing
was once a cannibal, so I don't have to do any of that stuff.
-It's a a very nice show for cannibals who are worried
they might never be able to set their life straight.
-Yeah, well... [ Laughter ]
I don't know how much any of them have
set their life straight, but, yeah, continue on.
-Yes, it is -- I should be noted it's --
You're playing your --
There's a flashback to the cannibal,
so you are -- you're past it.
-Yeah, and there's another actress who plays
the younger version of me, and she's absolutely amazing.
-It's exceptionally cast. -Yeah.
-The young people are exceptionally cast
for their current-day counterparts.
-Yeah, it's absolutely crazy.
They did a great job. -It is very cliffhanger-y.
And I've heard that your husband, Jason Ritter --
a very talented actor -- and your friends did try to,
like, press you for details.
-It got to a point where especially there's
this one mystery about a character called Adam,
and everybody was wondering, "Who's Adam? Who's Adam?"
And I would pick up my phone, and my group texts
with my best girlfriends, they're all, like,
discussing it as though I'm not even on this text.
[ Laughter ]
And then every now and again, they'll remember and be like,
"Melanie, you know, send an emoji
if we're getting close," or whatever.
And I'm just like, "Please, I need one area."
And, you know, Jason's like, "Tell me. Don't tell me!
Do tell me. Don't tell me!"
[ Sighs ]
-Do you like horror as a genre?
Do you enjoy it? -I do.
I love watching horror movies,
but I don't really get, like, jump scared.
-Why would you say you don't jump scare?
-I don't know. There's something, like,
with my adrenal function, I guess.
Something's wrong. -So you're impossible --
you're impossible to scare? -It's -- Well, now I'm nervous
that someone's gonna -- -No, no, no!
-...sneak up behind me. -That's not how we do it.
-Because of Ellen DeGeneres. -Yeah.
Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-All right. No, it doesn't really happen.
And it's the worst thing for my husband, because he --
his whole life, his favorite thing has been scaring people.
He'll hide around corners. -Yeah.
-His siblings were tortured through their whole childhood,
and they're still a bit shaky.
And he tries to scare me.
One time, he said he was going to bed,
and I said, "All right, good night,"
and I stayed up for 20 minutes. And when I walked into the room,
the room was dark, and he came out on his knees
like this, like a scary Leprechaun or something --
I don't know what he was trying to do, but I said,
"Oh, that's scary."
[ Laughter ]
'Cause it looked weird. -Yeah.
Although, I will say, if he's been doing it his whole life,
I feel like he should be a little better.
[ Laughter ]
-You're not wrong. He could have, like --
he could have had some --
something a little bit scarier than that.
-Yeah, like, I mean, a Leprechaun costume, I think,
would have put that through the roof.
-He should have just shelled out for a costume.
Yeah. -Maybe it's just a dry run.
Maybe to prepare. -Yeah.
-Next St. Patrick's day, though, you know...
Be on your toes. -Exactly.
-So this -- Your new show, "Candy,"
this is based on a real-life story.
So I feel like it's not -- it doesn't count as a spoiler.
-Yeah. -Because you and Jessica Biel
play a couple of friends, one of whom
murders the other one with an ax.
-Yes. -Okay.
-Yes. -I hope I haven't given
too much away. -No, I think, I mean,
a lot of people know the story, and from the first episode,
it's pretty clear that that's what happens.
I'm the one who gets murdered.
-Okay. Gotcha.
I wasn't gonna give it away, but congrats!
-Well, thanks. Thank you.
-Also, congratulations on the -- I guess this --
is this early '80s that it takes place?
-1980. -Okay. Gotcha.
And, really, just the wigs are incredible.
-Mm-hmm. -That's a fantastic --
And one really, based on how it frames her face,
you wonder why Jessica Biel
hasn't been doing this full time.
[ Laughter ] -I know.
She somehow still looks beautiful.
I don't really know...
-Yeah, she really does still pull it off.
-I'm not pulling it off quite like she is, but she's really...
I did press with her a while ago,
and so many people were like,
"You look like your husband in 2001."
I was like... [ Laughter ]
I never saw it before.
-I didn't either, but, oh, my God, that is definitely it.
-Yeah, that's it. Yeah.
-And you have a daughter now? -I do, yes.
-3 years old. -3-year-old, yeah.
-So that means, like, a sort of --
I guess, 1-year-old when the pandemic started?
-Yeah. -Okay. Gotcha.
-She's very good with her little mask.
-Does your husband ever try to scare her?
-He tries to scare her all the time.
She is much more like in line with his own sort of fear level,
which is like, I can be in the kitchen
drinking a cup of coffee,
and he'll walk in and be like, "Aah!"
So she's more like that. -Okay. Gotcha.
-She's easily scared, but she hates it.
She hates being scared. And so I'll say, you know,
"A good thing to say is 'Dada, get ahold of yourself.'"
[ Laughter ] And she remembers.
She's really good. So next time she sees him,
she'll be like, "Dada, get ahold of yourself."
And he'll be like, "Where'd that come from?"
[ Laughter ]
-Speaking of babies, you have -- this is not even
a line of yours, but you were in the film "Sweet Home Alabama,"
and this is, like, just sort of an iconic line in the film,
where Reese Witherspoon said... -"Look at you."
-Yeah. "You have a baby in a bar."
-Mm-hmm. -And I feel like this
might have even been in the trailer.
I feel like... -I think so.
-Yes. And do people still recognize you from this moment?
-People recognize me from this moment.
People quote this line that's not --
And I say, "Oh, Reese did a great job with that line."
It's so weird. You know.
But I think Reese Witherspoon, she can make anything iconic.
-Yeah. -She's got that talent.
-Is it nice that you -- I guess because of the pandemic,
you never had to risk bringing your own baby to a bar.
-It's true! I was relieved.
I was relieved, yeah. It did occur to me
at a certain point -- I mean, not that I'm, like,
dragging her around to bars, you know...
I wasn't like, "Oh, I wish I could
take her for a vodka tonic." -Yeah, that's --
You never want to be in a situation where everybody's
talking about how hard the pandemic was, and you're like,
"I couldn't bring my baby to a bar."
-I know. [ Laughter ]
"It was impossible." Yeah.
-Hey, congratulations on "Candy,"
and thank you so much for being here.
It was an absolute delight to have you.
You guys, give it up for Melanie Lynskey.
"Candy" premieres on Hulu next Monday,
kicking off a five-night event
leading up to the finale on May 13th.
Stick around. We'll be right back with Geoffrey Zakarian.