Yellowjackets Star Melanie Lynskey Came Close to Playing Major Role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Despite being a steady screen presence for decades, Melanie Lynskey has hit a new level of stardom of late, thanks in large part to her leading role in the hit mystery series Yellowjackets. Lynskey has earned two consecutive Emmy nominations for playing Shauna on the horror-adjacent Showtime series and, as it turns out, the actress almost made an impact on another beloved genre show back in the 1990s. Lynskey came close to landing one of the lead roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Speaking to EW for a recent interview, Lynskey revealed that she had a shot at playing Willow, Buffy’s best friend, but that she wasn’t too keen on TV when the opportunity came around.

“It was kind of a visa issue,” Lynskey said, “but not really. I also was not sure about doing television at that time.”

“It was very early in my career,” she continued. “I had a very old-school agent who was like, ‘TV? That’s for has-beens!’ and I was like, ‘I don’t think it is anymore.’ Certainly now things have really changed, but I just wasn’t super into it at the time.”

Lynskey went on to explain that she actually had two chances at the show. She had discussions about taking on the role of Willow and kept in touch with creator Joss Whedon after the part ended up going to Riff Regan. After the pilot, the role was to be recast, and Lynskey actually went in to audition for it.

“I had a dinner with Joss and I don’t remember if it was an offer or if it was like, ‘Would you come read for it?’ or what it was, but we stayed in touch after that,” she said. “I had seen the pilot and I was like, ‘Oh this is good.’ And then, it became this whole thing of, ‘Well, now you have to audition.’ So I auditioned. Then: ‘Oh, they didn’t like what you were wearing.’ It was a whole process. And then I didn’t get it!”

Of course, the role ended up going to Alyson Hannigan and the rest was history. Hannigan starred as Willow throughout the series and most fans would agree that she was the right person for the job,. Melanie Lynskey included.

“Alyson Hannigan got it, who was absolutely wonderful and all was [cast] as it should have been,” the actress said.

Melanie Lynskey’s Double Emmy Nominations

When the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations were announced recently, Lynskey earned her second nod for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in as many years, both of which came for portrayal of Shauna on Yellowjackets. This time around, however, Lynskey actually got two nominations.

She also received a nod for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, for her role as Kathleen in The Last of Us.