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For 12 years, Melanie Lynskey played Rose in Two and a Half Men, the obsessed stalker – and later love interest – to Charlie Sheen’s lead character Charlie Harper.
While the actress had a lot of ‘fun’ filming the 2000s sitcom and ‘loved’ the people who she worked with, her ambition was to predominantly work in independent movies.
However, she ‘couldn’t make a living’ doing so, she told Metro.co.uk.
In a recent interview for her upcoming Sky Atlantic and NOW series The Tattooist of Auschwitz, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Melanie opened up about being on Two and a Half Men for more than a decade, and the impact that it had on her life.
‘I think they did 300 episodes or something like that, and I think I was in 60. So I was able to come and go, which was really nice. If I was doing something else, I could say, “I’m sorry, I’m not available that week.” So I did have a ton of freedom, which was wonderful,’ she shared.
‘Part of it was that it was really fun. It was really fun to do a show in front of a studio audience who loves the show, and to be the character that nobody knows if they’re going to be in the episode or not, so you walk out and everyone’s excited. The energy of that was incredible.
One of the actress’ best-known roles is as Rose in Two and a Half Men (Picture: Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)
‘I loved the people I was working with – like loved, very, very much. And it was really fun.’
Nonetheless, Melanie’s aspiration was to predominantly star in independent projects.
‘Honestly, I was mostly trying to make my career in independent movies, and you can’t make a living in independent movies,’ said The Last of Us actress, 46.
‘So to be able to go and do a couple of episodes of a sitcom, it was enough for me to be able to have my mortgage be paid for the year, and then just try to live off of whatever else.’
Melanie has taken on the role of playing The Tattooist of Auschwitz author Heather Morris (Picture: Martin Mlaka/Sky UK)
The Yellowjackets star stressed how ‘grateful’ she was for the ‘financial freedom to go and do some other things’, explaining that she would often be recognised either for her independent movies, or for Two and a Half Men.
‘When I would do independent movies, people didn’t know that I was on the sitcom. People would recognise me from the sitcom and they’d be like, “Have you ever done any other acting?” Different worlds!’ she recalled.
Melanie has played a huge variety of roles throughout her career, including recently striking fear into the hearts of viewers as revolutionary leader Kathleen in The Last of Us, and crash survivor Shauna in Yellowjackets.
She now stars as Heather Morris in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the author of the book on which the upcoming TV series is based.
The actress’ role is unique in the six-part drama, as Heather wasn’t depicted in her own book.
Melanie stars opposite screen legend Harvey Keitel in the new series (Picture: Sky UK Limited.)
So, Melanie’s scenes with the older Lali Sokolov (Harvey Keitel) – who was a real-life Holocaust survivor imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War – were a new addition to the story.
‘I started reading the scripts and I couldn’t stop,’ Melanie said, when discussing when inspired her to take part in the series.
‘They’re so well-written – it just jumped off the page. I hadn’t read the book, so I wasn’t familiar with the story, and it was unbelievable. I had some questions for everybody and it was great to talk to everyone about their intention and how they plan on filming things, but it really was a pretty easy sell.’
Having met the real Heather to prepare for the part – who was ‘lovely’ and ‘very fun’ – the actress stressed how ‘smart’ she found the storytelling device of her particular role.
‘[Heather is] so confident now, She’s such a put-together person and a real lifeforce, and that’s not how she’s written in the show,’ Melanie outlined.
Melanie (right) pictured with the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris (Picture: Dave Benett)
‘She’s hesitant and she’s anxious and she’s nervous and so I had questions for her about bridging this person. How much was she this person? When did she become the person she is today?
‘I think the process of becoming a best-selling author and having to get comfortable with speaking to large groups of people sort of transformed her. She has a life now that she never dreamed of that she earned through her talent, and it’s a pretty incredible thing.’
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is inspired by the true story of Lali Sokolov, who worked as a tattooist in the camp, inking numbers onto the arms of other prisoners. He met his future wife Gita Fuhrmannova while he was in the camp.
While Harvey depicts Lali in his old age, the younger version of the character is played in the new drama by The Little Mermaid star Jonah Hauer-King.
Following Gita’s death, Lali was interviewed by Heather for three years about his story, resulting in the publication of The Tattooist of Auschwitz in 2018.
The Little Mermaid star Jonah Hauer-King plays the younger version of the lead character in the drama (Picture: Martin Mlaka/Sky UK)
The book became a global best-seller, selling millions of copies around the world.
The historical accuracy of the book has been called into question in the past, with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum writing on X: ‘Due to the number of factual errors The Tattooist of Auschwitz cannot be recommended as a valuable position for those who wish to understand the history of the camp. The book is an impression about Auschwitz inspired by authentic events, almost without any value as a document.’
In response, Heather said in 2018 to the New York Times that the book ‘does not claim to be an academic historical piece of nonfiction’, adding: ‘I’ll leave that to the academic’s and historians. It’s Lali’s story.’
The author added in a recent interview: ‘This is a work of fiction based on the memory of one man. It is not the story of the Holocaust. My novel is not an academic, historical account. So many survivors have thanked me for telling Lali and Gita’s story – they see it, in many ways, as their story too.’
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is available on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW from May 2.
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