Melanie Lynskey

At sixteen years of age, Melanie Lynskey captivated filmgoers with an astonishing debut in Peter Jackson's revered psychological crime picture, Heavenly Creatures (1994). Her electrifying portrait of the real-life Pauline Parker - a teenage outcast whose fierce rapport with her only friend (a pre-stardom Kate Winslet) spirals dangerously out of control - was deemed "perfect" by TIME's Richard Corliss, earning the young New Zealander a Best Actress trophy in her motherland. Following a three-year interval spent studying at university and relocating to Los Angeles, Lynskey made a welcome return to the silver screen when she was cast as Drew Barrymore's sweet-natured stepsister in Andy Tennant's 'girl power' twist on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998). Parts in But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), Snakeskin (2001), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Shattered Glass (2003), and Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated war epic Flags of Our Fathers (2006) came