Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Jayne Lynskey (born May 16, 1977, New Plymouth, New Zealand) is an actress best known for her starring turn in Peter Jackson's Oscar-nominated movie Heavenly Creatures (1994) and for her role on the American sitcom Two and a Half Men.

In 1997, she headed to Los Angeles for a second time at the request of indie filmmaker Mark Tapio Kines, who had read about Lynskey on the internet and wanted to cast her in his debut feature, Foreign Correspondents. While she was making her American movie debut, she was cast in her first Hollywood movie, Ever After. Although her role was minor, it started to open one or two doors that had previously been closed to her. Parts in Detroit Rock City, But I'm a Cheerleader, The Cherry Orchard and Coyote Ugly suddenly came her way; followed by the New Zealand thriller Snakeskin, the only NZ film project, apart from Heavenly Creatures, that she had starred in.

Lynskey appeared in ABC's Rose Red, as well as Abandon and Sweet Home Alabama. She then supported Hayden Christensen in Shattered Glass and guest-starred on The Shield, before landing a major role on the CBS comedy Two and a Half Men, as Charlie Sheen's endearingly offbeat neighbor-turned-stalker, Rose.

Most recently, Lynskey has co-starred in Clint Eastwood's epic World War II drama, Flags of Our Fathers. She also appeared alongside William Baldwin in Park, and recently starred with Nathan Fillion on Tim Minear's acclaimed but short-lived Drive.

Lynskey married New York-born actor Jimmi Simpson on April 14, 2007, in Queenstown, New Zealand. The pair met during the making of Rose Red. They live together in Los Angeles with their dog, Mouse (a chihuahua-dachshund mix).

A vegetarian, Lynskey has four siblings; three younger brothers and a younger sister