Yahoo Lifestyle Melanie Lynskey Says Husband Jason Ritter Is ‘Sacrificing’ His Acting Career So Hers Can Succeed: He’s ‘Getting Offered Stuff All the Time’ and Turning It Down
Melanie Lynskey recently told People magazine that her husband and fellow actor Jason Ritter has sacrificed his own career in recent years so that hers could flourish. Lynskey has been on a roll lately with an Emmy-nominated and series regular role on Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” plus acclaimed supporting turns in “The Last of Us,” “Candy” and more. None of this career success would be possible had Ritter not put his own acting career on pause to help raise their five-year-old daughter while Lynskey took acting gigs.
“He’s the most supportive person in the world,” Lynskey told the publication. “The last few years we’ve had this role of like, whoever’s job makes the most sense, whether it’s the most exciting career wise or it’s more money, we would prioritize the one that was going to help move the person’s career forward.”
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Lynskey said Ritter is “getting offered stuff all the time,” but he’s passed on those opportunities because Lynskey’s were greater. Lynskey added, “It’s like genuinely sacrificing.” It turns out it was Ritter who urged Lynskey to sign on to HBO’s “The Last of Us.”
“He was like, ‘There’s no way you’re not going to do ‘The Last of Us.’ You have to do it,’” Lynskey said. “So it was months and months and months that he was just being a dad and hanging out with me, and I’m so, so, so grateful to him. I think a lot of men don’t have that kind of self-esteem and that respect for their partner. I’m grateful that I have someone who does.”
Lynskey added that it was “a blessing” to get the chance to work on “The Last of Us,” saying: “I just feel so honored to have been part of it. It was a dream. I just kept thinking at some point something’s going to go wrong. Nothing can be this good and this happy and this fun to make. Then it was just great beginning to end. And the response was wonderful. I was just like, OK, sometimes things can just be wonderful. That’s my lesson as a pessimist.”
Lynskey next stars in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” Head over to People’s website to read her latest interview in its entirety.
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