Actress Melanie Lynskey has had a long, successful career that spanned both film and television. She’s having a serious moment right now thanks to her acclaimed work in Showtime’s Yellowjackets, which recently ended its second season. Although it turns out that she could have another iconic TV role on her long resume. Because Lynskey revealed she was nearly cast as Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What’s more, she explained what went wrong.
Full disclosure: Buffy is my favorite show of all time. So it’s mind-blowing to learn that Melanie Lynskey almost played everyone’s favorite witch Willow. The role famously went to Alyson Hannigan, who played her for all seven seasons of the series. The Ever After actress recently did an interview with Evan Ross Katz, where she shared the true story about her Buffy experience. In her words:
It is basically true. It was kind of a visa issue, but not really; I also was not sure about doing television at that time. It was very early in my career. 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. 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.
Well, there you have it. While we’re arguably in the golden age of television now, there was a time when ending up on the small screen was not ideal for film actors. Melanie Lynskey was seemingly influenced by this as Buffy the Vampire Slayer was being developed, and originally didn’t want to transition from film to TV. And as such, she originally didn’t want to audition for the role of beloved Scooby Gang member Willow. Although admittedly it’s hard to imagine anyone but Alyson Hannigan in the role. And in the end Lysnkey would go on to star in Two and a Half Men, and (of course) Yellowjackets.
But the story behind Lynskey and Buffy doesn’t end there. Because despite her reservations, she was eventually convinced to try out for the developing project. Later in that same interview, she revealed how the unaired pilot changed her mind, and made her want to join in on the fun as Willow Rosenberg. As she shared:
And then I guess they were replacing the person from the pilot at a certain point and I had stayed in touch with [Joss], and he said, ‘Now do you think you would want to do it?’ And I had seen the pilot and I was like, ‘Oh, this is good,’ and I kind of took my agent into it. 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! Alyson Hannigan got it, who was absolutely wonderful and all was [cast] as it should have been. That was the actual story.
Talk about emotional whiplash. While at first it seemed like Melanie Lynskey could easily play Willow thanks to her relationship with Joss Whedon, it didn’t exactly go down that way. And to her recollection, it was her clothing choices in the audition that resulted in her missing out on the role. Although she has no ill-will, especially towards actress Alyson Hannigan.
Knowing all of this, it’s somewhat surprising that Lynskey didn’t at least pop up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a guest capacity. The show ran for seven seasons, and Joss Whedon was the showrunner throughout. So there were 144 episodes where she could have had a role, either as a human or demonic creature. Now I've got FOMO.
In the end things probably worked out for the best. Hannigan gave an iconic performance as Willow, while Melanie Lynskey went on to a number of exciting projects. And she’s finally a full-fledged TV star thanks to Yellowjackets. Lynskey also recently appeared in The Last Of Us, playing a character made especially for the show.
Buffy is available to stream on Hulu, while Yellowjackets airs on Showtime. Be sure to check out the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch.
