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The first job I ever got, Melanie and I were going to work together.
Melanie Lynskey:Well, 13.
And they were like, Jane, this is Hollywood.
If they gotShameless, they would have dropped out of their movie, too.
And I was like, Okay, I guess Ill do it!
I just feel so lucky that I get to be friends with and work with her.
I know its embarrassing, but I really mean it.
Shes one of my favorite actors of all time.
So we worked together onI Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymoreand had the best time.
I loved being a part of that movie.
I love watching that movie.
ML:It was probably the greatest working experience of my life, that movie.
At first he was very specific with direction, which is not something that works with me.
And he was like, Dude, I dont know what Im doing.
I read a book.
It said actors like it if you tell them what to do.
What do you want?
JL:Hes one of my favorite people ever.
Its very difficult, that conversation.
JL:I think that Macon is one of the most feminist directors.
His roles are written for people, men or women.
And you know that he wrote the part for Melanie.
No, I did not.ML:Yeah.
I was like, I know youre going to have to offer it to famous people.
I know how it works.
Its a really strange system.
Macon eventually took his script to Netflix and they were like, Whos your dream cast?
He said me and Elijah, and they were like, Done.
So sometimes its wonderful.
That it works out ever feels miraculous.
JL:Same, but I do spend a lot of time upset.
The job of being an actor is being told no all the time and being disappointed a lot.
At the same time, I am also extremely grateful that I get to work as an actor.
Even after you did all the crazy hard work to get the job.
Its kind of a miracle that I even got two jobs, and then three.
ML:Its still hard to say no.
Why did these creators think of me for this part?
What is it in me that I can bring to this person?
And through that, Ive learned a lot about myself as a person and as a performer.
I feel like I dont have enough history to be able to say whether its changed anything for me.
ML:Ive been doing it for 25 years.
Thats a depressing sentence.
But yeah, I do think it is different.
I started out in the 90s and there was such a prescribed look for women.
I was always like, Im a character actress, I guess.
It sounds like the most interesting of all the options.
And then people were like, Well, dont say that!
Then you wont get to play the lead!
It was so bizarre, and now it does feel different.
Do you feel like those prescriptions have loosened a bit?ML:Definitely.
She was nice about it.
Shed just seen a lot.
I just was like, How do I sidestep this thing that people are trying to put me in?
Jane, it seems like you didnt arrive in Hollywood trying to walk that ingenue path.
This is obviously a career thats in a visual medium.
Im into gossip, and Im in the dark side.ML:[Laughs.]
You are my favorite!
JL:I mean, those things are true!
Someone was like, Why dont you write down your dream roles?
I am a huge fan of Alexander Payne, andCitizen RuthandElectionare two of my favorite movies of all time.
So I was like, I want to play Tracy Flick.
When they sent me theCastle Rockscript, it said that my character was Tracy Flick meets Ed Gein.
As in the serial killer?JL:Yes.
Its such a funny combo, and I was like, This is exactly my sensibility.
If only Jackie was, like, fucking her teacher in the TV show.
It would be that much better.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
