Melanie Lynskey turned down a role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Melanie Lynskey may be up for two Emmys at this year's ceremony, but she wasn't always so keen to take on small-screen roles – in a new interview, the actor revealed that she turned down the role of Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"It was kind of a visa issue, but not really," she told writer Evan Ross Katz for his Substack newsletter, Shut Up Evan. "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."

She added: "Alyson Hannigan got it, who was absolutely wonderful and all was [cast] as it should have been."

Willow is one of Buffy Summer (Sarah Michelle Gellar)'s best friends and one-third of the so-called 'Scooby Gang', who goes on to become a powerful witch. She appeared in all seven of the show's seasons between 1997 and 2003. In later seasons, Willow falls in love with Tara (Amber Benson) and was one of the few queer female characters in mainstream TV shows at the time. 

Lynksey has no shortage of TV roles under her belt now, most notably Yellowjackets, in which she plays plane crash survivor Shauna, a role that's seen her nominated for two Emmys and win a Critics Choice Award. She also had an Emmy-nominated guest role in The Last of Us and starred alongside Jessica Biel in the Hulu series Candy. 

If you're up to date with all of Lynskey's current projects, check out our guide to Yellowjackets season 3 and fill out your watch list with our picks of the best new TV shows coming your way.