Natasha Lyonne, Melanie Lynskey look back at conversion therapy satire 'But I'm a Cheerleader'
Melanie Lynskey and Natasha Lyonne are seeing career highs right now — with Lyonne starring as a human lie detector in crime drama "Poker Face," and Lynskey as a traumatized housewife in "Yellowjackets."
But in an interview with Vanity Fair, the actresses chose to focus on a project they worked on together all the way back in the '90s: Cult classic "But I'm a Cheerleader." The story of a cheerleading-loving lesbian who goes to conversion therapy was initially panned by critics who thought it was too funny, but is now regarded as one of the best lesbian movies of all time.
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While reflecting on the now-beloved 1999 film, Lynskey asked Lyonne if she'd had any hesitations about playing the gay lead character at 19.
"I was not hesitant at all. I’m consistently shocked by the things we consider shocking," Lyonne said. "I find it very patronizing when we say something like, 'Oh, did you see that this straight male actor is playing gay? Bravo.'"
Lynskey played a fellow member of the conversion therapy program, and "Happiest Season" director Clea DuVall starred as Lyonne's love interest.
"When Clea and I were on the cover of Out magazine, it just seemed so weird to me that people would care," Lyonne added, referencing a 2000 photoshoot where the pair cozied up. "It felt like what you’re supposed to care about is the conversion-therapy part, and we’re supposed to try to stop that."
Lyonne also reflected on the homophobia that remains over two decades after her iconic film. "I would say my biggest beef with the world is how insane it seems to me that certain people think they have a God-given right to tell other people how to live," she said. "You’re seeing all these crazy things happening now about — we’re going to remove facts from books.
"I remember Clea and I were at Sundance with 'But I’m a Cheerleader,'" she continued. "These kids would be crying and saying, 'Thank you for putting out the film.' And I remain so proud of 'But I’m a Cheerleader,' and so genuinely confused that we’re in such deep future."
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Lynskey talked rejecting KISS, first teaming up with Lyonne
Lyonne and Lynskey had already met before "But I'm a Cheerleader" when the pair starred in the KISS-inspired film "Detroit Rock City" in 1999.
"We had to go to the KISS concert, contractually, as people who had been in the KISS movie," Lynskey joked. Lynskey didn't seem all too enthused, and turned the band down when they offered her a rose during their song "Beth." (Lynskey played a character named "Beth" in the film.)
"I said, 'Please, let another lady have the opportunity,'" Lynskey remembered, to which Lyonne teased that she "would not excel on 'The Bachelor.'"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Natasha Lyonne, Melanie Lynskey on cult fave 'But I'm a Cheerleader'
