Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey is “so proud” of But I’m a Cheerleader
Melanie Lynskey says she came to realise her status as an LGBTQ+ icon after she appeared in But I’m a Cheerleader. The 1999 teen rom-com starred Orange is the New Black alum Natasha Lyonne as Megan Bloomfield, a cheerleader who is sent to conversion therapy camp to “cure” her lesbianism.
Lynskey memorably played queer camper Hilary Vandermueller in one of her earliest film roles. Additional cast members including Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Mink Stole, Bud Cort, Eddie Cibrian, Wesley Mann, Joel Michaely, Richard Moll, Kip Pardue, Dante Basco and Douglas Spain.
Although But I’m a Cheerleader flopped at the box office and received harsh reviews from critiques, it has since been lauded as an LGBTQ+ classic for its satirical approach to gender roles and heteronormativity.
Lynskey, who previously portrayed a queer character alongside Kate Winslet in her feature-film debut Beautiful Creatures (1994), says the LGBTQ+ community made their love for her known “after” But I’m a Cheerleader. “I felt like it meant a lot to people that I had played two queer people early in my career.
