'The Last of Us' star Melanie Lynskey shuts down criticism over her casting: 'I don't need to be muscly'

• Melanie Lynskey has responded to criticism over her casting as Kathleen in "The Last of Us."
• Model Adrianne Curry wrote in a deleted tweet that Lynskey's body type did not fit her character.

Melanie Lynskey, who made her debut in "The Last of Us" on Sunday, has responded to criticism over her casting in the HBO video game adaptation after model Adrianne Curry suggested that her body type did not fit her character.

On the show, Lynskey plays Kathleen, the leader of a group of survivors who have overtaken the military group FEDRA, or Federal Disaster Response Agency, in Kansas City. The group are currently antagonists to the main characters, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey).

On Wednesday, the season one winner of "America's Next Top Model" questioned Lynskey's casting in the HBO series, writing: "Her body says life of luxury…not post apocolyptic warlord."

Curry also referenced the character of Sarah Connor in the "Terminator" franchise, adding: "Where is linda hamilton when you need her?"

The tweet, which has since been deleted, was in response to someone else sharing a photo of Lynskey from a 2022 magazine photoshoot in which she is dressed in a glittery form-fitting dress and cape.

In response, Lynskey called out Curry for using a photo that was not at all related to her character on the show.

"Firstly- this is a photo from my cover shoot for InStyle magazine, not a still from HBO's 'The Last Of Us,'" she wrote, posting a screenshot of Curry's tweet.

"And I'm playing a person who meticulously planned & executed an overthrow of FEDRA. I am supposed to be SMART, ma'am. I don't need to be muscly," she continued. "That's what henchmen are for."

Shortly after, the "Yellowjackets" actor posted a separate Twitter thread in which she praised "The Last of Us" series cocreators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for creating a character who might not be the "coolest or the toughest person" but has become a great leader because of other admirable qualities.

"The thing that excited me most about doing #TheLastOfUs is that my casting suggested the possibility of a future in which people start listening to the person with the best ideas," she wrote, adding: "The organiser. The person who knows where everything is. The person who is doing the planning. The person who can multitask. The one who's decisive."

"I understand that some people are mad that I'm not the typical casting for this role. That's thrilling to me," Lynskey continued. "Other than the moments after action is called, when you feel like you're actually in someone else's body, the most exciting part of my job is subverting expectations."

"I wanted her to be feminine, and soft-voiced, and all the things that we've been told are 'weak'. Because honestly, fuck that," the actor wrote before ending her thread by thanking fans for the "overwhelming" support she has received from fans of the video game series and show.

In response, Curry appeared to double down on her statement. She wrote in response to another Twitter user: "i said she was too soft spoken, short and curvaceous for me to buy as a 'warlord' over warrior men in a group of savage humans in post apocalyptical societal collapse. I said similar things about CAROL in the walking dead and no one cared then."