Things feel so hard and heavy lately — harder and heavier than usual, even — so I’m always on the lookout for a little bit of sunshine to share with you. And good news! Today’s brightness comes to you in the form of two stars you’ve been loving a long, long time: Melanie Lynskey And Natasha Lyonne, who interviewed each other for Variety’s Actors on Actors earlier this week and are as charming together in real life as they are on-screen. They talked about so much stuff, including, of course, their cult classic queer film.

Melanie Lynskey: And you suggested me for But I’m a Cheerleader.

Natasha Lyonne: I wanted you to be in all the movies. And, of course, Clea DuVall had put me in the movie because the script for But I’m a Cheerleader was on the floor of her car, and I was in the passenger seat. So I picked it up and I said, “What’s this movie? What’s my part?” She said, “You can’t play this part, because you’re not this type of person.” And I said, “Excusez-moi, ‘Girl, Interrupted.’” We went over to Jamie [Babbit]’s house, and boy, did we show her. “Watch what I can’t cheerlead,” I said.

I, for one, would love to watch that.

Melanie Lynskey: At the time, nobody liked it, and now everybody likes it. I do feel like the movie was very ahead of its time. Did you have any hesitation, I guess, telling that story about somebody who was in conversion therapy?

Natasha Lyonne: I was not hesitant at all. I’m consistently shocked by the things we consider shocking. I find it very patronizing when we say something like, “Oh, did you see that this straight male actor is playing gay? Bravo.” And it never crossed my mind to not try to use the arts to tell the truth about what’s going on. When Clea and I were on the cover of Out magazine, it just seemed so weird to me that people would care. It felt like what you’re supposed to care about is the conversion-therapy part.

They go on to chat (flirt?) about Yellowjackets, Russian Doll, Poker Face, writers rooms, what they thought they’d be acting in “at this age,” and oh so much more. And guess what? There’s video! They talk about Clea DuVall so much and I promise it will make you laugh within 45 seconds of clicking play.

Plus, just writing about this gives me an excuse to share this gay Melanie Lynskey tweet that I can’t stop laughing about.

Was informed by my daughter that her two stuffies, Meowy and Doublecat, are wives to each other and are raising 7 kittens together. Embarrassed to say that I thought they were just pals, but #HappyPrideMonth to Meowy and Doublecat

— Melanie Lynskey (@melanielynskey) June 2, 2023

And now I hope your day has been just a little bit warmer! Happy Pride, friendos!

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