Melanie Lynskey still remembers how painful it was to lose Kate Winslet as a friend.
While they formed a “very intense” bond as teenage co-stars on the set of “Heavenly Creatures” and would “write each other” and “talked on the phone all the time,” as Lynskey previously told TIME, but that relationship ended shortly after production — and Lynskey “couldn’t let it go.”
“When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had,” she said on Thursday’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “It was so painful, and it wasn’t like anything happened it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star.”
Winslet certainly did when James Cameron’s “Titanic” hit theaters in 1997. Lynskey, who went on to star in other films like “Ever After” and “Detroit Rock City,” said Thursday their divergence “gradually happened” — and that Winslet suddenly “didn’t have a lot of time.”
“It happens in relationships,” added Lynskey. “People kind of drift apart, but that was so painful for me.”
The “Yellowjackets” star was admittedly “sensitive” about such bonds coming to an end but said “it got easier” to accept as she got older. However, Lynskey still considers Winslet “a huge inspiration” for how she navigated the body-shaming she experienced after “Titanic.”
Left: Richard Shotwell/Invision/Associated Press; Right: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/Associated Press
“It infuriated me so much, and I just was always amazed by how gracefully she handled all of that,” said Lynskey on the podcast. “It was always really impressive.”
Lynskey added that she was “so furious” about how Winslet was being “dissected and talked about” at the time, as Winslet “is an actor who comes along once in a generation.” Lynskey ultimately went on to form other close friendships at work.
“I did this movie with this actor, and when we were finished I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m just so happy that I met you and we have this friendship,’” she said Thursday, “and she said, ‘Yeah, I’m not friends with actors. I don’t stay friends with actors.’ And I was just like, ‘What?’”
Lynskey continued, “I was so shocked by it.”
The actor certainly managed to forge ahead, however, and has had a remarkable year with roles in “Yellowjackets” and HBO’s “The Last Of Us” — which her husband Jason Ritter, with whom she shares a child — has no qualms about publicly celebrating.
As for her childhood friend, Lynskey and Winslet reunited at the 2009 premiere of “Away We Go.” While they may not talk on the phone “all the time” anymore, Lynskey took a page out of Winslet’s book and faced a recent body-shaming experience gracefully.