YELLOWJACKETS Star Melanie Lynskey Was Up For The Role of Willow in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

It turns out that Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey was up for a major role in the classic 90s fantasy/horror series Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She recently revealed in an interview with EW that she had a shot at playing Willow, Buffy’s best friend. However, at the time, she wasn’t really interested in jumping into a TV show because it was TV. She explained:

"It was kind of a visa issue, but not really. I also was not sure about doing television at that time. It was very early in my career. I had a very old-school agent who was like, 'TV? That's for has-beens!' and I was like, 'I don't think it is anymore.' Certainly now things have really changed, but I just wasn't super into it at the time."

Lynskey actually has two opportunities to join the show. She had discussions about taking on the role of Willow and kept in touch with creator Joss Whedon. The part initially ended up going to Riff Regan, but after the pilot, they needed to recast the role and Lynskey actually went in to audition for it. She talked about that saying:

"I had a dinner with Joss and I don't remember if it was an offer or if it was like, 'Would you come read for it?' or what it was, but we stayed in touch after that. I had seen the pilot and I was like, 'Oh this is good.' And then, it became this whole thing of, 'Well, now you have to audition.' So I auditioned. Then: 'Oh, they didn't like what you were wearing.' It was a whole process. And then I didn't get it!"

In the end, the role ended up going to Alyson Hannigan, who was absolutely perfect in the role of Willow. She was the right person for the job and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Melanie Lynskey added: "Alyson Hannigan got it, who was absolutely wonderful and all was [cast] as it should have been.”