HBO’s The Last Of Us introduced a new character named Kathleen in the show’s , played by Melanie Lynskey, though the character had one famous detractor: model Adrianne Curry.

Lynskey, 45, plays the leader of a group of revolutionaries in Kansas City in the fourth episode, entitled Please Hold to My Hand, where Joel () and Ellie () come across this vindictive leader.

Curry, 40, winner of the first season of America’s Next Top Model in 2003, shared an image of Lynskey from a magazine photoshoot, adding, ‘her body says life of luxury…not post apocalyptic warlord. Where’s Linda Hamilton when you need her?’ referring to Hamilton’s portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator franchise.

While Curry ultimately deleted the tweet, Lynskey took to on Wednesday to defend herself from Curry.

First, she made it clear to her 167K Twitter followers that the photo Curry selected was not from The Last of Us, adding she didn’t need to be ‘muscly’ to be an overlord. 

‘Firstly- this is a photo from my cover shoot for InStyle magazine, not a still from HBO’s The Last Of Us,’ Lynskey began. 

‘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. That’s what henchmen are for,’ she concluded.

While Curry deleted the original tweet, she continued to defend it to many others who called her out.

‘She edited out my tweet where I said she had a perfect hour glass frame that I did not associate with warriors.Actors taking character criticism as personal attacks is mind blowing,’ Curry said.

Curry responded to another fan adding, ‘I’m not allowed to say I didn’t find the fictional character believable due to her soft voice, small stature and curvy frame.Fictional. Not real.’

She also said in another tweet, ‘Next up, Jason Mamoa will find my criticism of his portrayal of AQUAMAN and will put me in my place with a strongly worded tweet on why he IS the perfect Arthur Curry.’

While Curry continued to defend her since-deleted tweet, Lynskey opened up in several tweets about why she was thrilled to work on The Last Of Us.

‘Other than getting to work with creative geniuses who I respect and admire (Neil & Craig) 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 began.

‘Not the coolest or the toughest person. 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,’ she added.

‘Women, and especially women in leadership positions, are scrutinized incessantly.Her voice is too shrill. Her voice is too quiet. She pays too much attention to how she looks. She doesn’t pay enough attention to how she looks. She’s too angry. She’s not angry enough,’ Lynskey continued.

‘I was excited at the idea of playing a woman who had, in a desperate and tragic time, jumped into a role she had never planned on having and nobody else had planned on her having, and then she actually got s**t done,’ she added.

‘I wanted her to look like she should have a notepad on her at all times.I wanted her to be feminine, and soft-voiced, and all the things that we’ve been told are “weak”. Because honestly, f**k that,’ Lynskey proclaimed.

‘I understand that some people are mad that I’m not the typical casting for this role.That’s thrilling to me. 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,’ she added.

She went on to thank The Last Of Us show creator Craig Mazin and game creator Neil Druckmann, ‘for creating a truly new character,’ referring to her character being an original creation for the show that did not exist in the original games. 

‘Someone I have never seen before.And for trusting me with her. And for letting me be on THE MOST AMAZING SHOW. And I’m also grateful because the love and support I receive from you all is so overwhelming and powerful- I feel like we are a community and I feel very seen and loved. Ok rant over and thank you all so very much,’ Lynskey concluded.

HBO’s The Last of Us continues with its fifth episode, which the network revealed last week will debut two days on HBO Max on Friday, February 10, since the Super Bowl will also be airing during its regular Sunday 9 PM ET time slot.