Hollywood's home now for Taranaki-born actor Melanie Lynskey, but five years after leaving New Zealand to forge an international career she's returned to her grass roots to star in the movie "Snakekin". By Leanne Moore.

Melanie Lynskey can be as slippery as a snake when it comes to pinning her down for an interview. It's not that Melanie, who shot to fame in "Heavenly Creatures" with Kate Winslet, doesn't want to talk. She does. Lots. It's just that she's in the middle of a punishing shooting schedule for her latest movie, "Snakeskin". The final scenes are being shot at night and filming doesn't finish until daybreak. After all night on set, Melanie snoozes until around 3pm, then it's right back to work. After four aborted attempts at catching up with the Los Angeles-based actor, I finally hook up with her during a break in filming in the South Island. Munching mouthfuls of pretzels and sipping chardonnay, the 22-year-old chats about what it's like rubbing shoulders with Hollywood stars, Drew Barrymore's sensational parties, and how her family and friends in New Zealand keep her grounded.

-You've described "Snakeskin" as the best script you've read since "Heavenly Creatures"-- what made it stand out?

The fact that it was so completely original. There were some plot twists that caught me completely by suprise. I kept thinking, 'What can they do? Where can they take it from here?' The way it unfolded was unlike anything I had read. The character Alice, who I'm playing, was just so strong and sexy and cool. I thought, 'I'm desperate to do this.' It was a real instinctive reation.

-In "Snakeskin" you're working alongside two of New Zealand's hunkiest actors, Taika Cohen from "Scarfies" and Dean O'Gorman from "Young Hercules". What's that like?

Taika Cohen is a spunk. He's just the cutest. In fact, everyone wants to have sex with Taika. Even boys look at him and say 'Oh, he's so cute'. With Dean, I have a brother-sister relationship--actually, I have a brother-sister relationship with both of them.(Much laughter)

-What do you like about working here?

I have always wanted to come back here to work. There's nothing like being at home and being around people who have grown up the same way as you. Being in the place you are meant to be means there's more of a family feeling to film-making here. I have done every kind of movie-- British low budget, American low budget, European art house, Hollywood studio. They are all such different ways of working. I really prefer low-budget movies because people are not just in it for the money. They put their heart and soul into it. It can be that way on a studio film, too, but sometimes you get the sense of people gritting their teeth and thinking about their bank account to get through it.

-You've been based in London and Los Angeles recently-- are you a bit like a rolling stone at the moment?

I've been living in London for the past couple of years. My ex-boyfriend bought a house in Shoreditch (a semi-industrial area popular with writers and artists). We moved there because it was cheap and near a tube station and it just got trendier and trendier. I really, really miss all the cafes around there. It had a really artistic vibe to it. But to be honest, I feel most at home in Wellington. If I could live anywhere in the world, it would have to be there, but there's just not enough work. I'm sort of homeless at the moment. All my stuff is in three suitcases in my agent's garage in LA. But I do need to find my own place because I'm obsessively buying cushion covers and anything I can fit in a suitcase. I need to make a home and I need to buy a big sofa and put it somewhere. I looked at a few apartments just before I came here.

-Why the move to LA?

I've decided that's where I have to be at the moment. There's just so much going on. Even now my agent in LA is calling me every day to let me know what's happening back there. Anywhere else in the world you sit around waiting, but when you're in LA you go out on castings every day. You can keep yourself occupied. It's hard to sit around waiting. At those times I think, 'How can I call myself an actor?' You tend to question yourself all the time when you're not working, and it's nice to be too busy to worry.

-What's your favourite travel destination?

I have never been anywhere for a holiday, but I have gone to a lot of different places around the world for work. I have been so lucky to be paid to see all these places. I went to the south of France for "Ever After" and it was like a holiday. They rented us a big house with a swimming pool and it had gorgeous views. One of the scariest places I have been to was Bulgaria. I did a movie version of the Chekov play "The Cherry Orchard", a European art-house movie where I spent three months in this tight corset. My whole body changed shape.

-If you settle down, where do you see yourself living?

I have to live in LA at the moment because of work. But I have this dream of having a nice house in Wellington by the water and having a place in LA out by the beach so that I can look across the Pacific and think, 'Everyone I love is just across the water'.

-Did you have a chance to become friends with Drew Barrymore on the set of "Ever After", or was it just a working relationship?

We became friends. I still see her and she has the best parties of anyone I know. She has just got a really big heart and she loves fun and she knows how to make people have fun. She has this great place in a canyon in LA which is a whole bunch of little houses on this property. When she has a party she strings up fairy lights and has this one hut which is just a bar and she has one room where people can do paintings. It's great fun and a lovely feeling being around her. She has the warmest energy of anyone I have ever met.

-Angelica Huston is like acting royalty. What was she like to work with in "Ever After"?

She is amazing. She is my ideal of what I would like to be like. She is well educated, has read everything, she is funny and beautiful. She is wise but she is not an old lady; she is a young spirit.

-"Heavenly Creatures" gave you and Kate winslet your big break--have the two of you kept in touch?

We kind of have. It's interesting how our paths have entwined. We were both at very formative times of our life when we met. We had an amazing connection in that film, which we will always have when we see each other. She is like a sister to me and I see her sometimes, but she is married and having a baby and doing all these grown up things.

-How is your love life? Is there anyone special at the moment?

I have been living with someone for the past couple of years, but I'm based in LA now and he's still in London. We both sort of need to know where we are at before anything happens. It's really difficult moving around all the time and trying to have a relationship.

-Are you close to your family?

Yes. I come from quite a big family, three brothers and one sister. They are all younger than me. They are an anchor for me. I'm close to my parents and I would like it if they were with me. I think my best friend is going to come and live with me in LA. We've been friends since we met at drama class when we were 11. He plans to go to LA and work in a bar to see what it's like. That's the hardest thing about being away. I have a lot of close friends overseas but when you have grown up with someone it's a whole other thing. They were there the first time you got drunk and they know everything about you.

-What's the most important goal in your life?

To feel like I have never chated myself. To be true to what I want to do. It sounds like a selfish goal but I think if you have dreams you should do everything you can to make them happen. I would hate it if I ever got to the end of my life and looked back and felt I had been too scared to go after my dreams. I don't have any materialistic goals. I just want to be fulfilled.