Melanie Lynskey Thanks Husband Jason Ritter and Her ‘Angel’ Nanny in Critics Choice Speech

Amy Sussman/Getty

And the winner is … Melanie Lynskey!

The actress took home the Critics’ Choice Award for best actress in a drama series on Sunday night for her role in Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

Other nominees in the category included Uzo Abuda for HBO’s In Treatment, Chiara Aurelia for Freeform’s Cruel Summer, Christine Baranski for The Good Fight on Paramount+, Katja Herbers for Evil on Paramount+ and MJ Rodriguez for FX’s Pose.

Upon accepting the award, the 44-year-old New Zealand actress admitted she “wasn’t expecting” to come out on top.

“I’m gonna be really bad at this speech. There’s so many amazing women in this category,” she began. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m mentioned alongside you.”

Lynskey then called out her acclaimed drama’s “beautiful cast,” saying they’re “the most talented group of people I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with.”

“Sophie Nélisse, you did about 70 percent of the work for me playing young Shawna. You’re a miracle and I love you. You’re all amazing,” she said. “All my wonderful friends who I got to work alongside, thank you.”

Matt Baron/Shutterstock Melanie Lynskey

Lynskey continued by thanking the show’s creators for giving her “this opportunity” and letting her be “exactly as I am [and] not asking me to change anything or do anything different.”

RELATED: Critics Choice Awards 2022 Nominations: Lady Gaga, Will Smith and Nicole Kidman Score Nods

After thanking the network and her agent, Rhonda Price, she gave a special shout-out to her daughter as well as her husband, Jason Ritter, whom she called the “love of my life” and “the greatest support.”

Story continues

She then concluded by thanking another very special family member: “The most important person I think I have to thank before I finish is my nanny, Sally. I love her,” she said.

“She’s an absolute angel. She’s with my child and my child is safe and taken care of and she allows me to go and do my work,” she added. “Thank you, Sally. I love you so much.”

RELATED VIDEO: Yellowjackets Stars Take the PEOPLE Pop Quiz

Lynskey stars in Yellowjackets as a member of a high school soccer team that crashed in the Canadian wilderness in 1996, only to be blackmailed 25 years later for what happened during their time in the woods.

She previously opened up about body-shaming that took place on set, revealing that a member of the Yellowjackets production team criticized her shape during filming.

“They were asking me, ‘What do you plan to do? I’m sure the producers will get you a trainer. They’d love to help you with this,'” Lynskey recounted in an interview with Rolling Stone. She also noted that her costars Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis came to her defense, with Lewis, 48, penning a letter to the producers.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Melanie Lynskey

Lynskey explained that body positivity was an important factor in how she developed the character. “It was really important to me for [Shauna] to not ever comment on my body, to not have me putting a dress on and being like, ‘I wish I looked a bit better,'” Lynskey said.

“I did find it important that this character is just comfortable and sexual and not thinking or talking about it, because I want women to be able to watch it and be like, ‘Wow, she looks like me and nobody’s saying she’s the fat one,'” she added. “That representation is important.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The 27th annual Critics’ Choice Awards aired Sunday night on The CW and TBS.