Melanie Lynskey has posted her thoughts on Instagram about longtime friend Julian Sands, who was found dead in the Southern California mountains earlier this week.
Lynskey shared a photo of the pair and wrote about first meeting Sands while working on the 2002 movie Rose Red. She admitted being a bit starstruck as a big fan of Sands in the Oscar-nominated film, A Room with a View.
“I was so nervous I could barely speak to you,” she said. “When I did finally tell you what the movie/you meant to me, I was struck by your humility, your lack of ego, the absence of any grandstanding.”
The two became fast friends, Lynskey said, as she recalled their blossomig friendship.
“You bought me so many presents, mostly huge and intimidating non-fiction books and classical music CDs. You found out I’d never been to the opera, and so you came to my apartment one night and picked me up, took me out for champagne, and took me to the opera.”
Lynskey reciprocated with Dr. Dre.
“I played you the entirety of Dr Dre’s ’2001’, made you talk on the phone with my boyfriend in New Zealand, and agonized with you over whether to see Billy Bragg or Bright Eyes.”
“You were gracious and patient and tons of fun,” she added.
“We lost touch, but I have never forgotten your kindness and I will never forget you,” Lynskey wrote in her post, concluding, “my heart goes out to your family and loved ones.”
Sands disappeared in mid-January near Mount Baldy, which lies in the San Gabriel Mountains less than 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It is one of the highest peaks in the region, at over 11,000 feet. While close to the country’s second-largest metropolis, the area’s steep terrain and ravines make portions of it difficult to access, especially in winter, when Sands disappeared. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office said earlier this month that some parts of the wilderness were still covered in 10 feet of snow.
The search for Sands had been suspended temporarily because of the severe winter conditions across Western U.S. this spring. San Bernardino sheriffs said they had conducted eight searches to find the British actor, an experienced outdoorsman, along with eight other operations.
The efforts picked up again last Saturday. Officials said more than 80 search and rescue volunteers, deputies and staff participated in the search that took place Saturday in the nearby wilderness and remote areas across the mountain. The effort included two helicopters and drone crews.
Coroners have not come up with a cause of death as of yet.