[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2]

Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey and Simone Kessell for Season 3.

In this interview, Lysnkey and Kessell talk about their characters’ dynamics this season after everything that went down in the Season 2 finale.

The duo also discuss their co-stars’ standout performances, who Shauna and Lottie fear most, and what’s keeping Lottie grounded without her retreat.

Yellowjackets Season 3 is upon us, and there’s a lot of trauma to unpack from last season. In the present day, the women are reeling in the aftermath of Natalie’s (Juliette Lewis) sudden death and coming to terms with what actually happened out there at Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) wellness retreat. At the end of Season 2, in the past, two forces of nature—Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse)—were at odds as powers shifted.
In Season 3, present day, it’s becoming clearer that whatever the team thought they’d left in the past isn’t gone. In this interview, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff has the opportunity to speak with Melanie Lynskey and Kessell about their dynamic in the series now that Lottie’s out of the hospital. There are rising tensions that the duo teases that cause “electric” friction between them, but who—or what—do their characters truly fear?
Watch the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below to find out how present day Shauna feels about the aforementioned fear, which Yellowjackets co-stars give unforgettable performances, and what Kessell believes is keeping Lottie grounded now that her retreat has been taken away.
These Two ‘Yellowjackets’ Powerhouses Have Nothing to Fear …

Except maybe each other.

PERRI NEMIROFF: I’m going to ask you both a question that feels like an evergreen question for Yellowjackets, because I never know the answer to them from season to season. For each of you, who does your character trust the most in Season 3, and who do they fear the most?
MELANIE LYNSKEY: I think Shauna trusts Jeff the most, obviously. He’s such a solid, good husband. And I think she probably fears Misty the most—and an unknown presence. She fears you.
SIMONE KESSELL: I think Lottie really fears … Well, I say that I don’t really fear you. I’m like, “Your mother, she’s fine.”
That’s an interesting line.
KESSELL: Yeah, because I think she does.
Melanie, I did want to ask you about that, too, because Lottie tells Callie, when Shauna’s not there, “We’re all scared of your mother,” and it was making me wonder, what would she think if she was in the room and heard that? Is that something she would be ashamed of or proud of?
LYNSKEY: She’d be so excited. She’d be like, “That’s right. You better.” Delighted. Thrilled.
KESSELL: See? She’s a little bit scary when she said it then! You saw those brown eyes.
LYNSKEY: I’m not.
Lottie and Shauna Have a Present-Day Showdown in Season 3, Episode 3

“That scene cuts deep.”

Image via Paramount+

I can’t get to your one scary line in Episode 3 right now, but, my god, you have one line delivery that just cut right through. It’s at you!
KESSELL: Oh, yeah. See? I told you. That scene cuts deep.
It’s a lot.
KESSELL: On the day we did it, there was something, and no one else existed in that room. Melanie and I were looking at each other, and she’s holding it, and I’m holding her.
LYNSKEY: It was very electric.
KESSELL: It was just as you’re saying, this bolt went through me and a bolt went through her, and we just held each other, and I took off the apron and walked out. I got off set, and I was shaking. Then she clears the table, and they called cut, and we just went to each other and held each other. So you’re absolutely right. I was vibrating.
LYNSKEY: It was really emotional. I wish that beat was longer in the show because it was really very charged.
KESSELL: It was really charged. Great.
LYNSKEY: It’s one of the craziest moments I’ve had on this show was looking at you.
It’s very effective as is!
LYNSKEY: Okay, that’s good.

Image via Paramount+

1:24

Related

“She’s Kind of Unstoppable”: Sophie Nélisse Teases Shauna’s Arc in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 [Exclusive]

“She’s got nothing else to lose.”

I’ll build on that a little bit because you guys are now three seasons in, you know how next-level talented all of your costars are, but in order to tease what’s to come, can you give me an example of a time when someone did something and it made you stop and go, “Oh my god, I knew you were good, but I never realized you’d be able to get to that level with the character?”
LYNSKEY: I saw everybody do things that were absolutely amazing, like getting to have that moment with you. I was just like, “Oh, I just want so much more with you.” Tawny [Cypress] and Lauren [Ambrose] in a later episode, there’s some really amazing stuff. Christina [Ricci]’s drunk acting, I thought, was really good and really tragic. And she was nervous about it. She was like, “I don’t know what I’m doing,” and then she did it really well, I thought.
KESSELL: Yeah, I agree. I think all of the cast. I can’t kind of cherry-pick a moment. But I’m just gonna say, even if you weren’t sitting next to me, Melanie’s work this season is astounding and brilliant and so nuanced. It was an incredible honor to be her scene partner.
Lottie “Has No Grounding” in Season 3

Without the retreat, how is she handling the call of the wild?

Image via Paramount+

I’ll end with a Lottie question for you, Simone. In Season 2, it does feel like her wellness compound kind of grounds her. Now, it’s not there anymore, so what is either grounding her or guiding her compass the most in Season 3?
KESSELL: I think she has no grounding in Season 3. I think she’s euphoric, and I think she’s really having a childlike moment. I played her very light because I wanted to play her with big eyes and just delighted with life and playing each moment as it comes rather than commanding. She’s really euphoric, but she’s incredibly vulnerable, and that was so wonderful to play.
The first two episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 are available to stream on Paramount+ and Showtime. Subsequent episodes will be released on Sundays.

Yellowjackets

Release Date

November 14, 2021

Network

Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime

Showrunner

Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco

Directors

Benjamin Semanoff, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Deepa Mehta, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Liz Garbus, Scott Winant, Eva Sørhaug, Jamie Travis

Writers

Liz Phang, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa