'Yellowjackets' star Sophie Nélisse on Shauna's 'really dark path' in season 2 and why Reddit has her rereading the script
"It's called 'Naughty '90s,' and our little picture for it — maybe this shouldn't be public — is Elijah Wood," Nélisse explains over Zoom. Nélisse, who stars as teenage Shauna on Showtime's critically-acclaimed drama "Yellowjackets," is telling me about the avatar of her cast member group chat. Wood recently joined the series, now in its second season. "I think it's like a picture that we took from the table read. He just has the biggest smile, and we made it our profile pic for our group."
Similar to her character on "Yellowjackets," the 22-year-old actor didn't envision her life taking this particular turn. Shauna had plans of attending Brown University and finally stepping out of her popular best friend Jackie's (Ella Purnell) massive shadow, while Nélisse had dreams of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Raised primarily in Montréal, Canada, Nélisse pursued a career in gymnastics when she was younger, training for 35 hours a week and pushing her body to the point of injury. As the actor herself explained, she only joined a talent agency to help raise money for her gymnastics-related expenses.
But after she was cast as Liesel in the 2013 adaptation of "The Book Thief," Nélisse made the choice to become an actor full-time. She followed up "The Book Thief" with an eclectic mix of titles, including the marine horror "47 Meters Down: Uncaged" and indie comedy "The Rest of Us" in 2019, and "The Kid Detective" alongside Adam Brody in 2020.
"Ironically, I thought acting would be a safer career path, which any actor can tell you, it's not," Nélisse tells me during our chat.
She doesn't regret her decision to leave the competitive gymnastics world for the entertainment industry, though. The pivot placed her on the path toward her breakout role in one of 2022's best new television series. Split between two time periods, "Yellowjackets" follows a group of teenage girls who become stranded in the wilderness after the plane taking them to their soccer championship crashes, and the surviving team members navigating their trauma in the present day.
Nélisse has nothing but praise for her costar Melanie Lynskey, who plays the adult version of Shauna. The two were on the same page for their character from the beginning.
"We just made sure that we had the same essence for Shauna, and we luckily related to her in many ways. I think that's really what brought her to life," Nélisse tells me.
As Shauna, Nélisse had to go to some dark places for the latest season of 'Yellowjackets'
Complicating matters is the fact that Shauna is carrying the child of Jackie's boyfriend, Jeff — the incident that led to their fight and, indirectly, to Jackie's death. Shauna, says Nélisse, is in quite a lot of conflict about the pregnancy.
"It's this constant reminder of the things that she's committed in the past that she's not proud of, and also somewhat linked to Jackie's death. So I think there's a lot of guilt that goes with it. But I also think what's interesting is that it's like a driving force, giving her a reason to keep going and to move forward," Nélisse says. "It's a glimmer of hope amid the atrocities."
The actor isn't on Reddit, and won't weigh in on one of the most popular"Yellowjackets" fan theories (which involves the group eating Shauna's baby). She does, however, express her awe for the fanbase's enthusiasm. "I was so shocked by the level of commitment that these people have," Nélisse says of "Yellowjackets" superfans. "They know the character in the show more than I do… they pick up on things, and I'm like, 'I need to reread this script, cuz I never picked up on this.'"
The buzz around the series shows no signs of slowing down. Showtime has already greenlit a third season ahead of the season two premiere and Nélisse seems eager to begin work on new episodes, telling me that she hopes to "unravel" Shauna's trauma in future moments.
"I definitely think she goes down a really dark path. I think she goes a little feral and animalistic with it," Nélisse says. "I would like her in season three to be ice cold, like so over being hurt and in pain that she becomes almost numb."
Nélisse leans heavily on her support system — including her castmates — while navigating her newfound visibility
Another enticing aspect of beginning work on season three? The chance to reunite with her good friend Courtney Eaton, who plays teenage Lottie Matthews on the show. According to Nélisse, the two were close while filming season one, but living together in Vancouver while filming the second season of "Yellowjackets" solidified their friendship.They took full advantage of the chef's kitchen in their AirBnb while they were in Vancouver, cooking delicious meals (a standout meal, Nélisse says, was a luscious asparagus lemon risotto) and writing down recipes in a shared recipe book Nélisse got Eaton as a wrap gift. Nélisse and Eaton even hosted some of the cast and showrunners for Thanksgiving, making an apple pie from scratch that took days to perfect.
"People bought some pies — we had eight different pies, and ours was the best. And I'm telling you, they're not saying this because it was us — ours was by far the best apple pie," Nélisse says excitedly of her and Eaton's dessert.
It's been hard for Nélisse not being in close proximity to Eaton, since she's based in Montréal and Eaton lives in Los Angeles. The two text nearly every day, however, and Nélisse also leans heavily on her family, with whom she's also very close.
"I've been very fortunate to have a very open family. We talk about literally everything. My family's definitely been very helpful in keeping me grounded and sane," Nélisse says, citing therapy and a brother who's also studying to be a psychologist as other ways of staying grounded.
Nélisse has big plans for the future, including trying her hand at a superhero movie
Though she's still early in her career, the actor knows exactly what she'd like to pursue down the line if given the chance, naming Paul Mescal, Kate Winslet, and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve as some of her dream collaborators."I would really love to try some comedy, like 'The White Lotus.' I know everyone wants to be on that show, but 'White Lotus' is so down my alley with that dark sense of humor," Nélisse tells me. "I would even do like a romcom! I would love to do a Marvel movie. Coming from an athletic background, I think that could be super fun."
Overall, she says, she wants to "do roles that are really far from who I am."
"Because I think that's kind of the purpose of acting, is embodying someone that's different than who you are," Nélisse says.
Make no mistake, though, Nélisse is happy with where she is and the choices she's made, especially when it comes to her career.
"My life has just been such a fun rollercoaster of meeting people that are so inspiring, and traveling," she tells me. "And I would not trade that for anything else."