The Direct sat down with Yellowjackets star Sophie Nélisse to talk all about Season 3, where the actress revealed what they really eat when they're cannibalizing their friends.
Nélisse plays the young version of Shauna as she is stuck in the forest alongside all the other girls from her high school soccer team.
Season 1 and Season 2 really stacked on the trauma for poor Shauna, which included accidently being responsible for freezing her best friend to death (who the group later ate to survive) and losing her baby boy due to him being stillborn.
Needless to say, Shauna is not in a great place when Season 3 picks up.
Sophie Nélisse Teases Shauna's Thirst for Power in the Wilderness
"She Definitely Is Very Thirst to Gain [That] Title of Leadership."
- The Direct: "The trailer, just watching it back, it indicates that Shauna has intentions of taking leadership from Natalie. We don't get to see too much of that in the early episodes of the season. But I was just wondering, can you kind of, from that alone, from the trailer, and just vaguely teasing, can you kind of explain where she is on that and her stance and how that might evolve throughout this season?"
Sophie Nélisse: Yeah. I mean, I definitely think she feels like she's been robbed of that title, given everything that she's been through in the second season. And I think she feels that she's the one who's had to sacrifice the most, and so I also think that she's at a point where making people feel small and beneath her makes her feel better about herself.
And so she definitely is very thirsty to gain [that] title of leadership. But I also think that she's very smart, and she knows how to play her cards, and she knows that she somewhat needs people in her corner, and she's not in a position right now where she can take a stance against Natalie.
And, so I think she'll very, in a very subliminal way, see who she can slightly start scaring and having her corner in order to turn against Natalie, and that will definitely progress as the season goes on.
Sophie Nélisse Reveals What the Cast Eats For Their Fake Cannibalism
"Inside the Flesh was Jackfruit, Which We Ironically Called Jackie-Fruit."
- The Direct: "Given where [Shauna] is mentally like right now in the forest, do you think it bothers her anymore that you know she ate and or is eating human flesh, or is she pretty preoccupied with everything else that is haunting her?"
Sophie Nélisse: I think they're somewhat desensitized at this point. It's really crazy how the human mind adapts to their circumstances. I mean, even us as actors, it's really weird. When we were first doing cannibalism scenes, we were all freaked out, and we're like, This is so weird. It feels like we shouldn't be doing this. And now they're just bringing it, and they're like, Okay, here's your little pieces of fake tofu or fake tempeh, and there you go.
Obviously, it's never, like, enjoyable. And when you're really in the scene, it's a bit strange. And I think we all tend to like disassociate. But even us, we're kind of like, we walk in on set and there's dead corpses and chopped off heads, and we're just like, oh fun! We're more mesmerized by it than freaked out. And that's just how we adapt to shooting the show as actors. And I think it's the same with their time in the wilderness. [They have become so] accustomed to [it all].
- The Direct: "I gonna ask what, you kind of answered, it was tofu, you said? But I was gonna ask, what is it that you guys are actually eating when they go, here's your human flesh?"
Sophie Nélisse: It's a mix. When we did Jackie's corpse, it was like her skin was made out of rice paper roll, and then inside the flesh was jackfruit, which we ironically called Jackie-fruit. And then for the pieces of meat now, I think it's tempeh, or Beyond Meat, and, like, a bunch of things like that.
I remember last season, Travis having to eat Javi's heart that was made out of gelatin. So it's almost like a gummy bear consistency, taste-ish. So, it's actually not as disgusting as it looks. But I think our minds are playing tricks on us, and it feels way more gross. We all have, like, spit buckets on the side as soon as they call cut.
- The Direct: "Shawna has been through an incredible amount of trauma up until this point. Can you just describe where she is mentally as Season Three begins the journey?"
Sophie Nélisse: Like you've mentioned, I think she's undergone, obviously, a good amount of traumatic events in these two seasons, but I think her energy HAS like really shifted. I think because she's undergone so much loss and so much pain, and I think she carries so much guilt, and I think because that weight is just too much to carry on her shoulders.
She needs to find another way to cope with it. And so I think she conveys all of these emotions into anger... She's just at a place where she has nothing to lose. And so she's kind of scary because she's very angry, and no one's stopping her anymore.
- The Direct: "I mean, obviously, we know there's the future storyline. We kind of know where Shauna gets to. But just in your mind, do you think by the time gets out of this forest and gets rescued, do you think she will find any semblance of peace, or is she going to be pretty messed up, even when she leaves the island?"
Sophie Nélisse: I don't think she will find peace. Because, I think a lot of, as we can tell, like the even in the younger storyline, there's a lot of dream sequences where Jackie comes back to haunt her, and her, what could have been son, comes back, and she gets those same sequences in her life later on, and so I think that's the perfect metaphor of like your demons that you haven't been able to face or make peace with that are coming back to haunt you. So, I think she might be for a while, but it'll catch up to her. I think she might try convincing herself that she's fine, but I think it will catch up to her pretty quickly,
Yellowjackets Star Sophie Nélisse on That Surprise Lesbian Romance in the Wilderness
"She Is In No Point In Her Life Where She Needs Someone Else Involved..."
The opening two episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 sees another surprising revelation when an expected moment of sexual tension explodes between Jenna Burgess' Melissa and Sophie Nélisse's Shauna—even though moments before, it looked like one might actually hurt the other.
- The Direct: "Another big part in those early episodes is there's a big surprise, romantic fire that sparks between Shauna and Melissa. Can you help break down kind of why that played out the way it did?"
Sophie Nélisse: Yeah, I was very intrigued to see that relationship spark with Shauna because I'm like, she is in no point in her life where she needs someone else involved, or like any sort of, you know, she's not in a head space where she can hold a romantic relationship.
But I think again, that's what makes it so interesting, is how it's such a conflicting feeling for her. Because I think that that's exactly what she needs at this point in her life, as someone to hold her and to say, like, it's okay, it wasn't your fault, and to have someone be there for her.
But at the same time, because she hates herself so much, I don't think she has any space to hold, to love anyone else. And I do think that there's this genuine connection because Melissa sees Shauna for who she is and embraces those sides of her, which I don't think Shauna ever thought anyone would.
So, there's definitely something genuine there. But I do think that Shauna also has another agenda, which is to take power over the group. And I think she'll, you know, see Melissa as another pawn on her, on her chess board, to play with in order to obtain that power.
Sophie Nélisse Describes Where Shauna Is Mentally as Yellowjackets Season 3 Starts
"... She Conveys All of These Emotions Into Anger..."
- The Direct: "Shawna has been through an incredible amount of trauma up until this point. Can you just describe where she is mentally as Season Three begins the journey?"
Sophie Nélisse: Like you've mentioned, I think she's undergone, obviously, a good amount of traumatic events in these two seasons, but I think her energy HAS like really shifted. I think because she's undergone so much loss and so much pain, and I think she carries so much guilt, and I think because that weight is just too much to carry on her shoulders, she needs to find another way to cope with it. And so I think she conveys all of these emotions into anger... She's just at a place where she has nothing to lose. And so she's kind of scary because she's very angry, and no one's stopping her anymore.
- The Direct: "I mean, obviously, we know there's the future storyline. We kind of know where Shauna gets to. But just in your mind, do you think by the time gets out of this forest and gets rescued, do you think she will find any semblance of peace, or is she going to be pretty messed up, even when she leaves the island?"
Sophie Nélisse: I don't think she will find peace. Because, you know, I think a lot of as we can tell, the even in the younger storyline, there's a lot of dream sequences where Jackie comes back to haunt her, and what could have been her son, comes back, and she gets those same sequences in her life later on...
And so I think that's the perfect metaphor of like your demons that you haven't been able to face or make peace with that are coming back to haunt you. So, I think she might be for a while, but it'll catch up to her. I think she might try convincing herself that she's fine, but I think it will catch up to her pretty quickly,
Season 3 Sees the Girls Return to the Wilderness With a New Encampment
"It Just Feels Very Creative to Be On That Set."
- The Direct: "Season 3 introduces your new encampment, which honestly feels very Lost-esque, you know, it's got teepees, little tents, and all that. How is filming on that new setup, and was it actually in the woods? Or did you guys set that up on a sound stage?"
Sophie Nélisse: Yeah, it was really fun this year. We got to go back to where we shot Season 1, which is actually in the woods, in a little remote place about an hour's drive outside of Vancouver. I love shooting in the wilderness because it feels just; I mean, obviously, it's easier for us to get into character, but there's a sense of, like, liberty and space. And I think for us as actors, to be able to play, it's like a massive playground.
And when we're blocking, we have the liberty of being able to move anywhere. And yeah, there's definitely more freedom. And I guess we get to play more out of instinct and where our characters would go, as opposed to when we were in the cabin and we were all crammed into this one room, and we kind of always kept the same positions.
And it's just so gorgeous. I love to bring my book and to read between setups. And sometimes I'm just like, I can't believe—like this is what I would do on my day off, to go in the woods and bathe in the sun and read. It almost feels like a vacation at times.
And then the set decoration people are just out of this world. They always create something that feels so whimsical, magical, and real. And what always amazes me is the attention to detail. Like, it looks stunning when you first get on set, but then it's like, when we do scenes in a little location, and they're still using pieces of the airplane or pieces of the cabin that they're using to hold, and like drapes and stuff, or the way we've utilized the candles that we found in the cabin to make spoons out of wax. And they just come up with so many ideas that I never would have thought of. So yeah, it just feels very creative to be on that set.
Yellowjackets Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+ and Showtime.
