YellowJackets is a psychological thriller and survival drama series on Showtime about a soccer team of teenage girls stranded in the desert after a plane crash. The story is conveyed through a timeline containing a series of flashbacks that alternate between memories of past events and the current lives of the survivors. The surviving members are represented by a cast of counterparts who must work together to individually portray the teenage and adult version of each character; including Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nelisse as Shauna, Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher as Natalie, Christina Richie and Samantha Hanratty as Misty, Tawny Cypress and Jasmine Simone Brown as Taissa
Yellowjackets was created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson and premiered on Showtime on November 14, 2021 to critical acclaim for its screenplay and cast performances. The series received Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won Critics’ Choice Awards, Final Draft Awards, Gracie Awards, Hollywood Critics Association Awards, and Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Yellowjackets was renewed for a second season in December 2021, which will premiere on March 26, 2023; and a third season was renewed in December 2022. The series’ main and recurring characters include Shauna Shipman, Taissa Turner, Jackie Taylor, Ben Scott, Jeff Sadecki, Misty Quigly, Natalie Scatorccio, and more. From adult versions to teenage counterparts of every character in the series, here’s a comprehensive guide to the Yellowjackets cast and characters.
Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse as Shauna Shipman
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Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse star in Yellowjackets as adult and teenage versions of the character Shauna Shipman, a member of the WHS football team who survived the plane crash. As a teenager, Shauna was a straight student, accepted to Brown University, whose difficulties in expressing and managing her feelings continue into adulthood. Her life changes when the events that happened in the desert after the plane crash threaten to begin to unravel. Lynskey is best known for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Don’t Look Up, and more. Nélisse is best known for her roles in Monsieur Lazhar, Pawn Sacrifice, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Mean Dreams and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, among others.
Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher as Natalie Scatorccio
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Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher star in Yellowjackets as adult and teenage versions of the character Natalie Scatorccio, a rebellious-minded team member who always finds trouble. Natalie had a difficult upbringing and grew up in a rundown trailer with an abusive father who accidentally committed suicide in front of her after a physical altercation. As an adult, Natalie struggles to come to terms with what happened during her time in the wild after the plane crash. Lewis is best known for The Switch, August: Osage County, Ma, The Firm, Wayward Pines, Secrets and Lies, The Act, Welcome to Chippendales, and more. Thatcher appears in Chicago PD, Prospect, When the Streetlights Go On, The Tomorrow Man and The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+, among others.
Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Taissa Turner
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Jasmin Savoy Brown and Tawny Cypress star in Yellowjackets and play Taissa Turner, the football team’s star player whose national championship plans were destroyed by the plane crash. As an adult, Taissa campaigns for state senator from New Jersey, intending to “lead New Jersey out of the wilderness and back to the economic prosperity we all deserve.” His political ambitions threaten to expose the pact of secrecy made between the survivors of the plane crash. Cypress also appears in The Blacklist, NCIS: New Orleans, Bull, FBI, The Code, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, Billions, The Equalizer, and more. Brown has appeared in NBC’s Grimm, Freeform’s The Fosters, HBO’s The Leftovers, ABC’s For the People, Scream 5, Camp Harlow, Forgotten Hero and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty as Misty Quigley
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Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty star in Yellowjackets, playing Misty Quigley, the football team’s equipment manager who is a people-pleasing geeky outcast. After the plane crash, Misty receives praise and acceptance from the team for her abilities to heal and restore health to injured survivors. As an adult, she still retains the same characteristics, which turned into a passion for working in a nursing position where she can help people. Ricci has most recently appeared in Distorted, 10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up, Percy, Here After, The Matrix Resurrections, and Monstrous, among others. Hanratty has appeared in Drake and Josh, iCarly, Shake It Up, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Pushing Daisies, The Vampire Diaries and Shameless.
Ella Purnell as Jackie Taylor
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Ella Purnell appears in Yellowjackets as Jackie Taylor, the seemingly perfect, charming, and popular team captain who has been Shauna’s best friend since childhood. Jackie does not reach adulthood because during her time in the wild she stopped eating, isolated herself, and eventually chose to freeze to death. Purnell made his debut in the dystopian film Never Let Me Go, and since then he’s appeared in Maleficent, Kick-Ass 2, and Army of the Dead. She is the voice of Jinx in Arcane, the adaptation of League of Legends by Netflix, and of Gwyn in the Paramount+/Nickelodeon animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. She has also appeared in Ways to Live Forever, Candy, Wildlike, Intruder, Belgravia, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Churchill, Ordeal by Innocence, Sweetbitter, etc.
Simone Kessell and Courtney Eaton as Lottie Matthews
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Simone Kessell and Courtney Eaton appear in Yellowjackets as Lottie Matthews, a wealthy girl with schizophrenia, who has precognitive visions and eventually becomes possessed. Yellowjacket showrunner Jonathan Lisco said, “We will bend over backwards to make sure that [mental illness is] not confused… [It’s] something about her psychiatry and makeup that causes her to act a certain way, [and is] driven by an energy, a dark force, greater than her. Kessell appears in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Our Flag Means Death, Reckoning, The Crossing, Of Kings and Prophets, Terra Nova, and most recently the movie release Muru. Eaton has appeared in Mad Max: Fury Road, Line of Duty as Ava, Cheedo the Fragile in Mad Max: Fury Road, and Gods of Egypt.
Lauren Ambrose and Liv Hewson as Vanessa (Van)
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Lauren Ambrose and Liv Hewson appear in YellowJackets as adult and teen versions of Van, a core member of teenage female soccer players known for her dazzling smile. While casting Van’s adult counterpart, Lisco revealed, “I’ll hit the buzzer and say, I think it’s safe to say we haven’t met all of the survivors. Ambrose has also appeared in Six Feet Under, Torchwood: Miracle Day, Can’t Hardly Wait, Psycho Beach Party, Sleepwalk with Me, Where the Wild Things Are and several Broadway performances. Hewson is a non-binary Australian actor and playwright, who has worked successfully in Hollywood since 2013, having starred in Before I Fall, Top of the Lake, Inhumans, the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet, and more.
Steven Krueger as coach Ben Scott
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Steven Krueger appears in YellowJackets as Ben, the assistant coach and sole surviving adult, whose fall from power is a key storyline in the series. Krueger said, “I still hold out hope. What you expect from the series is the unexpected. I think everyone expects him to bite the dust. It could happen. I have no idea, but I know it’s possible we’ll see Ben Scott down the line. From an acting perspective, it’s fun to play with the unknown and leave clues in my performance to keep the audience guessing. Steven’s first major role was starring in The Originals as Josh Rosza, followed by appearances in Pretty Little Liars, Workaholics, Parenthood, Two and a Half Men, and more.
Warren Kole comme Jeff Sadecki
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Warren Kole appears in Yellowjackets as Jeff Sadecki, a former prom king who is now an unhappy middle-aged man living a life that didn’t turn out the way he had hoped. Kole said, “I got my hands on the script and thought it was really interesting. The writing jumped off the page, and I just told everyone I could that I really wanted to be a part of this thing. Fortunately, the creators accepted… It’s a good story. It’s not just a situation; it’s a truly gripping story that, in a nutshell, confronts the traumas of adolescence and how many of us carry them into adulthood. Kole is best known for Shades of Blue, The Wilds, Why Women Kill on Paramount+ and Amazon’s The Terminal List.