Out of the Woods: Melanie Lynskey on Yellowjackets Season 3

Currently in its third season, smash-hit series Yellowjackets follows a star high school girls soccer team headed to Nationals when their plane crashes, leaving the group stranded in the Canadian wilderness. Melanie Lynskey stars as Shauna Sadecki (née Shipman), brilliantly portraying the character 25 years later as she continues to face the shadow cast by her time in the wild. However, this is by no means the actress’s first time around the film industry block. She has an incredible list of successes under her belt, including Heavenly Creatures, Togetherness, But I’m a Cheerleader, Coyote Ugly, and Two and a Half Men, just to name a few. Below, Lynskey divulges what drew her to Yellowjackets, her experience playing Shauna, and the power of a show that subverts traditional narratives about women.

Left:
Dress: Kristina K @kristinakofficial
Earrings + Bracelet: ALEXIS BITTAR @alexisbittar
Ring: FEDERICA TOSI Large Isa Ring $325.00 
available for purchase https://shopcurve.com/products/federica-tosi-large-isa-ring
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here
Right:
Cape Dress: Christian Siriano @csiriano www.christiansiriano.com
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here
Earrings + Bracelet: ALEXIS BITTAR @alexisbittar
Shop Alexis Bittar New Jewelry Arrivals | Spring Collection alexisbittar.com
Ring: FEDERICA TOSI Large Isa Ring 325.00 
available for purchase https://shopcurve.com/products/federica-tosi-large-isa-ring

What draws you to a project? What about Yellowjackets made you want to be a part of it
I have an instinctive response when I read something and I know pretty quickly if it’s a yes or a no. With Yellowjackets, I just found the pilot episode so, so exciting. The character of Shauna was also really interesting; seeing her in a domestic setting where she clearly did not feel at home, and getting a sense of the undercurrent of rage and pain and this dangerous power that is buried just below the surface. I was interested in diving into the world of a person who is doing her very best to make herself as harmless-seeming as possible; to seem like a regular middle-aged mom, to not be noticed, but whose true nature is that of someone who can be very dark, ruthless and powerful, and who very much wants to be in control.

While not to be glamorized, the women in Yellowjackets demonstrate incredible strength throughout the series; what does it mean to you to be part of a show with such robust female characters?
It means a lot to me! Especially at this moment in time, women’s power and agency is being stripped from them in multiple ways. Culturally, there’s a tremendous value placed on youth and thinness and this kind of filtered version of beauty in which everything is uniform. Women are harassed and bullied and picked apart online, told every day how they are too much or not enough. I love being part of a show which is firmly about women and in both timelines, there’s no interest in making the female characters appealing to these underdeveloped and immature men. I love that. The middle-aged women who are routinely dismissed by the types of men who make up the majority of internet trolls are actually quite dangerous and are living very full and interesting lives with lovers and stalkers and bodies they have to dispose of. The young women are feral and forming their own fucked up society and are absolutely not relying on men or thinking about what parts of themselves they need to alter to fit into a standardized idea of beauty. The female characters are complex and surprising. I’m very grateful to play someone who is revealed to be so much more than she seems at first glance.

Left:
Cape Dress: Christian Siriano @csiriano www.christiansiriano.com
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here
Earrings + Bracelet: ALEXIS BITTAR @alexisbittar
Shop Alexis Bittar New Jewelry Arrivals | Spring Collection alexisbittar.com
Ring: FEDERICA TOSI Large Isa Ring 325.00 
available for purchase https://shopcurve.com/products/federica-tosi-large-isa-ring
Right:
Dress: RODARTE @rodarte
Beige and Burgundy Floral Floral Velvet Devoré Cape Gown $2760.00 available for purchase: https://shoprodarte.com/collections/rodarte-dresses-1/products/beige-and-burgundy-floral-velvet-devore-cape-gown?variant=49523369935150
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here
Jewels:  MARTIN KATZ @martinkatzjewels 

This isn’t the first time you’ve played a complex (to say the least) character. What is most fascinating to you about portraying women with a dark side?
It’s always interesting to get to play a wide range of emotions. I love doing light and fun comedies, also! Laughing all day is great! But to get to dive into what makes a character who she is, and to get to explore my own inner world at the same time is always very satisfying. 

Did you know where your character’s trajectory was going when you first read the script?
I got to talk with the writers and with Drew Comins, a producer, and Karyn Kusama who directed the pilot, and they fleshed out the first season in great detail. I was told loosely what they planned to explore in subsequent seasons, and it all sounded really exciting.

What was your initial reaction?
I thought it was so well written and was really excited to be asked to be a part of it.

Left:
Dress: RODARTE @rodarte
Beige and Burgundy Floral Floral Velvet Devoré Cape Gown $2760.00 available for purchase: https://shoprodarte.com/collections/rodarte-dresses-1/products/beige-and-burgundy-floral-velvet-devore-cape-gown?variant=49523369935150
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here
Jewels:  MARTIN KATZ @martinkatzjewels 
Right:
Dress: Kristina K @kristinakofficial
Earrings + Bracelet: ALEXIS BITTAR @alexisbittar
Ring: FEDERICA TOSI Large Isa Ring $325.00 
available for purchase https://shopcurve.com/products/federica-tosi-large-isa-ring
Shoes: CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Jasmine Flowers Suede 100 Sandals: $745.00
Available for purchase here

Did you and Sophie Nélisse work together to create the version of Shauna that ended up on our screens?
We realised early on that we were very much on the same page about the character. We didn’t want to make any physical choices that matched or anything like that. We knew who she was internally, even if the two Shaunas were both at different stages of accepting these truths about herself. Our energetic match really worked, and we didn’t want to mess with that. I have enjoyed over the seasons seeing where our two characters converge and where they separate. And I love Sophie with my whole heart. She’s so talented and I’m so honoured to get to share this character with her. 

There are a lot of grotesque and truly brutal scenes in the show. Which was the most difficult for you to film?
In episode 308, I had a big stunt sequence that was challenging but also really fun. I love getting to work with the stunt team and watch these incredible women who are totally fearless! And I love getting to do as much of it as I can. I’m always very proud of my bruises. Emotional scenes require a certain type of concentration that can be hard to keep up -- that’s when I’m most grateful for our amazing crew who are all such incredible friends and collaborators. I always feel like I have an amazing support system around me for those tough scenes.

Shauna is incredibly nuanced, and continues to surprise as the story continues. How did you approach tapping into her multidimensional (and more than a little unhinged) character?
I do creative dreamwork and I try to be as open as possible to what comes to me during the actual work. If you let yourself be an open vessel and see where the scene goes, you can be really surprised -- and I always like to be surprised. 

Towards the end of Season 3, we see Shauna’s family and friends beginning to doubt her sanity and potentially turn against her. Without giving anything away, how can we expect her to react to these potential betrayals?
I honestly don’t know how she will react. Calmly and rationally?? JK. It’s going to be very hard for her. It’s really difficult for her to show love in a normal way, to relax into being needed by people and needing people in return. She’s very, very fearful of losing Callie and also of losing Jeff because she’s starting to trust the fact that he really does love her unconditionally, and I think that feels really wonderful to her. So, it will be interesting to see that journey play out.

As her daughter, Callie, is coming to realize, Shauna is still clearly carrying around a fair share of trauma from her time in the wilderness. Was there any scientific basis to the depictions of mental illness seen in the show?
I think this is a question for the writers! 

What is the energy like on set with the rest of the adult cast?
It’s like a family. We love each other, we love getting to hang out and have a long dinner together in whatever permutation of the group is available to hang out. We are very supportive and excited for each other’s triumphs. We share a lot about our lives. At work, we are very good at “holding space” (it applies!) for each other and being present with each other for big scenes. Nobody is checked out, operating at half capacity, even when they’re off camera for someone else. I know that any one of those women would absolutely have my back and I hope they know the same is true for me with them. The young cast too. I care so much about all of them.

The show has an incredibly dedicated fanbase. Is there a particularly interesting or surprising fan reaction or theory that you’ve encountered?
I guess the surprise to me when I look at Reddit, or whatever, is how desperately some people need to know whether these characters are good or bad. I don’t understand it being so black and white! Someone can do terrible things, but also be carrying deep pain themselves. They can be capable of love, and have empathy and deep feelings, but also be capable of great cruelty, especially if they feel threatened. People can snap! Most people are capable of both wonderful things and awful things. 

There’s also this funny competition between fans about who is the worst, and if they think one character is bad; they work very hard to excuse any questionable or outright horrendous things the other characters have done. People listing Misty’s transgressions as though they’re just cute and quirky will never fail to make me laugh. 

I did see one fascinating comment about how if people relate to a character at all, and that character does bad things, some viewers need to kind of put a blanket “they’re evil” designation on that character, so as to separate themselves and say “Well, that could never be me, she’s just evil. She may feel similar to me, but I’m not evil.” It’s interesting. I don’t think people react the same way to male characters doing bad things. People are much more comfortable letting men exist in a morally gray area or being “bad” people without the question of whether they’ll ever redeem themselves. 

Which of the characters do you personally relate to the most?
None of them!! 

CREW CREDITS:
Talent: Melanie Lynskey
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director + Photographer: Mike Ruiz
Producer: Alison Hernon
Fashion Stylist: Misha Rudolph for Six K Talent Management
Hair: Richard Collins at TMG
Makeup: Stephen Sollitto at TMG
Photography Assistants: Ozzie Gutierrez, River Chad
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview by Logan Dutra, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine

RELATED STORIES

EntertainmentAlison Hernon#Yellowjackets, #MelanieLynskey, #thriller, #Paramount+, #survival