Yellowjackets Stars Sophie Nelisse & Jenna Burgess on Shauna & Melissa and The Wilderness

They’re so desensitized to everything. They’ve been there for so long, they’re not even aware of how messed up it is, it’s like normalcy. They really have become like animals in a weird way, and it felt like that, shooting it. Steven’s performance was just so good as well. It’s one of the scenes that truly grossed me out the most, because it felt so ugly. It made me want to puke, truly. I thought that was harder than filming all the cannibalistic scenes.

JB: Narratively, the entire show has been teasing in season one and two [that] what we did out there was so bad that it’s impossible to live with. Season three is showing those stakes. One thing that’s really interesting about the wilderness, to me, is that it’s a society of less than twenty people, and there’s no rule books. We’re kind of showing this side of the evolution of human nature where we’re devolving into these lesser forms of ourselves. As a viewer watching at home in the comfort of a functioning society where right and wrong are literally written in code, it’s terrifying to see that perhaps there’s a version of reality where people are taken out of [society], and this is what they do. We’re kind of showing that side of it. As a person who likes to think they wouldn’t do that, it’s haunting.

For Melissa, she’s someone who I found to be very zipped up and obsessed with this idea of power, and to her, it’s how Shauna emulates power. Shauna, especially this season, can be very standoffish and vocal. For me as an actor, it was emulating that. So when we talk about these performances that are just so heartbreaking, it’s near impossible — like the trial, it was so hard not to cry, because as Jenna, I’m a crier, so I just wanted to sit there and weep. But I’m looking over at Nélisse, and, you know, she’s got her arms pulled in, I’m like, “Okay, well—”

SN: I was also wanting to cry, it was such a hard day. Watching Steven, I kept being so teary-eyed, and then I was like, no, no, Shauna would not!

JB: I know, that’s literally what I do, too! And then there’s moments where you do and you’re like, Well, maybe they’ll use that, then they don’t, because it’s just not your character. So with Melissa, it’s finding the spots for that very scared little child that is in there. But it definitely is difficult as an actor when these things feel very real and tangible because of the performances and the environment we’re in, and then having to put yourself in a character who is just so traumatized and closed off to that at the moment.

TV: Have you seen the fan response to Shauna/Melissa?

SN: My manager texted me immediately. I obviously love the gay community, and I was like, I’m hoping this relationship is gonna resonate with them. There had been such a [build] to wanting Shauna to be gay, I was like, I hope that when they see it happen, they’ll be excited. There were such high expectations, so I was sort of nervous. When we saw all the people already shipping the relationship and loving it, my manager flooded me with all of the Instagram and Tiktok edits, and it really warmed my heart. I just love how people are so open minded to it. Even in the show, not that it doesn’t come as a surprise, but I love that it’s just so effortless. We don’t feel the need to make a big case, and it’s the way it should be. It should just feel so natural.

TV: No “coming out” narrative required.

SN: And I love that that’s how the show brought it up, and there weren’t any comments after within the group, or scenes when they’re like, oh, wait, Shauna is gay? No one’s even questioning it, which is the way it should be. And so I loved that as well. But, yeah, I’ve seen some edits, and I’m glad people like it. And it is fun that it’s a bit f*cked up because people relate to it. Especially, like Jenna said, when it’s so consuming, I think we’ve all been through toxic relationships, and hopefully some people can relate.

TV: Especially high school girls; the “toxic bestie-ship into relationship” pipeline is very real. Jenna, I need to know if you think Melissa looks like G-Flip.

JB: [covers her face with her hands] Totally. It’s the hat. I thought that too. It’s the hat, or the blonde hair. I don’t know, it is what it is. Love them, so. Sick. Um —