We've got a big crush on Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown

Jasmin Savoy Brown and Tawny Cypress are deep in conversation. Their hands are clasped around each other’s and Jasmin is perched on Tawny’s lap, as they talk in rapid succession in between sips on San Pellegrino and compliments of each other's outfits. It feels rude to interrupt the moment, but I have to interject with a reminder that we’re here to talk about their roles as the teenage and adult versions of Taissa in Yellowjackets.

The Emmy-nominated series is back for its third instalment, with the first two episodes having dropped on Valentine’s Day. An appropriate day given the show's love for quite literally eating your heart out (RIP Jackie and Javi). For the uninitiated, Yellowjackets follows a 1990s football team of teenage girls, whose plane crashes over the Canadian wilderness, forcing them (well, some of them) to endure life in the wild for the next 19 months. Simultaneously, we watch the survivors some 20 years later in the present day, as the damage of their past catches up with them. And when it comes to trauma, Taissa has had more than her fair share.

As a teenager in the wilderness she's determined and ruthless, but plagued by troublesome sleepwalking. As an adult, she begins the show on a path to becoming a state senator and is married with a son. But the haunting image of a man with no eyes causes her to rapidly lose everything over the course of two seasons.

Now as the third season begins and the girls have made it to spring, are things more hopeful for Tai? And in the present timeline, with Natalie’s funeral, Van’s cancer diagnosis, and a death on their hands, is it ever possible for Taissa to find some form of happiness in her life?

Well, this is Yellowjackets, so it’s likely 'no' on all accounts. But that doesn't stop Jasmin Savoy Brown, 30, and Tawny Cypress, 48, from keeping things light. While the pair have played the same character for the last four years, they’re rarely together, but it’s clear their bond is strong. To celebrate the new season, we listened in on a candid conversation between the pair, discussing everything from being cast as Tai, imposter syndrome and their future career goals.

This conversation has been edited down for clarity.

Jasmin: First, you made this? [gesturing to Tawny’s dress]

Tawny: I can make. I can sew. I can sew a straight line.

J: For you or for anyone?

T: Give me your sizes.

J: For the record, I have a crush on Tawny.

T: The feeling is mutual. So, you were the first person to get this role and I came shortly after. What was the process like for you?

J: It was so easy. And that's what I’ve found with auditions. Well, I don't want to jinx myself, because there's one I want so bad right that I'm in the mix [for]. But historically, when I work so hard for something…

T: Those are the ones you book.

J: And that was this, it just felt so easy. I think I memorised it [the audition scene] in the waiting room. They were running an hour and a half behind, which really pissed me off. [I was] not in the mood that day.

T: And that’s why you got it. You were giving energy.

J: I was literally like, ‘my [parking] meter ran out’. I cannot afford another car ticket, because I had so many. And I was so annoyed. And I don't think I even had a call back, I just booked it.

T: You went in with the exact right [Taissa] energy.

J: What was your process like?

T: It was fairly easy. I had one audition.

J: In person?

T: No, virtual. They gave me a couple of notes to wear my hair down. That was the main note, shoot it with your hair down. And I did. And that was it, I got it.

J: We were meant to be. I don’t remember the first time we met.

T: I don't either. Was it at the read-through dinner for the pilot? Were you there?

J: I wasn't there for the read-through, just the dinner, because I was shooting a movie. I only remember meeting Melanie [Lynskey] and then the rest of the night I don't remember.

T: When did we meet? Episode two? I liked the dinner.

J: I was really nervous that day.

T: I was too. I was talking to Christina [Ricci], and she said, ‘I tried to say hi to you, and you, you were like, 'Hi.’ And then she thought, ‘She doesn't like me’. And I said, ‘No, are you kidding?’ If anything, I was in awe. I keep telling people I feel I have imposter syndrome. Melanie and Christina, they hate it when I say that, they say, ‘No, definitely not. You're one of us.’ But it's not something you can help, I'm surrounded by legends.

J: So you have it [imposter syndrome] with them, or you have it in general?

T: No. I definitely feel I deserve to be where I am in life, you know? It's nothing like that. It's just that I work with Generation X legends. What's it like working with all the girls you work with?

J: Well, first I was going to say, that is the company you should be in and I have theories as to why you weren't a legend before. You should have been. And we could guess what those theories are. You deserve to be where you are, and it's about damn time. And personally, I'm just annoyed that you haven't been Emmy-nominated yet. This better be the damn season.

T: You better stop.

J: Tawny, this is what I said yesterday. I saw [the show's screenwriters] Ashley [Lyle] and Bart [Nickerson] at something that I cannot yet disclose. And I said, ‘Okay, I watched episodes one through four, and I thought I'd seen them before.’ Specifically your scenes with Lauren [Ambrose], because A) the writing is so excellent. And B), because you and Lauren are so excellent. When I read the scripts, it was exactly what I saw on screen. And your work this season, what you have to do…

T: It's going to be fun. And you too. When you have to finally hold a gun or whatever, that's crazy, those were intense moments. I'm really excited for where we're going, for where Taissa is going.

J: Yeah, I'm excited for us too. To answer your [earlier] question, working with the younger cast, it's great, we have a lot of fun. It's really helpful that we shot in the woods again this season. Season one, we shot in the woods. Season two, we shot on a stage. And this season we're back in the woods. The actual outside is a character in itself. Then we're not acting cold and acting stinky and acting like there's bugs [because there are on the set].

T: And that stuff you had to inhale.

J: Oh my god, we all got sick every single week. We’ll come back to Taissa, but what is your dream role?

T: You know, I would love to do comedy. Nobody ever thinks I'm funny.

J: You’re funny as hell. I would love to do comedy too, I've gotten close to so many.

T: Me too. Stella, the comedy group, David Wayne, Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black hired me, and it’s the only comedy I've ever done in my life, and it was so much fun. And you want to do more comedy?

J: I want to do comedy. Honestly, I just want to work, don't we all? I want to work with different types of people on different types of projects.

T: I swear, if I play another freaking cop running down the street chasing a bad guy with the gun, you know I’ve got a mortgage to pay.

J: And you know what? I'll say the same about playing someone 17 years old. I’m ready to play an adult.

T: It’s a compliment [playing someone 17].

J: It’s a huge compliment but I'm ready to play a grown up, maybe even a person with a kid. Should we look at these questions? Let me find one for you. Okay, how do you approach Taissa’s experience of mental health?

T: It's funny, because she's very much against therapy and getting help for her problems. And I feel I am a little bit too. Therapy is good for people, but not good for me.

J: Oh my gosh.

T: I know.

J: Eye roll, that’s so pick me.

T: It really is. It’s just that I've always solved my own problems. I can figure this stuff out. I'm not against it, like Taissa’s against it, you know? But I can see where she's coming from when she says, ‘No, I'm good’.

J: It’s totally mood dependent for me.

T: Ok, I’m going to ask you something. What have you been most surprised about in the season three scripts?

J: This isn't a spoiler, because it's Yellowjackets. There's a death this season that really pisses me off. I’ve also been surprised by how a certain character stepped up for themselves. That I liked.

T: You were surprised by that? I agree with you, I’d forgotten about that. I was surprised by my final episode with Taissa this season, and I hope it shocks everybody.

J: Okay [reads question] ‘They have playlists for Taissa, is there any crossover’? I had a playlist in season one but…

T: We would not have crossover songs. We are different generations, we do not listen to the same [music].

J: Who do you listen to?

T: Mostly classic rock or 90s rock.

J: Avril Lavigne?

T: Yeah she’s my favourite.

J: That was a joke.

T: No, Pink Floyd or Jane's Addiction.

J: I wish I was that cool. I'm not Sophie Thatcher.

T: Do you listen to that new disco EDM type?

J: No, lately I'm really into Rachel Chinouriri. Have you heard of her?

T: No.

J: She’s a Black British singer. I love Black British singers. I must admit, I have not yet watched the Super Bowl halftime show.

T: It's good that you didn't watch it live because the sound wasn't very good.

J: But I’ve heard every podcast breakdown of it. I go through phases, and I'm very much in a podcast phase right now. Partly because of my podcast. Have you listened to it?

T: No.

J: That’s okay. We've scheduled you to be a guest, so you should probably listen.

T: I'm going to, I never do my homework.

J: I'm really proud [of it].

T: I'm so happy for you.

J: Thank you, it’s called Today and Gay. It's available daily everywhere you get your podcasts. [It’s] a half an hour show giving the top three headlines that are affecting the queer community, two are good, and only one is bad, because we really need good gay news right now.

T: Dude, I freaking love that.

J: Thank you. I'm really proud. It's been a dream project for over three years, I pitched it everywhere. No one wanted to help me make it, so I'm making it myself. Do you think acting is lying or telling the truth?

T: It's telling the truth.

J: Telling the truth in imaginary circumstances?

T: Yes.

J: But do you think it's lying? Ever? You never show up, and think, ‘I'm in a bad mood’?

T: I hate when people say that. I get anxiety, and I tell people that, and they say ‘but you're an actor, just act like you don't have it’. As an actor, you're truthful in the moment. You know, if you pinch me, I say ‘ouch’. It's all truth. But in real life, I'd have to pretend to not have anxiety.

J: So, what's your prep? Are you the kind of actor who really breaks out every script and goes, ‘Okay, what's my intention in the scene’?

T: You answer that one first, that’s a good one.

J: I was at the beginning of my career. I [then] had a traumatic experience with an acting coach, as many of us have, and so that changed my relationship to acting for a while. I needed to be as present and fun and not that serious as possible, which is funny, because in the last few years I've done really serious work, and it's been easier for me to not take it that seriously.

But recently I've lost the joy in that, and I've really missed that other part, and so I started working with a new acting coach, who I adore. I've never stopped doing my personal prep work. I love creating imaginary stuff, I will never say a line and not know what it means to me for that character.

And working with this coach, Julia, we started breaking down a script, [like, 'What is your intention? What are the actions? What are all the different actions you could do to reach that intention?'] It was so fun, and it milled me up. I think now I'll start doing that again. I think acting is similar to athletics and you have to train, and there are different things to train, and there are different seasons.

T: I agree.

J: And I was in a season of needing this other thing, and now my muscle, my body, needs something else, and I'm just gonna follow that. What about you?

T: When I first got out of acting school, I would go to auditions and ‘centre my circles’, [but] I don't do any of that anymore. I feel I've done that enough. I get it. And with Taissa, we built her. She's built with television. It's like water. You have to be able to go with the flow, because you'll learn something about the character somewhere down the line that you did not build in your history or in your memory of her. So you have to rework some things. When I read the scripts, I know her intentions.

There's a moment in season three where I have to deal with Sammy and it's a very sad moment. And so I just connected that to my son when he was a small child. The whole love [plotline] with Lauren was easy because I spent so much time with her that part of me fell in love with her, and that made it a little easier.

J: Why would you be really close with someone if you're not a little in love? I'm a little in love with all my friends.

And its safe to say we're a little in love with Tawny and Jasmin too...