'It's weird to see us evolve at the same time': Yellowjackets' Sophie Nélisse on how her life mirrors Shauna's

Acting wasn’t part of Sophie Nélisee’s plan. She was meant to be a gymnast - “I needed some extra money to cover some of the travel expenses and coaching. My brother, who at the time wanted to become an actor, had just got into an agency. And my mum was like, ‘Maybe you should go into it as well’, ” she laughs over Zoom when I sit down with her for the afternoon. The thinking was she’d land a few adverts. Instead, aged 11, she booked her first role in the movie Monsieur Lazhar, which went onto be Academy Award-nominated. “At that time, I was like, ‘Oh, acting is so easy. You just do a movie and it goes to the Oscars!’ I now realise that's not how it works.”

The Canadian actor is calling from her teenage bedroom back at her family home in Montreal, where she lives for half the year with her mum. The other six months is spent in Vancouver, where she films Yellowjackets and lives with her co-star Courtney Eaton.

Following her early Oscar moment, the 25-year-old went on to lead the adaptation of Markus Zusak’s The Bookthief in 2013. What followed was a steady stream of roles, including the one we’re here to talk about today, Teen Shauna in Yellowjackets.

The Showtime series (which is available on Paramount+ in the UK) dropped in 2021, telling the story of a group of teenage girls who have to survive in the wilderness after their plane crashes on the way to a football tournament. The series then shows the surviving women in their adult lives, and the impact the wilderness still has on them. It’s a chilling and captivating, and the Emmy-nominated series has gone onto become Showtime’s second highest-streamed show of all time.

But despite its success, Nélisse is still as humble as ever. “It's not like I was on a show that was a Netflix overnight success, where I gained five/

million followers, and I’m booked for life. You know what I mean? It's more of a slow burn, which I love, because I think the show is very respected [in the industry] and it has more of a grounded audience. We've been very fortunate to be able to stay true to the core of the show,” she says.

If there’s one word I'd used to describe Yellowjackets, it would be trauma, and Teen Shauna has had more than her fair share. In season one she’s living in the shadow of her best friend Jackie (Ella Purnell) and having an affair with Jackie’s boyfriend Jeff. While in the woods she discovers she’s pregnant with Jeff’s baby. The next season she loses both Jackie (who she also eats) and her son, following a dramatic birth scene. And in the most recent season, which began in February, series’ writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson have been no kinder to Shauna, making her the savage, ruthless and isolated enemy of her remaining teammates.

“This season is fun because she's so controversial. She is somewhat the villain of this show at the moment, but you still care and root for her,” Nélisse explains. “One of the main aspects this show has done so beautifully is creating these characters that are so complex and nuanced that you root for them despite the horrible things they've committed and because their actions are just mirroring deeper emotions.”

Despite the questionable actions of Shauna this season, Nélisse has found herself being able to enjoy the new side of her character, embracing the witty and dark humour lines that are present in Melanie Lynskey’s adult version of the character. But despite what viewers often assume, the pair don’t talk about characterisation. “The first episode of the first season, we sat down and we talked about Shauna. We realised we saw her in the same light, and had the same idea of her essence, and then that's all we went on. And then we never talked about her ever again,” the actor explains.

Having worked on the show for nearly five years, Nélisse sees a lot of her own journey mirrored in that of Shauna’s, well you know, apart from the murderous cannibalic element (thankfully).

“The first season we shot, it was my first time ever living on my own, and Ella Purnell had really taken me under her wing, and I saw her as such an older sister, and this guiding light. I was in such awe of who she was, and trying to learn from her. ” she reflects. “And then when Ella left in the second season [her character was frozen to death], I was like, ‘Oh, I have to find what I like to do in the city.’ She wasn't there to be my best friend anymore, and so I was asking, ‘What do I want? Who do I want to be?’ and finding my voice.”

And this season? “I finally came into my own. I’m maturing, and I'm taking care of personal things differently. It's been really weird to see both of us evolve at the same time together,” she says reflectively.

Shauna’s journey this season also encompassed the start and end of a romance with teammate Melissa (Jenna Burgess). We’re speaking before the audience sees the breakdown of the pair's connection and Nélisse is hopeful the fans, who have deeply loved the relationship, will understand why it had to end. “It's been really fun to see people who are so devoted, and they're like, ‘We knew this was going to happen’. But it's Yellowjackets, and every good thing that can happen in this show must come to an end. And so although it will be very heartbreaking and sad for the audience, I think it will only speak on how much they cared for them together.”

Is a romantic reconciliation on the cards in a potential season four, I ask? “You never know if they'll reconnect at some point,” she considers. “I feel it might be the end of their romantic relationship, but it might spark something even darker, and now they're going to go at it even more.”

After nine intense episodes, the season finale aired today [11th April] with the revelation that Shauna is in fact the Antler Queen, a mysterious and ominous figure seen in the show’s pilot, who has been the subject of intense speculation for fans. Nélisse only discovered her additional identity halfway through filming season three, after a costume fitting revealed her fate. The original scene was filmed with extras after they wrapped season one.

“I don't know if the fans will have expected it. I don't ever really read the reviews or the Reddit theories, but I know a lot of people were trying to see who had the pink shoes and I just hope it's taken well,” she says, having not watched the final cut herself yet. Having followed Shauna’s journey this season, in hindsight, there’s no one else it could realistically have been.

“I'm curious to see, what now? Because I think that's her ultimate goal this season, and it's why she's been so manipulative, and she's really wanted to gain that power,” she ponders.

I find myself asking a similar question to Nélisse herself: what’s next on the agenda? Right now she’s working on developing her writing and working with co-star and flatmate, Eaton, on adapting BookTok-favourite novel Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. She’s also set to star in short horror film The Pact, and teen horror movie Whistle later this year.

And after surrounding herself with heavier projects, Nélisse is enjoying injecting lightness into her life. For her this is through travel: "For me, it's a way to spark my interest back up and to feel alive again.”

Given her performance in Yellowjackets this season, her upcoming movie roles, and her search for keeping things fresh, it sounds like Sophie Nélisse is going to keep playing her cards right on and off-the-screen.

Production, photography and direction Eleala, light tech Raoul Mercier, powered by Shoot Studio, makeup Sophie Parrot, hair Maddie Alper, stylist Indianna Petit, assistant RYAN Samson Dufour, shot at Summercamp Studios

Yellowjackets is available to stream on Paramount+ now