Posted in: Showtime, TV | Tagged: Ashley Lyle, karyn kusama, Melanie Lynskey, panel, showtime, Tawney Cypress, yellowjackets

Yellowjackets Cast & Creators Discuss Celebrating "F***ed Up Women"

There is a freedom found in some female-led shows on television right now and some stars & creators behind Showtime's Yellowjackets would agree. This was discussed in a recent panel featuring two stars from the series, Melanie Lynskey (who portrays Shauna), Tawney Cypress (who portrays Taissa), as well as Karyn Kusama who directed the pilot which set up the two timelines, and co-creator Ashley Lyle.

In the panel discussing Yellowjackets, the concept of "f*cked up women" was brought up by Lyle with an emphasis on how they've aimed to celebrate their characters who are handling trauma and personal flaws in a multi-generational story. Lynskey aimed to play Shauna even after initially wanting to take a break after having her baby, it had become an important character for her to take on. Shauna has gone through it in season one as mentioned in the panel, from killing a backyard rabbit and cooking it for her family to having an affair. Cypress' character Taissa also grapples with truly messed up flaws herself all while trying to move on and into a life of family and political strides.

About Yellowjackets deeply hinting at themes of survival, cannibalism, and the supernatural, Lyle said, "Our goal was to take this high concept that would suck people in and use it to disguise our story about f***ed up women." Lyle and Kusama seemed to instantly get a cast who were ready to take on the horror and drama aspects of the series along with celebrating the freedom in presenting the realism of flawed women.

Cypress expressed a lot of love for the horror genre and genuine excitement about the series itself. Kusama mentioned the timeslips happening between 1996 and the current day in Yellowjackets, saying "The message, in a way, of the series, was if you don't process the past, it carries into the present with you. So the idea was that we were almost seamlessly moving between those two timeframes." With such compelling characters and prepping already for a second season,  I'm excited to see what comes next from everyone involved in Yellowjackets.

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