Yellowjackets took the world by storm when it first debuted on Showtime in late 2021—and with each new season, its Netflix streaming debut in October 2024, the show has only inspired more buzz. The hit has won over audiences by stradling the survival drama and psychological thriller genres, while also being a meditation on trauma and grief in one—and that's before we get to all the fan theories. In the show, a high school girls' soccer team headed to Nationals gets stranded in the wilderness for 19 months. The immediate aftermath is one timeline; in another, 25 years later, we see how the survivors were affected by their time in the wild, as they covered up the horror of what they had to do to survive.
In addition to the twisted, mysterious story, the must-watch TV show—now in production on season 3—also boasts incredible casting. The show includes the actors behind our favorite '90s movie heroines, paired with rising stars playing their teenage versions. (Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny). Below, read on for what to know about the cast and characters of Yellowjackets, and where you've seen all these incredible actresses before.
Melanie Lynskey as Shauna
Shauna, the first survivor we meet, is a stay-at-home mom still living in her hometown. Experiencing issues with her marriage and parenting her teenage daughter, the last thing she needs is a reporter sniffing around for what really happened after the plane crash.
Australian actress Lynskey has appeared in several indie and cult-classic films, including Heavenly Creatures and But I'm a Cheerleader, as well as the shows Castle Rock and Two and a Half Men. She received Best Actress in a Drama Series nominations for her work on Yellowjackets in both seasons 1 and 2.
Sophie Nélisse as Teenage Shauna
As a teen, Shauna is quieter than her other teammates and usually stands in her best friend, Jackie's, shadow. However, she also has an intense side that emerges on the field in the wilderness, and some big secrets that she keeps from Jackie.
Nélisse grew up in Montréal, Canada, and got her first roles as a child actress in French-Canadian films. Before Yellowjackets, she starred in the big-screen adaptation of The Book Thief, as well as the films 47 Meters Down: Uncaged and Pawn Sacrifice.
Juliette Lewis as Natalie
Natalie is a recovering addict who dealt with the trauma from the wilderness and other events in her life with alcohol and substances. After receiving mysterious letters about the crash, she heads back to New Jersey to catch whoever's behind them.
Lewis became an awards and indie darling after starring in several beloved cult classic films in the '90s, including Cape Fear, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Natural Born Killers, and From Dusk Til Dawn. She also starred in the family drama August: Osage County and the roller-derby film Whip It.
Sophie Thatcher as Teenage Natalie
Teen Natalie has a rough home life and is called a "burnout" for drinking and doing drugs with her friends outside of the team. She's still a devoted player though, and she's not afraid to stand up for herself and others.
Thatcher began acting on several network shows before her first character arc on Chicago P.D. in 2016. Since then, she's had breakout roles in projects like the Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett and become an emerging horror movie scream queen, appearing in The Boogeyman, MaXXXine, and Heretic. Outside of acting, she also has an indie music project.
Tawny Cypress as Taissa
When we first see Taissa as an adult, it's through a campaign ad for her State Senate run, despite the surviving Yellowjackets' agreement to lay low. When she's not dodging questions about the crash on the campaign trail, she's raising her young son with her wife.
Fans may recognize Cypress from her supporting roles on several hit shows, including Heroes, House of Cards, The Good Wife, and Billions. The actress is also a New Jersey native herself, like her character Tai.
Jasmin Savoy as Teenage Taissa
Teen Taissa is determined and kind of cutthroat when it comes to achieving her goals, which come out on the field and in the wilderness.
California-native Savoy has starred in several shows, including the Shonda Rhimes legal drama For the People and the HBO drama The Leftovers. She's also appeared in films like Missing and the Scream franchise reboot films, including Scream V and Scream VI.
Christina Ricci as Misty
As an adult, Misty works as a nurse in a retirement home. She has a bad history with the other survivors, so when Natalie approaches her about the cryptic letters, she doesn't know whether Misty is another victim or the one sending them.
Ricci began in the entertainment industry as a child star, playing Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values films, and starring opposite Cher and Winona Ryder in Mermaids. She later became a teen star and indie darling, appearing most notably in films like Casper, Now and Then, Pecker, Buffalo '66, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Prozac Nation. She received an Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination for her portrayal of Misty at the 2022 Emmys.
Samantha Hanratty as Teenage Misty
Teen Misty is the team's ball girl, who's mostly held at length from the team and is bullied by other girls at school. After the plane crash, she becomes a central figure in the group thanks to her survival skills, though no one really trusts her.
Hanratty started acting in her teens on Disney and Nickelodeon shows (such as Drake and Josh, iCarly, and Shake It Up). After her multi-season run on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, she also appeared in series like Pushing Daisies, The Vampire Diaries, and Shameless.
Ella Purnell as Teen Jackie
Popular Jackie is the team captain who has a devoted best friend, Shauna, and boyfriend, Jeff. She also has insecurities that come out after the crash, as she loses her influence over the team.
Purnell's first role was the dystopian film Never Let Me Go, and since then she's appeared in several films, including Maleficent, Kick-Ass 2, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and Army of the Dead. Aside from Yellowjackets, she leads several other TV shows, including voicing Jinx in Netflix's League of Legends adaptation Arcane, Fallout, and Sweetpea.
Courtney Eaton as Teenage Lottie
Team member Lottie gets freaked out by the woods pretty immediately, putting her at odds with Taissa. She's also the first to notice that there may be something extra sinister behind their time in the wilderness.
Australian actress Eaton's first acting role was in Mad Max: Fury Road as one of Immortan Joe's wives. She's also acted in films like Gods of Egypt and Line of Duty.
Simone Kessell as Adult Lottie
The grown-up version of Lottie is introduced in season 2. She runs what she calls "an intentional community," but is believed to be a cult, as members live in a commune and receive new age therapy treatments.
Kessell is an actress from New Zealand who has been working since the '90s. She has primarily worked in TV, briefly leading the USA sci-fi series Terra Nova, and over the past few years, she's held roles in major like Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Night Agent, and Our Flag Means Death.
Liv Hewson as Teen Van
Van is a player who survives the crash and is quick to try to look for routes toward getting out of the woods. Horrors of the wilderness later lead her to be more hesitant, and as Lottie emerges as a leader, she becomes one of her close followers.
Hewson is a non-binary Australian actor who appeared in series like Top of the Lake before holding a main role on Santa Clarita Diet. They've been in movies like Before I Fall, Bombshell, and Let It Snow, and are also a playwright and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Lauren Ambrose as Adult Van
It's not until season 2 that Yellowjackets introduces adult Van, but as it turns out, she also made it out of the woods. Taissa goes to find her at the end of season 1, and discovers she's ended up running a video rental store in Ohio called While You Were Streaming.
The Showtime hit continued its trend of casting '90s icons as the adult Yellowjackets. Ambrose was a teen star in the decade, who appeared in hit movies like In & Out, Can't Hardly Wait, and Psycho Beach Party. She later starred in the classic HBO '00s series Six Feet Under, earning two Emmy nominations during her run on the show. Since then, she's starred in various movies, Broadway stage productions, and shows like Servant.
Warren Kole as Jeff
Shauna and her husband Jeff have a strained relationship at the start of the series. The two married young, and he knew her back in high school. Before the crash, Jeff had complicated relationships with Shauna and her friend Jackie.
Kole has a stacked TV career, with roles on the network shows 24, Common Law, The Following, and Shades of Blue. He also starred in the Paramount+ show Why Women Kill.
Steven Krueger as Coach Ben
The assistant Yellowjackets coach is the only adult to survive the plane crash and has to teach the teens as much as he knows about surviving, including how to hunt.
Krueger's best known to CW fans for playing Josh in The Originals and Heath in Roswell, New Mexico. He's also appeared on Pretty Little Liars, Good Trouble, Parenthood, and Two and a Half Men.
Kevin Alves as Teen Travis
diedTravis is one of the few boys stranded in the woods with the Yellowjackets. He's on the flight because his father, who dies in the accident, was the team's head coach. He at first remains close to his younger brother Javi, while being somewhat a domineering figure over him, but eventually opens up to some of the girls.
Alves is a Canadian actor who has held roles in several popular TV series. He began acting with small parts on Canadian series in his teens, then had arcs in shows like Degrassi: The Next Generation, Shadowhunters, and Locke & Key.
Luciano Leroux as Javi
Javi is the youngest person who survives the crash, presumed to be about 12 or 13. Like his older brother Travis, he was joining his coach father on the trip. He is greatly shaken by his father's death, and then very frightened by the increasingly dangerous circumstances of the woods.
Leroux is an American-Canadian actor/soccer player. He played for the professional youth club team FCB Escola Barcelona and acted in shows outside of Yellowjackets, including A Million Little Things, Sight Unseen, and Teacup.
