The cast of “Yellowjackets” is a sprawling one, with different actors portraying the main characters in both the 1996 timeline, when the team’s plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, and in the present.
Season 2 introduced us to Lauren Ambrose as adult Van, Simone Kessell as adult Lottie and Elijah Wood as Walter. In Season 3, we’ll meet characters played by Hilary Swank, Joel McHale and Ashley Sutton.
Here are all the key characters and who plays them in which timeline.
SPOILERS up through the Season 2 finale.
Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna, Melanie Lynskey as Adult Shauna
Before the crash, teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) was best friends with Jackie (Ella Purnell), but was secretly pregnant by Jackie’s boyfriend Jeff. In the wilderness, their eventual fall-out led to Jackie freezing to death outside the cabin. In Season 2, Shauna gave birth, but the baby was stillborn.
Adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is now married to Jeff (Warren Kole) and has a teenage daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), who was initially alarmed by her mother’s criminal side, but then realized they have a lot in common.
Canadian Sophie Nélisse is known for her Genie–winning performance in “Monsieur Lazhar,” as well as “The Book Thief” and “The Kid Detective.” She also starred in the 2019 horror film “47 Meters Down: Uncaged.”
New Zealander Melanie Lynskey first appeared as a real-life teen murderer in Peter Jackson’s 1994 thriller “Heavenly Creatures” with Kate Winslet. Her other films include “Ever After” and “I Don’t Feel at Home in the World Anymore.” She guest starred on “The Last of Us” as the ruthless Kathleen and portrayed Betty Gore in the Hulu limited series “Candy.”
Sophie Thatcher as Teen Natalie, Juliette Lewis as Adult Natalie
Natalie was known for partying before the crash. Afterward, she was one of the most self-sufficient of the group and the best with a rifle. By the end of Season 2, she has become the new leader of the group in the wilderness.
As an adult, Natalie struggled with addiction issues and was haunted by the death of Travis, who made it back to civilization but then, apparently killed himself.
Sophie Thatcher has starred in a number of recent horror movies, including “Companion,” “Heretic” and “The Boogeyman.”
Juliette Lewis is known for her Oscar-nominated role in “Cape Fear,” as well as “Natural Born Killers” and the TV series “Welcome to Chippendales.”
Samantha Hanratty as Teen Misty, Christina Ricci as Adult Misty
Misty is the Yellowjackets’ nerdy equipment manager, who was often bullied by the players. After the crash, her first aid skills made her incredibly valuable to the group, which led her to secretly smash the plane’s transponder ensuring that rescuers would never find them.
Back in civilization, Adult Misty works at a nursing home. She’s thrilled when the blackmailing scheme puts her back in touch with Natalie, Taissa and Shauna. She finds a partner in crime in Walter (Elijah Wood), a fellow “Citizen Detective” whose tech skills come in very handy.
Samantha Hanratty played Holly on the Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” and later recurred on CBS military drama “The Unit” and on “Shameless” as the wife of Ethan Cutkosky’s character Carl.
Christina Ricci memorably played Wednesday Addams in two ’90s feature films; She returned to the franchise to play a new character in the 2022 Netflix series. Her many films include “Sleepy Hollow,” “Speed Racer,” “Casper” and “Monster.”
Jasmin Savoy Brown as Teen Taissa, Tawny Cypress as Adult Taissa
After the crash, Taissa emerged as a natural leader, but was subject to bizarre blackouts in the wilderness. She and her secret girlfriend Van (Liv Hewson) came out as a couple after Van was seriously injured.
Back in civilization, Taissa ran for the Senate, despite the vow she and her fellow survivors made to keep a low profile. She alienated her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard) and son when she began experiencing bizarre episodes again. In Season 2, Tai reconnected with Van
Jasmin Savoy Brown plays teen Taissa. She’s also appeared in “Scream” and “Scream VI,” “The Leftovers” and “For the People.”
Tawny Cypress previously played art dealer Simone Deveaux on “Heroes,” and guested on “The Equalizer,” “Billions” and recurred on “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.”
Ella Purnell as Jackie
Jackie was the Yellowjackets team captain, whose popularity in the real world didn’t help after the crash when she didn’t contribute her fair share to the survival effort. In the Season 1 finale, she froze to death after being kicked out of the cabin. Her ghost continued to haunt Shauna, who felt responsible for her death.
Ella Purnell’s films include “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” “Army of the Dead” and “Never Let Me Go.” She now stars in the Prime Video series “Fallout.”
Liv Hewson as Teen Van, Lauren Ambrose as Adult Van
In the wilderness, Vanessa “Van” Palmer, the team’s goalkeeper, was mauled by a pack of wolves. She was left horribly scarred but the ordeal led to the reveal of her previously secret relationship with Taissa.
In Season 2, we find out that Van also made it back to civilization and runs a retro video store.
Liv Hewson’s previous credits include “The Santa Clarita Diet” on Netflix.
Lauren Ambrose is known for playing Claire on “Six Feet Under” and Dorothy on “Servant.” Her films include “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “Caddo Lake.”
Courtney Eaton as Teen Lottie, Simone Kessell as Adult Lottie
Before the crash, we learned Lottie was medicated for her terrifying, sometimes prophetic visions. After her medication ran out in the wilderness, her visions came back. Several of her prophecies came true and most of the survivors embraced her as their leader.
In Season 2, we met grown-up Lottie, who runs a wellness retreat but isn’t entirely well herself.
Courtney Eaton is known for playing Cheedo the Fragile, one of Immortan Joe’s wives in “Mad Max: Fury Road” and for starring in the Brittany Snow directed film “Parachute.”
Simone Kessell previous credits include “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “Our Flag Means Death” and Netflix’s “The Night Agent.”
Kevin Alves as Travis Martinez
Travis and his younger brother Javi were on the plane with their father, the team’s head coach, who was killed in the crash. After the group chance upon an abandoned cabin and a rifle, Travis and Natalie emerged as the most capable hunters of the group. In Season 2, he desperately searched for Javi, who went missing on the night of their hallucinogenic-fueled “Doomcoming” party.
In Season 2, adult Travis is (briefly) played by Andrés Soto.
Besides acting, Alves is also a three-time Brazilian National Figure Skating champion. He previously appeared on “Locke & Key,” “Shadowhunters,” and “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
Steven Krueger as Ben Scott
Assistant coach Ben Scott survived the plane crash, but was left with one good leg after Misty amputated his injured limb below the knee. In Season 2, he became increasingly disassociated from the group, hallucinating that he was home safe with his boyfriend. When the ravenous girls feasted on Jackie’s dead body, a horrified Ben refused to join in and left the cabin to strike out on his own.
Krueger previously played Josh Rosza on “The Originals,” Heath Tuchman on “Roswell, New Mexico” and Ben Coogan on “Pretty Little Liars.”
Luciano Leroux as Javi
Javi, Travis’s little brother, is the youngest of the survivors. He ran away from the group during the chaos of the “Doomcoming” party in Season 1 and was missing for most of Season 2.
Luciano Leroux’s has also appeared in the TV series “Get Shorty,” “A Million Little Things,” and “50 States of Fright.”
Warren Kole as Jeff Sadecki
Jeff, is married to Shauna and they share daughter Callie. He’s a salesman at a furniture store and knows more than he’s let on about Shauna’s experiences in the wilderness.
Before the crash, despite being Jackie’s boyfriend, Jeff (who is played as a teen by Jack DePew) was secretly having sex with Shauna.
Kole’s previous TV shows include “Common Law,” “Shades of Blue” and “The Following.”
Sarah Desjardins as Callie Sadecki
Callie is Shauna and Jeff’s moody teenage daughter, who is “cut from the same cloth” as her mother, as the actress told TheWrap.
Before “Yellowjackets,” she played Donna Sweett on “Riverdale” and Jenna on the YouTube series “Impulse.” She also costarred in Season 1 of “The Night Agent.”
Peter Gadiot as Adam Martin
In the contemporary storyline, Adam was an artist who began an affair with Shauna after she accidentally rear-ended his car.
Gadiot’s other TV credits include “Queen of the South,” “Quantum Leap” and “Silo.”
Alex Wyndham as Kevyn Tan
Kevyn also attended Wiskayok High School and reconnected with Natalie when she returned after her latest stint in rehab. As a cop, he had cause to begin investigating various Yellowjackets in Season 2.
Wyndham is known for his voice work in several video games and roles in the BBC miniseries “Little Dorrit” and “The Crimson Field.”
Elijah Wood as Walter Tattersall
Walter is a fellow Citizen Detective who teamed up with Misty in Season 2. They share a love of show tunes and a humorously amoral attitude to life.
Elijah Wood is best known as Frodo in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Like Ricci, he began as a child actor (he made his screen debut in “Back to the Future Part II”). They co-starred in “The Ice Storm,” and he shared the screen with Melanie Lynskey in 2017’s “I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore.” His other films include “Deep Impact” and “The Good Son.”
Nuha Jes Izman as Teen Crystal
Crystal and Misty bonded over their love of Broadway songs in Season 2. The role was Izman’s acting debut. She also appeared in a 2022 episode of “FBI.”
Mya Lowe as Teen Gen
Yellowjacket Gen is played by Mya Lowe, whose previous TV appearances include “Riverdale,” “A Million Little Things” and “Charmed.”
Alexa Barajas as Teen Mari
Mari, who mostly hangs out with BFF Akilah, is one of the first of the Yellowjackets to believe in Lottie’s visions. Barajas previously played Ultraviolet/Esperanza Garcia on “The Flash.”
Nia Sondaya as Akilah
Akilah has a special connection to animals, as we learn in Season 2.
Nia Sondaya played Drea Spivey on the Apple TV+ series “Truth Be Told,” and guested on “Bel-Air.”
Nicole Maines as Lisa
Lisa is one of Lottie’s followers at Camp Green Pine, who ended up bonding with Natalie.
Nicole Maines previously played Nia Nal on The CW’s “Supergirl,” as well as “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow.” She also played Piper in the Netflix movie “Darby of the Dead.”
Jenna Burgess as Teen Melissa
Melissa, another Yellowjackets teammate, is recognizable by her trademark baseball cap.
Burgess has also appeared in “The Night Agent” and the Lifetime movie “Lies Between Friends.”
Hilary Swank
The two-time Oscar winner joins the series in Season 3, but we don’t know anything about her character yet. She is expected to show up in the latter half of the season.
Ashley Sutton
The actress, who’s known for the TV movie “Sweet Navidad” and the 2019 miniseries “Night Watch,” joins the cast in an unknown role.
Joel McHale
The “Community” and “Animal Control” star has been cast in an unknown role for Season 3.
