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Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ashley Sutton didn't know her ‘Yellowjackets' role would upend the show
This story contains spoilers for 'Yellowjackets,' especially Friday's Season 3 finale. - - - Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Hannah Finch, a new character on the third season of 'Yellowjackets,' traveled to the depths of the Canadian wilderness as a scientist with a bright future. She and her boyfriend, fellow scientist Edwin, hired a guide to help them navigate the rocky and isolated terrain so they could locate a species of frog that shrieked during a 'mating event,' a sound that had never been recorded before. While Hannah captured the audio, she was so moved that she cried. Then she came face to face with a bunch of teenage cannibals. Anyone who has watched 'Yellowjackets,' airing on Paramount+ With Showtime, knows it's a little more nuanced than that - the Yellowjackets are a high school girls soccer team from New Jersey whose plane crashed on the way to a tournament. By the time Hannah, Edwin and the guide stumbled upon the team in the middle of this season, the stranded teens had been clinging to survival for more than a year, sometimes forced to eat each other to a) avoid starvation, and b) perform a ritual sacrifice for 'the wilderness,' which some started to believe had supernatural powers. The Yellowjackets had not seen another human since before the crash. And the scientists had certainly never seen a bunch of teenagers screaming and dancing around a bonfire with the head of their soccer coach - whom they just consumed - on a platform next to them. The 'Yellowjackets' universe is vast and complex, so Ashley Sutton, the actress who plays Hannah, had a tall order when she arrived on set in Vancouver, joining a tight-knit cast on a series with tons of lore and very loyal viewers. Plus, Sutton was shocked to learn that not only would her character have a critical role in the Season 3 finale, which started streaming Friday, but that Hannah's actions had implications that would rattle the entire foundation of the show. 'I didn't know necessarily what Hannah's story was going to fully be. When I booked [the role], I kind of thought she was going be Pit Girl,' Sutton said in an interview, referring to the pilot, in which a dark-haired girl is seen running and falling into a spiked pit in the wilderness … and is eventually eaten. The identity of 'Pit Girl' has been endlessly debated online among the 'Yellowjackets' fan base. Sutton has watched the show since the first season, not long after she auditioned for a part that was cut from the story. Eventually, co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson wanted her to return and read for the part of Hannah. 'I was so anxious because I wanted this role so bad. I just connected with Hannah on such a deep heart level. She was so naive and delicate and sees the world just, I don't know, through this lens that's so beautiful,' Sutton said. Hannah's official 'Yellowjackets' debut in Season 3, Episode 7, was a lovely, bright visual break from the darkness of the show, which jumps timelines between the wilderness and the surviving teammates as dysfunctional adults 25 years after their rescue. Hannah beamed as she and Edwin (Nelson Franklin) and their guide, Kodi (Joel McHale), found the frogs and joked around in a tent during a rainstorm. They accidentally broke the satellite phone they brought in case of emergency but figured it was no big deal. Then they made the mistake of investigating the screams they heard nearby. As the teens and scientists gawked at one another, Lottie (Courtney Eaton), the teammate who believes in the magic of the woods more than anyone, killed Edwin with an ax because she felt the wilderness didn't want intruders. This led to chaos as the teens tied up Hannah and Kodi and tried to figure out what to do with the intruders who just witnessed a murder and their cannibalism. Most of team wanted Kodi to guide them home, but the leading faction got cold feet and insisted they stay in the woods. In the penultimate episode, former team leader Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) covertly gave Hannah a knife so the pair could try to escape, but current leader Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) caught Hannah and Kodi in the act. To save herself, Hannah blamed Kodi for stealing the knife, and turned around and stabbed him in the eye. Fast-forward to Friday's finale, and Hannah had successfully convinced Shauna that she wanted to be a part of the group. When the team decided to have another 'hunt' to appease the wilderness - where the person who draws the unlucky queen of hearts card is hunted and then, well, eaten - Hannah appeared to join in without hesitation. But the hunt was a ruse so Natalie could sneak away and take the scientists' satellite phone, which a few girls were trying to repair, up to a mountain to try to call for rescue. Hannah caught Natalie with the phone and desperately tried to convince her that she wanted to help with the plan. 'I came out there to study frogs. Instead, my boyfriend got ax-murdered, I stabbed our guide in the brain, I've eaten human flesh. I am just trying to survive, the same as you,' Hannah hissed as she and Natalie stared intensely at each other. 'All I want is to get out of here. You have to believe me.' Sutton said that when the last take of that scene ended, she and Thatcher started sobbing and hugged each other. 'We both realized how much both of these characters really want to fight for everybody else,' she said, adding that it was hard not to think about how much the Yellowjackets had been through in nearly three seasons of television, and how quickly Hannah had to adapt. 'She truly is feeling the weight of everything that's happening, and she can finally say it out loud to a person.' Going in, Sutton knew she needed to play the role in a way that captured the horror she was feeling and make it realistic that warring, traumatized teenage girls would grow to trust her. So she embraced the persona of a scientist, as Hannah collected data, analyzed group dynamics and observed everyone's micromovements. She strategically made personal disclosures, such as telling teen Melissa (Jenna Burgess) that she had a 10-year-old daughter back home. 'She's kind of fascinated, terrified at the same time … but if anyone is going to be able to survive this, it's going to be someone who studies survival,' Sutton said. This scientific thinking also helped set up the Season 3 finale's twist, when Hannah had to take on a horrifying task. As they prepare for the ritual, 'Pit Girl' is revealed to have been the snarky Mari (Alexa Barajas), finally connecting the thread from the pilot. Everyone dressed up in their winter garb and wore masks, and Shauna demanded that Natalie prepare the feast … but she didn't know that Hannah and Natalie had switched clothes after their confrontation in the woods. While Hannah-disguised-as-Natalie dismembered the body, Natalie went to use the satellite phone. As she screamed for help into the crackling static, a calm voice on the other end responded that they could hear her. In the internal backstory that Sutton created for herself, she decided that Hannah had worked with cadavers in class before, so at least she had a framework - she went further and thought that class was where Hannah met her boyfriend, the unfortunately axed Edwin, so his spirit was with her. Sutton was thrilled that her character was a crucial part of Natalie becoming the (apparent) tipping point for the team's eventual rescue, and said the phone call was a 'beautiful' moment. Unfortunately, as viewers know, Hannah did not make it out of the wilderness. The flash-forward timeline featured a photo of Hannah's obituary, and in a bonkers earlier reveal, fans learned that grown-up Melissa (Hilary Swank) wound up marrying Hannah's daughter. In bad news for the rest of the adult Yellowjackets (Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, etc.), Hannah was a diligent researcher who used her audio equipment to covertly record the violence of the wilderness, and the tape made its way back to civilization and is wreaking untold amounts of havoc. 'It is wild to see the impact Hannah's still having on them 25 years later,' Sutton said. She's awaiting news about the show's next moves (a fourth season seems inevitable, though there's been no official renewal announcement), but it's likely that Hannah's influence will continue. Several years in, the show continues to hook viewers. Sutton thinks the series will always strike a nerve because of the morally gray areas that cause people to think about their own lives and what they would do in a survival situation. 'It explores female rage in such a different way. It's not beautiful female rage, it's not perfect in any way,' Sutton said. 'It is just, like, true emotion and feeling, and I think it's really cool to see characters like that.' Related Content Ja Morant dares the NBA to punish him, knowing it won't pull the trigger Scientists are 'X-raying' the Amazon, unlocking a lost human history The Smithsonian could be the beginning of Trump's plan to edit history. Or the end.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yellowjackets Finally Reveals the Antler Queen and Girl in the Pit in Season 3 Finale — Grade It!
So, were they who you thought they'd be? Yellowjackets' Season 3 finale, which began streaming Friday, finally brings the teens' story to the point where we first met them: the hunt in the woods that kicked off the series' premiere. (Take a walk down cannibalistic memory lane here.) More from TVLine From ER to The Pitt: Shawn Hatosy Talks 20-Year Relationship With John Wells and Hopes for Abbot in Season 2 Grey's Recap: A Villain From Simone's Past Shakes Up Her Present - Plus, Did the Truth Set Owen Free... of Teddy? The Pitt Season 2 Premise, Time Jump and Premiere Month Confirmed - Plus, Who Is (and Is Not) Returning From the way that sequence was shot, and given that most of the girls were wearing face coverings, we couldn't see who the victim was nor who was underneath the leader's antler crown. And those identities remained a mystery — and fodder for lots of fan discussion — throughout the Paramount+ With Showtime drama's first two seasons. But this week's episode reveals that the girl who died in the hunt was Mari, who'd drawn the Queen of Hearts card, marking her as the latest sacrifice. Van and Tai had tried to rig the draw so that newbie Hannah would be picked. But Shauna, sensing that something fishy was going on, changed her place in the circle so that Mari wound up with the death card. What might throw viewers at first is that, when the hunt begins, Mari wears pants, a jacket and shoes, and the girl in the series premiere was barefoot and wearing only a short nightgown. But as the chase goes on, Mari takes off many of her layers, including her footwear; she's left in just the nightie and Jackie's necklace, which Shauna had fastened around her neck moments before. She cuts her foot as she runs, accounting for the bloody footprints. And when she accidentally steps on the camouflage hiding the pit's opening, she falls in and is impaled on several sharp stakes. Is it important that, just before she plummets to her death, she runs into Lottie? Who even knows with this show anymore? After the kill, Shauna orders Natalie to butcher their former teammate, who is dragged, naked, through the snow back to camp. And that night they all eat, while Shauna — in her new Antler Queen getup — presides over the affair. Unbeknownst to Shauna, though, Natalie has slipped away with the newly refurbished radio. She climbs to the highest point she can find and is successful in turning it on. 'Can anyone hear me?!' she screams into the microphone. 'I can hear you,' a man's voice answers through the static. Are we on the precipice of actual salvation here?! Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) View List Meanwhile, the adult versions of the survivors have quite an episode, as well. Tai buries Van's body, but not before ripping into it, cutting out an organ (her liver?) and taking a big, bloody bite. Misty confronts Callie about killing Lottie, and the teen confesses. Turns out, when she came to Lottie's apartment building to get Mel's tape back, Lottie led her into the stairwell and started talking about how 'It' is in the teen the same way that its darkness is in Shauna. Callie then pushed Lottie, causing her to fall backwards down the stairs to her death. After Callie tells Jeff about her part in the death, he packs her up and they leave without telling Shauna where they were going. In a rage, Shauna journals about how the reason that the survivors have had such a hard time remembering exactly what they went through out there was that they didn't want to face the fact that 'we were having so much fun.' She laments that 'I was a warrior. I was a f–king queen' and 'I let all of it slip away from me. It's time to start taking it back.' At the end of the hour, we see Tai in a restaurant, talking to someone about how Shauna is responsible for Natalie and Van's deaths, and how Shauna will be the last woman standing unless they do something about it. She asks the other person if they want that outcome. And when the camera angle changes, we see that her companion is Misty. 'No, I definitively do not,' Misty replies. Outside, Walter watches them from his car. Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Grade it, and the season as a whole, via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts! Best of TVLine Mrs. Maisel Flash-Forward List: All of Season 5's Futuristic Easter Eggs Yellowjackets Recap: The Morning After Yellowjackets Recap: The First Supper
Washington Post
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Ashley Sutton didn't know her ‘Yellowjackets' role would upend the show
This story contains spoilers for 'Yellowjackets,' especially Friday's Season 3 finale. Hannah Finch, a new character on the third season of 'Yellowjackets,' traveled to the depths of the Canadian wilderness as a scientist with a bright future. She and her boyfriend, fellow scientist Edwin, hired a guide to help them navigate the rocky and isolated terrain so they could locate a species of frog that shrieked during a 'mating event,' a sound that had never been recorded before. While Hannah captured the audio, she was so moved that she cried. Then she came face to face with a bunch of teenage cannibals. Anyone who has watched 'Yellowjackets,' airing on Paramount+ With Showtime, knows it's a little more nuanced than that — the Yellowjackets are a high school girls soccer team from New Jersey whose plane crashed on the way to a tournament. By the time Hannah, Edwin and the guide stumbled upon the team in the middle of this season, the stranded teens had been clinging to survival for more than a year, sometimes forced to eat each other to a) avoid starvation, and b) perform a ritual sacrifice for 'the wilderness,' which some started to believe had supernatural powers. The Yellowjackets had not seen another human since before the crash. And the scientists had certainly never seen a bunch of teenagers screaming and dancing around a bonfire with the head of their soccer coach — whom they just consumed — on a platform next to them. The 'Yellowjackets' universe is vast and complex, so Ashley Sutton, the actress who plays Hannah, had a tall order when she arrived on set in Vancouver, joining a tight-knit cast on a series with tons of lore and very loyal viewers. Plus, Sutton was shocked to learn that not only would her character have a critical role in the Season 3 finale, which started streaming Friday, but that Hannah's actions had implications that would rattle the entire foundation of the show. 'I didn't know necessarily what Hannah's story was going to fully be. When I booked [the role], I kind of thought she was going be Pit Girl,' Sutton said in an interview, referring to the pilot, in which a dark-haired girl is seen running and falling into a spiked pit in the wilderness … and is eventually eaten. The identity of 'Pit Girl' has been endlessly debated online among the 'Yellowjackets' fan base. Sutton has watched the show since the first season, not long after she auditioned for a part that was cut from the story. Eventually, co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson wanted her to return and read for the part of Hannah. 'I was so anxious because I wanted this role so bad. I just connected with Hannah on such a deep heart level. She was so naive and delicate and sees the world just, I don't know, through this lens that's so beautiful,' Sutton said. Hannah's official 'Yellowjackets' debut in Season 3, Episode 7, was a lovely, bright visual break from the darkness of the show, which jumps timelines between the wilderness and the surviving teammates as dysfunctional adults 25 years after their rescue. Hannah beamed as she and Edwin (Nelson Franklin) and their guide, Kodi (Joel McHale), found the frogs and joked around in a tent during a rainstorm. They accidentally broke the satellite phone they brought in case of emergency but figured it was no big deal. Then they made the mistake of investigating the screams they heard nearby. As the teens and scientists gawked at one another, Lottie (Courtney Eaton), the teammate who believes in the magic of the woods more than anyone, killed Edwin with an ax because she felt the wilderness didn't want intruders. This led to chaos as the teens tied up Hannah and Kodi and tried to figure out what to do with the intruders who just witnessed a murder and their cannibalism. Most of team wanted Kodi to guide them home, but the leading faction got cold feet and insisted they stay in the woods. In the penultimate episode, former team leader Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) covertly gave Hannah a knife so the pair could try to escape, but current leader Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) caught Hannah and Kodi in the act. To save herself, Hannah blamed Kodi for stealing the knife, and turned around and stabbed him in the eye. Fast-forward to Friday's finale, and Hannah had successfully convinced Shauna that she wanted to be a part of the group. When the team decided to have another 'hunt' to appease the wilderness — where the person who draws the unlucky queen of hearts card is hunted and then, well, eaten — Hannah appeared to join in without hesitation. But the hunt was a ruse so Natalie could sneak away and take the scientists' satellite phone, which a few girls were trying to repair, up to a mountain to try to call for rescue. Hannah caught Natalie with the phone and desperately tried to convince her that she wanted to help with the plan. 'I came out there to study frogs. Instead, my boyfriend got ax-murdered, I stabbed our guide in the brain, I've eaten human flesh. I am just trying to survive, the same as you,' Hannah hissed as she and Natalie stared intensely at each other. 'All I want is to get out of here. You have to believe me.' Sutton said that when the last take of that scene ended, she and Thatcher started sobbing and hugged each other. 'We both realized how much both of these characters really want to fight for everybody else,' she said, adding that it was hard not to think about how much the Yellowjackets had been through in nearly three seasons of television, and how quickly Hannah had to adapt. 'She truly is feeling the weight of everything that's happening, and she can finally say it out loud to a person.' Going in, Sutton knew she needed to play the role in a way that captured the horror she was feeling and make it realistic that warring, traumatized teenage girls would grow to trust her. So she embraced the persona of a scientist, as Hannah collected data, analyzed group dynamics and observed everyone's micromovements. She strategically made personal disclosures, such as telling teen Melissa (Jenna Burgess) that she had a 10-year-old daughter back home. 'She's kind of fascinated, terrified at the same time … but if anyone is going to be able to survive this, it's going to be someone who studies survival,' Sutton said. This scientific thinking also helped set up the Season 3 finale's twist, when Hannah had to take on a horrifying task. As they prepare for the ritual, 'Pit Girl' is revealed to have been the snarky Mari (Alexa Barajas), finally connecting the thread from the pilot. Everyone dressed up in their winter garb and wore masks, and Shauna demanded that Natalie prepare the feast … but she didn't know that Hannah and Natalie had switched clothes after their confrontation in the woods. While Hannah-disguised-as-Natalie dismembered the body, Natalie went to use the satellite phone. As she screamed for help into the crackling static, a calm voice on the other end responded that they could hear her. In the internal backstory that Sutton created for herself, she decided that Hannah had worked with cadavers in class before, so at least she had a framework — she went further and thought that class was where Hannah met her boyfriend, the unfortunately axed Edwin, so his spirit was with her. Sutton was thrilled that her character was a crucial part of Natalie becoming the (apparent) tipping point for the team's eventual rescue, and said the phone call was a 'beautiful' moment. Unfortunately, as viewers know, Hannah did not make it out of the wilderness. The flash-forward timeline featured a photo of Hannah's obituary, and in a bonkers earlier reveal, fans learned that grown-up Melissa (Hilary Swank) wound up marrying Hannah's daughter. In bad news for the rest of the adult Yellowjackets (Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, etc.), Hannah was a diligent researcher who used her audio equipment to covertly record the violence of the wilderness, and the tape made its way back to civilization and is wreaking untold amounts of havoc. 'It is wild to see the impact Hannah's still having on them 25 years later,' Sutton said. She's awaiting news about the show's next moves (a fourth season seems inevitable, though there's been no official renewal announcement), but it's likely that Hannah's influence will continue. Several years in, the show continues to hook viewers. Sutton thinks the series will always strike a nerve because of the morally gray areas that cause people to think about their own lives and what they would do in a survival situation. 'It explores female rage in such a different way. It's not beautiful female rage, it's not perfect in any way,' Sutton said. 'It is just, like, true emotion and feeling, and I think it's really cool to see characters like that.'
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Chi Season 7: Phylicia Rashad and Wendy Raquel Robinson Among Guest Cast
The Chi has revealed more noteworthy castings ahead of its Season 7 premiere. Phylicia Rashad (This Is Us, Empire), Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Game) and Karrueche Tran (Claws, The Bay) all have joined the Showtime drama in guest-starring roles. More from TVLine Save the Dates: The Chi Season 7 Premiere, Big Mouth's Final Run and More Yellowjackets Season 3: Natalie's Reign as Antler Queen Is Threatened in New Trailer - Watch The Chi Ladies Get Down in Season 7 House Party - 2025 FIRST LOOK (Exclusive) The Chi is a timely coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption. In Season 7, with Lynn Whitfield's Alicia at the helm, 'the pivotal women of The Chi rise to reclaim their power,' the official synopsis tells us. 'Yet, as loyalties are tested and new rivalries are stoked, it becomes clear that there's only one crown and it will come at a heavy cost.' Rashad will play Renee, one of the few people who sees Pastor Zeke (Lil Rel Howery) for who he really is and can get through to him; Robinson plays Riley Dalton, who is 'sweet but also direct' and 'has suffered great loss, which allows her to help others during the most trying times in their lives; and Tran will play Zuri, a woman who, 'no matter how much she's trying to fix her problems, trouble seems to find her.' In addition to Whitfield, The Chi's ensemble cast boasts Jacob Latimore, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps, Birgundi Baker and Luke James, while returning guest stars include Kadeem Hardison, Chris Lee, Brett Gray, Rotimi, Jackie Long, Charmin Lee, Jill Marie Jones and Daniel J. Watts. The Chi's Season 7 premiere debuts Friday, May 16 on demand and on streaming for Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers, and then airs Sunday, May 18 at 9/8c on of TVLine Stars Who Almost Played Other TV Roles — on Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Friends and Other Shows TV Stars Almost Cast in Other Roles Fall TV Preview: Who's In? Who's Out? Your Guide to Every Casting Move!
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Save the Dates: The Chi Season 7 Premiere, Big Mouth's Final Run and More
Get ready to return to The Chi: Season 7 of the Lena Waithe-created series will premiere Friday, May 16 on Paramount+ With Showtime and on demand. The drama will then make its linear debut Sunday, May 18 at 9/8c on Showtime. In the upcoming episodes, 'with Alicia at the helm, the pivotal women of The Chi rise to reclaim their power. Yet as loyalties are tested and new rivalries are stoked, it becomes clear that there's only one crown and it will come at a heavy cost,' reads the official synopsis. More from TVLine Tina Fey and an All-Star Cast Laugh It Up in a New Teaser for Netflix's The Four Seasons - Get Premiere Date TWD: Dead City Season 2 Trailer Welcomes an Animal Kingdom Vet to the Jungle - and Turns Maggie Into Negan?!? Every New Scripted Show Confirmed to Premiere in 2025 - Save the Dates! Press PLAY above to watch a teaser trailer. In other recent scheduling news… * Big Mouth's eighth and final season will premiere with all 10 episodes Friday, May 23 on Netflix. The guest star roster includes Cynthia Erivo, Holly Hunter, Steve Buscemi, Kristen Wiig, Quinta Brunson, Nathan Fillion, Ali Wong, Richard Kind, Maria Bamford, Keke Palmer, David Thewlis, Thandiwe Newton, Natasha Lyonne, Aidy Bryant, Rosie Perez, Lena Waithe, Billy Porter, Stephanie Beatriz, Whitmer Thomas, Chelsea Peretti, Chloe Fineman, June Diane Raphael, Zach Woods, Craig Robinson and Jack McBrayer. * Vanderpump Villa Season 2 will drop all 10 episodes Thursday, April 24 on Hulu. Watch a trailer here. * America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation will return for Season 2 Thursday, April 1 on Prime Video, with all 10 episodes dropping at once. * Max has set a Thursday, May 15 release date for Duster, a pulpy new drama from J.J. Abrams and showrunner LaToya Morgan, starring Josh Holloway (Lost), Rachel Hilson (This Is Us) and Keith David. Watch a trailer: * Paramount+ will debut the documentary The Carters: Hurts to Love You, examining the celebrity family of pop stars Nick and Aaron Carter, on Tuesday, April 15. Watch a trailer: * Black Snow Season 2 will premiere with its first two episodes Thursday, April 24 on AMC+, with new episodes rolling out weekly. Watch a trailer: Best of TVLine Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
