Sophie Nélisse said during the panel that she had never heard Melanie Lynskey speak in real-life and panicked the second she did. “I hear her and I’m like, ‘Oh my god she’s so high-pitched!’ And I’m sitting with everyone around the table that’s important and I’m like, ‘I’m gonna get fired.'” Nélisse said she started “freaking out” and tried to compensate by speaking in a slightly higher voice than usual to try and match Lynskey’s signature sound. It wasn’t until she saw herself in the full transformation that things clicked and she accepted that the pair were the perfect match.
“I think it works, and you were so good in the table read if anyone was going to get fired it would be me,” Melanie Lynskey added. “Like if they were worried about us not looking alike.” At this point, show co-creator Ashley Lyle had to add her two cents. “We were not going to fire either one of you to be very clear,” she said. In the midst of the cast and audience’s laughter, Christina Ricci, who plays Misty Quigley added, “I was terrified that I was getting fired at the table read, and I embarrassingly went around telling everyone I was afraid of getting fired.” Can you imagine a world where Christina friggin’ Ricci was afraid she wasn’t the right casting decision?! Fortunately, the tension was broken by Jasmin Savoy Brown, who plays teen Taissa, who added, “I wasn’t even at the table read!” Fortunately, none of the cast members were ever at risk of being fired, and “Yellowjackets” remains one of the best new shows on television.
“Yellowjackets” returns to Showtime for season 2 on March 26, 2023.