One of the biggest takeaways from Yellowjackets season 2 is Lottie Matthews is a big deal — something Simone Kessell learned once she accepted the job. Though the star hadn’t entirely tuned into season 1 of the Showtime series, she was game to play the character. When she got the offer, she was elated — but then soon realized she had to put in the work. “I was like, ‘Where do I even begin?’ We were able to shape Lottie in the cult leader we see today, and that’s been pretty incredible because coming into another season of someone else’s show and playing a role that is already established has really never happened,” the 47-year-old exclusively tells GRAZIA USA. “Courtney Eaten, who plays younger Lottie, laid the foundations, but I had to paint the house, really. It was intimidating, exciting and overwhelming.”
While watching season 1, viewers learned Misty, Natalie, Shauna, Taissa and Travis survived the plane crash, but Lottie is nowhere to be found — however, Lottie’s survival was hinted in the season 1 finale. Yellowjackets focuses on a group of high schoolers on the soccer team who have to fend for themselves in the woods. Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher and Sammi Hanratty star as the teenagers, while Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis portray their adult counterparts as they reveal where they all stand 25 years later after the traumatic incident.
“I got into the character of Lottie by going into the light, rather than into the dark when we’ve seen her younger self in the first season. Having permission to enter into color was really vital, and we put more hair in and added more jewelry, which was so much fun,” the actress notes of how she portrayed her character. “The Kaftans and the shoes were really specific to Lottie coming into the light, and when I say coming into the light, as a cult leader, we want to be awe inspiring in some way. That’s where I took Lottie. I wanted her to be this rainbow on a cloudy day. I wanted her to be different from all the other women — and she really is.”
Though Lottie is a bit of a mystery — and a powerful women — Kessell “related to her as a giver, and I shadowed that and learned from her,” she says. “I also found that in my personal life, I was a lot more present and a lot more open to guiding people and helping people and being this advocate for women. I found myself channeling Lottie through myself.”
There were challenges along the way, of course, especially since the cast was already close from season 1. “I was the new girl. I met them all for a drink at the end of August in Vancouver, and I was a bit nervous because I was like, ‘Are they going to accept me into the fold?’ And within five minutes, I was like, ‘These girls are great,'” she recalls. “We’re all cut from the same cloth. We’re surviving actresses in Hollywood, and we’re still in it! We’re still throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks — and we’re all in our mid-forties.”
The New Zealand native has been in a plethora of films and TV shows, but Yellowjackets is special since its mostly all females — with a few of them being seasoned stars. “It’s about time!” she says. “I had a meeting with a producer, and he said, ‘Other than Yellowjackets, what have you been doing?’ I said, ‘Well, I was in The Night Agent, which was number one on Netflix, I was in Obi-Wan Kenobi. He said, ‘Wow, you’ve been busy.’ I said, ‘I am a working actress.'”
She adds, “There are wonderful roles for women in their forties — they aren’t just playing the girlfriend or the lawyer or doctor. We’re finally getting to play great characters, and I am so fortunate that I keep getting better and better at my craft — and I also still love it. We’re all strong, feisty women in this series, and we’re owning it.”
Kessell mostly works with Lewis, and she admits they’re constantly “vibing off each other.”
“I don’t know what she is going to bring, but it works really well, actually,” she states, adding that the behind the scenes conversations are thrilling. “We talk about costumes, cooking or we’re playing Trivial Pursuit. We’ve got this womanhood on and off screen, and that’s unique. I’ve not sat in a green room where all the lead cast members are females.”
As for what viewers can look forward to this season, she says they are in for a wild ride. “The young ones have a really tough time because they’re hungry and destitute. It’s winter, there is a pregnancy, but by the end of it, the two timelines kind of converge and meet and cross over. It’s really clever writing,” she notes. “I’m most excited to see the duality between the two timelines.”
Additionally, fans will be “constantly shocked” with Lottie, especially as time goes on and each episode reveals more and more about what really happened to her and where she’s been. “It turns out she’s been in an institution in Switzerland. I love the dark humor of the show and also how people find a little bit of themselves in Lottie,” she says. “We could all go down in a plane crash, right? We could all be these survivors in the middle of the wilderness, so that’s interesting. I think people can relate to that in a weird way. Every episode you’re like, ‘Who is that character?’ And then you see where she is now, so you’re basically getting to watch two shows in one. What I love about Lottie is she’s reinvented herself.”
At the end of the day, the mom-of-two, who is married to Gregor Jordan, is “proud of my work” on this show. “It was hard,” she dishes. “I rose to the occasion, but I don’t know if I am ready to watch it yet. I’ve got the screeners, but I haven’t played them yet. I’m waiting as long as possible because I had to really shed myself from it.”
Once Kessell returned to Australia, it took her two weeks to come down from playing Lottie. “The last episode of the season is crazy,” she says. “We wrapped at seven ‘clock on Saturday morning, and I was on a plane at six o’clock that evening. I still had the black under my eyes and a couple of eyelashes hanging off.”
Despite being put wringer, Kessell knows it was all worth it. “I’ve been sent these lovely reviews, and it’s been wonderful,” she shares. “The season ends with a cliffhanger, so it’ll be interesting where things go from here.”
Now that Kessell is where she’s supposed to be in her career, she jokes she’s “holding on for dear life.”
“I’m more of a character actress, and I love finding that world,” she notes. “I’m incredibly grateful. What a gift, right? It’s starting to resonate. I’m in this great moment with this incredible cast, but without them, we’re nothing, right? I am embracing my cast, the crew and the levels of work that went into creating this show.”
New episodes of Yellowjackets stream on Fridays and airs Sundays at 9 p.t. ET on Showtime.
