Showtime has recently announced multi-hypenated nominee, Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci have joined the cast of the network’s upcoming hour-long drama Yellowjackets as series regulars. Sweetbitter actress Ella Purnell, Shamless’ Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Sophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger, and Amy Okuda will join the series as supporting cast members. Back in October, Castle Rock‘s Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, and The Leftovers’ Jasmin Savoy Brown were announced as Yellowjackets other cast members.
Yellowjackets is created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson who is best known for Netflix’s Narcos— both will be acting as the series’ executive producers and showrunners. Karyn Kusama will also take on executive producing duties along with directing the pilot. Drew Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer.
“Yellowjackets is a fascinating, genre-spanning story that will resonate with viewers young and old,” mentioned Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks. “With a background helming projects that visit the places of both our wildest dreams and worst nightmares, Karyn is the perfect director to bring Ashley and Bart’s wonderful script to life.”
Lewis and Thatcher will respectively star as adult and teen versions of the character Natalie, who despite her “natural talent, punk rock spirit, and habit of finding trouble make her the unlikeliest member of the team.” As an adult, Natalie fights with internal demons from her past living in the wilderness.
Audiences may be most familiar with Lewis for her Oscar and Golden Globe nominated performance in Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear, and her subsequent roles in Kalifornia, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Natural Born Killers, and From Dusk Till Dawn. Her previous television credits include: Camping, The Conners and Secrets and Lies, also with cast mate Thatcher.
Ricci and Hanratty will respectively play adult and teen versions of Misty, the equipment manager of theYellowjackets. Known to be “eager to please and easy to overlook, Misty’s abundance of team spirit belies a hidden dark side.” Ricci most recently starred in Z: The Beginning of Everything, for which she also served as executive producer.
Ricci is well known for starring in Black Snake Moan, Monster, The Ice Storm, which saw her earn Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Other popular film credits include: Penelope, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Sleepy Hollow, The Addams Family and Casper. Hanratty has had more guest starring roles on the small screen such as: Salem, Chosen and Pushing Daisies.
Meanwhile, Purnell is set to play the Yellowjackets‘ charismatic leader, Jackie, while Nélisse will play Lynskey’s counterpart—the teen version of Shauna. Krueger, who is Krueger is best known for guest appearances on Pretty Little Liars and Two and a Half Men, is set to play Ben Scott, the assistant coach and the unrequited love interest of several other characters.
Okuda will play Cat Wheeler, “a history teacher recruited to bolster the female presence on the coaching staff, despite knowing literally nothing about soccer.” Okuda’s most popular credits include guest roles on How To Get Away With Murder, Atypical, The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.