It took three seasons but Showtime’s Yellowjackets is finally pairing off Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey on screen — to hilarious results.
Luckily, collaborating comes easy for the costars — who have crossed paths many times throughout their individual journeys in Hollywood.
“We’ve known each other personally. We were in our 20s [and] I met you when you did But I’m a Cheerleader because I went to that premiere,” Ricci recalled during Us Weekly’s first TV-focused “In Conversation” feature. “We ran into each other [again] at SoulCycle when we were in our 30s.”
Before they got to reunite on Yellowjackets, Lynskey and Ricci started out as each other’s biggest fans. Ricci couldn’t help but gush over Lynskey’s performance in Heavenly Creatures while her scene partner and good friend used the opportunity to praise Ricci’s personal impact on those around her.
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The sweet exchange — and on Ricci’s birthday no less — is a stark difference to Lynskey and Ricci’s onscreen counterparts. Even since Yellowjackets debuted in 2019, Lynskey has played the older version of Sophie Nélisse‘s Shauna who guards her feelings after a plane crash when they were teenagers left the all-girl soccer team stranded in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. Ricci, meanwhile, plays the quirky Misty — a role she shares with Samantha Hanratty — who wants to fit in no matter how much those around her push her away.
Watch the video above for Ricci and Lynskey’s full conversation, which ranges from their most memorable roles to bonds with former costars to their current adventure together on Yellowjackets. Or keep scrolling to read the interview in full:
Christina Ricci: How familiar were we with each other before working on Yellowjackets?
Melanie Lynskey: Well, you’re Christina Ricci.
CR: I know, but we’ve known each other personally.
ML: We have known each other a very long time.
CR: Since we were in our 20s. I met you when you did But I’m a Cheerleader because I went to that premiere.
ML: That’s right! That was that long ago. … We knew each other. And then of course I was very familiar with your work. I was a huge fan.
CR: And I with yours! A huge fan of Heavenly Creatures, which I believe I said to you.
ML: I think you did too.
CR: I absolutely would have.
ML: I’m such a fan of yours and always have been. Everything you’ve done, you’re so wonderful.
CR: [Then] we ran into each other at SoulCycle when we were in our 30s.
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ML: And what have we liked about each other’s work? Well, I’ve loved everything about you. I thought you’re an amazing human being.
CR: Aw, you know I love you so much.
ML: You got pretty emotional. It’s your birthday. I just think you’re such an amazing person. You’re such an amazing mother. I love how you defend people that you love. I love how strong you are. I love how smart you are. You’re so kind. You’re very, very funny. You will always have the funniest possible thing to say in any awkward situation.
CR: Melanie is amazing. Melanie is like a big sister and I’m a little sister. I always will look to you and just be like, “Am I out of bounds? Regulate me.” I just love it. I always feel like we have such a great rapport and you’re just such a wonderful [person]. I feel safe with you personally and you’re such an amazing actress and you make so much out of so little.
CR: You know what I mean? You bring so much to something. There’ll be a line written that I’m just like, “Oh, it’s just a line.” Then you create something behind it that is just so impactful and amazing. From Heavenly Creatures on, I’ve always been a fan. I think that I had a secret thing about Two and a Half Men because I really enjoyed you on it.
ML: This is news to me. We really enjoy each other and [I love that] you’ll almost always have a glass of wine at dinner — as will I. I do appreciate that. Because you do want to have a glass of wine.
CR: We’re all women [on the show] who have a glass of wine at dinner.
ML: We are actually. We all are. Now Christina, what gets you back into character for Yellowjackets each season? Does it happen when you’re back in the wardrobe or is there a playlist you have?
CR: I think being on set and the combination of the lines and the atmosphere and the wardrobe all helps me get back into character. But I also feel like when you play a character for an extended period of time, that person is sort of always with you in a weird way.
CR: Mel, how do you turn yourself back into Shauna?
ML: There was a point at the beginning of the season where I’m always like, ‘Oh my God, did we forget?’ And I remember being at a point where I’m like, ‘What’s Misty like?’ When we were about to do the scene, I was like, ‘What’s this going to be like?’ And then I was like, “Oh, right.”
ML: You feel a bit sort of shaky. It is always a long time between seasons but then this happens.
CR: I will say that coming back for season 2 was so daunting and so difficult. For me, my physicality was really discussed and I had been pregnant the entire time during season 1. So everyone was talking about my waddle walk and I was like, “Well, that’s because of the baby inside me and I don’t have it anymore. So how am I going to do this?”
CR: That was a little intimidating and I think I tried too hard for the first couple of episodes, but then it was OK.
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ML: The show is likened to a gender-swapped Lord of the Flies. Is there another story historically focused on men that you’d like to retell with women instead?
ML: I did an all-female live read of Glengarry Glen Ross. That was really fun.
CR: I could see that being really dynamic with a bunch of women.
CR: After spending three years on Yellowjackets, what makes it different from anything else you’ve worked on?
ML: It’s different in that there’s so many women our age.It’s great to be around so many women and it’s always surprising. But every job is different.
ML: One thing we share is that we both started acting at a young age. Did Cher give you any advice on the set of Mermaids when you were just 9?
CR: She gave me so much advice. She was literally the person on set that’d I would be like, “What’s happening now?” And she’d be like, “We’re going to move over there because this is happening.” She literally talked me through everything.
CR: I remember there was a scene where everybody had to cry and I was just like, “How am I going to do this crying thing?” And I literally was like, ‘So how are you going to cry, Cher?’ She was like, ‘Well, I’m listening to this music and then I do this thing.’ She has a tactile thing she does.
ML: Oh wow.
CR: She touches something and the fabric evokes an emotion. So she walked me through all that and she just literally explained everything to me all the time. She was absolutely amazing and spoke to me with consciousness that I was a child. But it was never like I wouldn’t be able to understand something she was telling me.
ML: Appropriate but respectful.
CR: Yes. It was like, “You are a human being and I’m sure if you don’t understand this, you’ll follow up with a question.” I was never condescended to and I was always fully informed. It was an amazing experience. She was so kind to me.
ML: Aw, little Christina. A little genius. I love that.
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CR: What about you as a teenager? Did you learn anything from Kate Winslet making Heavenly Creatures? And you guys were the same age and it was like both of your first movies?
ML: No, she had been working for so long. It was her first movie and it was my first professional job. But she had been working a lot in television in England. And I remember it was the first time I’d seen a headshot. She had headshots and I was like, ‘What are they for?’ And she was like, “Oh, you send them to fans.” The concept of having a bunch of photographs of yourself? That was how I realized I knew nothing. I had absolutely no idea.
CR: Did you go to an open casting?
ML: They came to my high school.
CR: And before that, did you have any aspirations of being an actress?
ML: I loved acting. I wanted to be an actor. Everyone said, “That’s not a real job. You have to choose something else.”
CR: That was said to me, even when I was in four movies. They’re like, “Well, you got to decide what you’re going to be as an adult.”
ML: You were like, “I’m so funny and successful. I think I’m doing OK.”
CR: But that’s so funny. It was like an open casting call that came to your high school?
ML: They came to my high school and I didn’t audition. It was just improvised. They didn’t want anyone to know what the project was. But I’ve been doing dramatic improv every night — every Friday night — since I was like 7 years old.
CR: That’s amazing.
ML: It was what we all did. My group of friends, we went to this class and did this. So that was easy and that was fun. Then I had a proper real audition that was very intimidating,
ML: But [Kate] was so helpful. She understood the things I had no idea about, and then they gave me a free day on set of learning how to hit a mark and not look at the camera, feel your light, and just getting used to it. It was amazing. So I wasn’t showing up trying to get the scene.
CR: But then there was also figuring out all these logistical things that you have to do.
ML: But she was amazing. We talk about how I’m so often the big sister — and that was one dynamic where she was very much the big sister. I think that was also really nice for me. I’ve never had an older sibling and so it was really also a very positive experience.
CR: That’s good to hear!
ML: In season 3, we see Shauna and Misty spending a lot of time together. Why would you say that now is the right time for Shauna and Misty to get closer?
CR: We love working together. We’ve always had a good time and a shorthand. And you and I have so much experience on sets that it’s just so easy and natural.
CR: I would say from Misty’s point of view, the impetus for her is that she’s lost her best friend and she’s seeking new friendships and people to be closer to. And Taissa and Van are in their own little worlds and not accessible. Shauna is accessible. That is where Misty seeks out the new friendship.
