How Do the Young Actors of 'Yellowjackets' Compare to Their Adult Counterparts as Young Stars?

Sophie Nélisse (left, now) plays the teenage counterpart to Melanie Lynskey's Shauna — Yellowjackets' main character.

Nélisse — who typically has blonde hair and blue eyes — went brunette to more closely resemble Lynskey (at right in 1994's Heavenly Creatures), Indiewire explained. Despite the physical change, Nélisse told the outlet that she still felt uneasy about her ability to embody a convincingly younger version of Shauna.

"I remember when we did the table read, I'm sitting down and Melanie started speaking and saying her lines, and I'm just like, 'You speak quite higher pitched than me,' and I freaked out, and I was like, 'There's still time to fire me'," she told the outlet.

Turns out, Lynskey was actually having the same concerns over her voice, Indiewire said. But the two didn't have to worry.

"We don't really look that similar, but there is something energetically that works," Lynskey said, to which Nélisse responded: "A lot of people say we have sort of the same essence."

Samantha Hanratty (left, now) stars as the teenage Misty to Christina Ricci's adult Misty — the Yellowjackets' former equipment manager who has a dark side hidden behind her bubbly facade.

Though the two actresses didn't coordinate on their approaches to the character, Hanratty said she did her research when she found out she'd be playing a younger version of the former child star (at right in 1995).

"I started looking up pictures of her and looking at pictures of myself," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I [put] them side to side to be like, 'What is it that we have in common? And what is it that we don't?' "

Jasmin Savoy Brown (left, now) plays teenage Yellowjackets' star player, Taissa, while Tawny Cypress (at right in 2006) steps into the role as an adult as she navigates a career in politics.

"We very much have the same understanding of the character," Brown explained to The Hollywood Reporter in 2022 about the stars' processes. "We talked more about the small things. For example, does Taissa pronounce either as 'ee-ther' or does she say 'eye-ther'? Things of that nature."

Brown continued, explaining that in real life, the two have things in common including living in the same building in Vancouver, where the series is filmed, as well as hanging with their tortoiseshell cats.

"Even as human beings, we're very much the same," she noted. "So I think that speaks to those similarities, because I didn't plan that."

As an adult, Natalie, played by Juliette Lewis (at right in 1992's That Night), still feels haunted by the events that took place following the crash.

Natalie's teenage self is played by Sophie Thatcher (left, now) who told Teen Vogue in 2022 that their portrayals of the character are intentionally distinct.

"There's a lot more of a lightness in younger Natalie, and it grows," Thatcher explained. "She had so much love in her heart, and to see her turn into this almost suicidal wreck, to see how dark she got, I think that makes it more heartbreaking."

While adult Natalie is a brunette, Thatcher's teenage version sports blonde hair — much like Lewis did in real life when she was a young woman.

Warning: spoiler ahead!

Audiences will meet the adult version of Lottie, played by Simone Kessell (at right in 1999's Greenstone), for the first time in season 2 after season 1 ended with a cliffhanger revealing she is still alive.

On the other hand, audiences have already gotten to know the teenage version of the character, played by Courtney Eaton (left, now). Though she is considered the team's resident rich girl, there is much more going on beneath the surface.

With long brunette hair and dark features, Eaton's Lottie mimics how Kessell looked as a young actress just starting out in her career.

Warning: spoiler ahead!

Audiences will also meet the adult version of Vanessa "Van" Palmer in the new season, played by Liv Hewson (left, now) in season 1 as a teen.

Introducing an adult version of the character confirms that the fan favorite did make it out of the wilderness following the crash.

Hewson bares a strong resemblance to Lauren Ambrose (at right in 2002), who is best known for her breakout role as Claire Fisher on HBO's Six Feet Under.