Yellowjackets season 2 casts Simone Kessell as adult Lottie

Last week, it was announced that Lauren Ambrose (Servant) was joining the cast of the Showtime series Yellowjackets to play the adult version of the character Van Palmer, who is played as a teenager on the show by Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet). Now the adult version of another character has been cast: Variety reports that Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi) has signed on to play the adult Lottie Matthews.

Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road) plays the teenage Lottie. Variety explains that Lottie “emerged as the central antagonist of the show in the first season of Yellowjackets. A rich kid whose parents furnished her soccer team with a private plane in order for the Yellowjackets to travel to nationals, Lottie had been forced to go off her anti-psychotic medication after that plane crashed in the wilderness, where the show’s 1996 timeline is set.“

Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis star in Yellowjackets, which is is described as “equal parts survival epic, horror story, and coming-of-age drama.” The story centers on

a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. The series will chronicle their descent from a complicated but thriving team to warring, cannibalistic clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

Created, written, executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (who serve as showrunners alongside executive producer Jonathan Lisco), the series also stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Sophie Nelisse, Steven Krueger, Amy Okuda, and Jasmin Savoy Brown.

Ricci and Hanratty play the present and teenage versions of Misty, “the Yellowjackets’ equipment manager. Eager to please and easy to overlook, Misty’s abundance of team spirit belies a hidden dark side.” Lewis plays the present day version of a character named Natalie, with Sophie Thatcher playing the teenage Natalie. “Despite her natural talent, Natalie’s punk rock spirit and habit of finding trouble make her the unlikeliest member of the team. As an adult, Natalie struggles to quiet the demons that still haunt her from her time in the wilderness.” Purnell’s character is Jackie, “the Yellowjackets’ magnetically charismatic, effortlessly popular, occasionally entitled team captain.” Lynskey and Nelisse are the present and teen versions of a character named Shauna. “25 years later, Shauna is on a mission to reclaim her agency — her life — while doing everything in her power to keep her darkest secrets safe.” Krueger plays Ben Scott, “the assistant coach and the object of many an unrequited crush.” Okuda is Cat Wheeler, “a history teacher recruited to bolster the female presence on the coaching staff, despite knowing literally nothing about soccer.” Cypress and Brown are both playing the character Taissa, “the star player on the Yellowjackets squad; now, 25 years later, her political ambitions threaten to derail the survivors’ pact of secrecy.”

The pilot episode of Yellowjackets was directed by Karyn Kusama, whose credits include Girlfight, Aeon Flux, Jennifer’s Body, The Invitation, Destroyer (the one with Nicole Kidman), and a segment of the horror anthology XX.

Yellowjackets season 2 will start filming in Vancouver later this month. 

Were you a fan of Yellowjackets season 1, and are you looking forward to the next season? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.