Kicking things up a notch. As the Yellowjackets cast films season 2, Samantha Hanratty dropped some hints about what fans can expect from the Showtime series.
“Oh, I’ll tell you this much, it is so much crazier than I thought it was going to get,” Hanratty, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Television Humanitarian Awards, which was hosted by The Creative Coalition’s CEO Robin Bronk and President Tim Daly, on Sunday, September 11. “We’re starting with such a bang this season. I thought we left off on such a high note of like crazy and we’re starting off on just as high of a note and it’s beyond exciting.”
The actress, who is engaged to Christian DeAnda, also gushed about Elijah Wood joining the hit TV series for its sophomore season. “My fiancé probably almost like fully fainted when I told him. I literally FaceTimed him and was like, ‘You’ll never guess who’s a part of the show,’” the Arizona native, who plays young Misty, continued. “And it’s so exciting. We haven’t met yet but he was part of the table read and I’m not gonna lie, like, I was low-key just freaking the heck out.”
Yellowjackets follows a group of teenagers involved in a plane crash and the aftermath of their rescue decades later. The drama series, which received six nominations at the 2022 Emmy Awards, stars also stars Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Ella Purnell, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Sophie Thatcher.
Ahead of the upcoming awards show, Hanratty recalled finding out that her fellow costars were nominated for their roles as older Shauna and Misty.
“It was 5 A.M. in Hawaii [when I found out]. My fiancé heard me scream and he’s like, ‘What is happening?’ and I’m shaking. I was on FaceTime with all of the younger cast, the 90s cast,” she detailed. “We’ve got a group chat called the Naughty ’90s and in the Naughty ’90s we’re all talking and it happened. It was just pure joy, pure excitement, and I can’t say I’m that surprised because Melanie is ridiculous fantastic, as is Christina, as is the show. But just knowing that people loved it and received it like I have is amazing.”
For the Shameless alum, one of the best parts of Yellowjackets has been the fan theories. “There’s some really really good ones that I just find to be so fascinating. I love anything to do with Misty being a serial killer. I think that could be very spot on,” Hanratty shared with Us. “She’s got a weird dungeon room anyways so why not?”
She continued: “But it’s more fun to figure out did Ben Scott [Steven Krueger] live? Is Ben Scott still alive or is he chained up somewhere? Who knows. And those are the theories I love to hear about. One theory that was interesting was that the bear in the finale ate Javi [Luciano Leroux]. That’s why the bear is so out of it because it had drugs in its system from Javi. I can’t tell you if it’s true or not but that’s such an interesting theory that is so in-depth.”
While taking a break from filming, Hanratty was honored by the Creative Coalition for her philanthropic endeavors. “I’m so excited that I get to spread some light on one of my favorite foundations and charities. I’ve been working with the MacPac Foundation for quite a while now,” she added to Us about the event.
With reporting by Diana Cooper
