I Genuinely Cannot Watch “Yellowjackets” The Same Way After Learning These 23 Fascinating Facts

Warning: There are MASSIVE spoilers ahead!

1. In the original pitch for the show, the series was supposed to take place 20 years earlier, with the plane crash happening in the 1970s and the “present-day” being the 1990s. However, the timeline got pushed ahead in order to make the setting feel more familiar to viewers.

2. The idea for the series was also heavily influenced by Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, a flight carrying a rugby team that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. Only 16 of the 45 passengers survived.

3. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies also served as inspiration for this series. While many were skeptical that young girls would turn to the same savagery as the boys in the book, creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson felt this premise was a “metaphor for teenage hierarchy.”

4. The creators pitched the series to “16 or 17” different networks, including HBO, which was very excited by the idea. However, at the time, HBO was developing Euphoria and didn’t want to focus on multiple shows with teenage protagonists.

6. Several of the actors wear colored contacts on the show. Like, Sophie Nélisse, who plays teen Shauna, naturally has blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. To better match Melanie Lynskey’s features she dyes her hair dark and wears brown contacts.

Tawny Cyprus, who plays adult Tai, wears brown contacts to match Jasmin Savoy Bown’s eye color. Samantha Hanratty, who plays teen Misty, wears brown contacts too, to match Christina Ricci’s eye color.

7. In the opening scene of the pilot episode, we see the Yellowjackets covered in masks and fur, as well as the infamous Antler Queen. Only Misty shows her face, but the rest of the stand-ins in that scene are actually stunt coordinators. So the actors actually have no idea which characters (besides Misty) are actually meant to be in that scene.

8. Sophie Nélisse took Jackie’s ear home with her after her scenes wrapped. She recalled sticking it back in her pocket, because no one on set asked for it back. Then, five months later she found the ear again and decided to take it home with her.

10. Javi’s heart was made of a “gummy bear”-like substance, which ended up being tastier than Jackie’s body.

12. Van was actually meant to die shortly after the pilot episode, meaning the adult Van (played by Lauren Ambrose) arc was never meant to happen. The producers loved Liv Hewson’s performance so much that they decided to expand the character’s story.

13. In another version of the pilot, Amy Okuda played Cat Wheeler, who was another teacher meant to chaperone the Yellowjackets’ trip. Her character ended up being cut from the series.

14. The “teen” cast is actually well into their 20s and 30s. As of 2025, Sophie Thatcher is 24. Sophie Nélisse is 25. Ella Purnell is 28. Samantha Hanratty, Liv Hewson, and Courtney Eaton are 29. Jasmin Savoy Brown is 31. And Kevin Alves is 33.

15. Sarah Desjardins, who plays Shauna’s 16-year-old daughter, is 30 in real life. She originally auditioned to play teen Shauna.

16. Juliette Lewis was one of the first actors considered for starring in the series. The creators had pictured her way back when they originally pitched the show.

17. Ashley Sutton, who plays Hannah Finch, originally auditioned for the series way back in Season 1. Years later, she got a call asking if she’d be willing to audition for Hannah, the frog scientist.

18. Samantha Hanratty and Christina Ricci have both played Misty while pregnant. Christina was pregnant while filming Season 1 and Samantha was while filming Season 3.

19. Samantha initially went in to audition for teen Natalie. “I went in with a black zip-up hoodie, with dark eye makeup [and a] I-don’t-care attitude that had this almost forced darkness. I’m not Natalie and that’s totally fine,” she explained.

20. Jane Widdop also auditioned for teen Shauna before being cast as Laura Lee.

21. The school scenes in the pilot were shot at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. Other iconic projects like Grease, Hannah Montana, Pretty in Pink, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and School of Rock were also filmed there.

22. Meanwhile, the rest of the series is shot in Vancouver and British Columbia. Most of the series was shot on a soundstage, but a nearby paintball park was transformed into the crash site where the Yellowjackets regrouped after the plane crash.

23. And finally, the cast has a tradition of throwing “death parties” for their fellow castmates when their characters die on the show.

Did any of these surprise you? Let us know in the comments! And be sure to share this with all those Yellowjackets lovers in your life.