I’ll Never Watch “Yellowjackets” The Same Way After Simone Kessell Shared How She And Courtney Eaton Created Lottie
“When I first met her, I was a bit concerned if I could pull that off, because she has such a stillness in her, especially in her work as young Lottie.”
Yellowjackets Season 3 might be over, but my obsession is not. Though Adult Lottie died (in the most shocking way possible?!), both Lotties will always be my faves.
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The adult vs. teen casting is phenomenal across the board, but Simone Kessell and Courtney Eaton take the cake for me. Two talented Māori women in one show — we love to see it! And if you’ve ever wondered if they worked together to create the character, you’re in luck. I recently chatted with Simone about just that during her interview for BuzzFeed’s Voices of the Pacific series.
When asked if the show intentionally honored Courtney’s heritage, Simone told BuzzFeed, “They did. She was raised in Australia and wasn’t raised in Aotearoa. So, she was a bit distant from that, from her culture back home. But in 2025 especially, you have to really acknowledge people’s ethnicities and diversity and background, and they really did. The casting on Yellowjackets is perfect because all of the younger and older characters are sort of beautifully crafted together.”
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Simone only had wonderful things to say about her costar, calling Courtney “stunning on and off screen.” The actor continued, “She is one of those women you’re just drawn to. She’s so humble and unique in who she is. When I first met her, I was a bit concerned if I could pull that off, because she has such a stillness in her, especially in her work as young Lottie. But I think we got there, and she does this lovely thing with her eyes, so I tried to incorporate that into adult Lottie and a bit in the physicality.”
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The women also worked together in some ways to maintain Lottie’s continuity. “She’s actually left-handed. We were like, ‘OK, let’s make Lottie right-handed.’ And a couple of times, she forgot [laughs] but we did. She’s about this much taller than me, so I made sure all my shoes would always have a sort of platform in them. I’m 5’8, she’s easily 5’10, 5’11, so I always wanted that height, especially with the other women.”
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Despite this, Simone said the storylines taking place so many years apart gave her plenty of room to explore the character herself.
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“When you think about 25 years later — I don’t know what you were like 25 years ago or 30 years ago, but I know I was vastly different. And so, we get to play in that world a little bit. There were big boots to fill, I have to say, playing her older version because she crafted that character so beautifully,” she concluded.
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