“Yellowjackets” might have lost Juliette Lewis, but the show gained two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank.
The Post spoke to Melanie Lynskey’s onscreen husband and daughter duo, Warren Kole and Sarah Desjardins, about the highly anticipated addition to Season 3, and they revealed they’re elated for the audience to see Swank in action.
It was revealed in September that the “Million Dollar Baby” actress, 50, was joining the all-star cast. The details of her character, who will be introduced later in the season, are not known; however, Deadline reported at the time that there is an option for her to become a series regular if it gets picked up for a Season 4.
Kole, 47, and Desjardins, 30, kept coy about Swank’s character but couldn’t hold in their excitement about sharing the screen with her.
“I mean, it’s Hilary Swank,” Desjardins, who plays Shauna Sadecki’s rebel without a cause daughter, Callie, told The Post.
They kept the details surrounding Swank’s role in the series tight to their chest, teasing, “We can tell you we’re so excited to have her be a part of the show.”
Kole, Callie’s father in the psychological thriller, vouched that he could “guarantee” whoever she plays will be “beautifully acted.” He later added that viewers “will just have to tune in to find out.”
When pushed on details, Desjardins shared that she “can’t wait to see how the audience reacts,” alluding that Swank’s role could be a shocker. “Obviously, they’re gonna love her,” she added.
The award-winning “Boys Don’t Cry” actress joins a slew of other high-profile stars in “Yellowjackets,” including Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, Lauren Ambrose and Lynskey, who all star as the grown-up versions of the teen survivors of a 1996 plane crash.
The hit survival series made its debut in November 2021.
Swank teased her upcoming appearance on “Today With Hoda & Jenna” in December, in which she revealed that she never watched “Yellowjackets” before accepting the role.
“No. I haven’t watched it because it’s too intense!” she told them, adding this was her first job since she gave birth to her twins, daughter Aya and son Ohm, in April 2023.
Swank added that “Yellowjackets” was a perfect transition for her because the role only required her to be on set three days a week.
She also shared that she wanted to call her children while filming but couldn’t because “I look a certain way.”
Many fans believe that Swank will play the adult version of Melanie, another member of the high school all-female soccer team whose plane crashed in the secluded Canadian wilderness.
Another theory is that she isn’t directly related to the plane crash, with some guessing she’ll be playing law enforcement or a civilian who gets into more than what she bargained for after investigating the events surrounding the 1996 event.
Created by Ashley Lyle and her husband, Bart Nickerson, the pair was inspired by a real-life aircraft accident.
In 1972, the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which carried five crew members and 40 passengers, including the Uruguayan amateur rugby team, went down in the Andes mountains.
Twelve people died in the crash. The others survived 72 days in the wilderness by resorting to eating the corpses of those who perished.
In the end, only 16 people made it home alive.
The first two episodes of “Yellowjackets” Season 3 are now available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime. New episodes will be released on Sundays starting on Feb. 23.
