Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 7, “Croak.”
Yellowjackets' new star Ashley Sutton reveals that she auditioned to play a different character for the pilot episode five years ago. Sutton’s character, Hannah Finch, is first introduced inYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 6’s ending. Episode 7 shows thatHannah and her partner, Edwin (Nelson Franklin), are scientistsrecording and researching a species of frogs in the wilderness. After encountering the teenage survivors, Edwin is killed and Hannah flees for her life, only to be captured.
While speaking withPeople,Sutton shared that she auditioned to play a high school student in the pilot episode. Her character would have appeared in the background of the 1990s timeline prior to the plane crash in the wilderness. Sutton was ultimately not cast in the pilot episode, but she returned years later to audition for the game-changing role of Hannah in season 3. She also expressed her enthusiasm forYellowjackets' story, which she has been a fan of since she first read the pilot script. Check out Sutton’s comments below:
I first auditioned for the pilot and the writing is just so good and fun and dark and spooky — all sorts of things that I love.
It was so long ago. I met with the producers and [the pilot script] was really funny. I didn’t know fully what the story was. I was just in the past, but at school. I was in “the before times,” I guess we’ll call it. I was talking about this with some of the cast my first day with them, telling them how I auditioned for the pilot and then this role came about and I auditioned.
I did a couple of rounds for this and I ended up booking it and it’s just such a good role. You just don’t get this opportunity very often where you come into a show that is already at the top of its game. The actors are all amazing. The crew is the best of the best. The directors and writers, they’re all so, so good.
And when you get to come in and have this really juicy character at this kind of pivotal, shocking point for fans, I felt so lucky that it happened with Hannah.
What This Means For Yellowjackets
Ashley Sutton Already Has History With The Show
While Sutton does not officially make herYellowjacketsdebut until the second half of season 3, her comments reveal that she has a long history with the show. With her comments specifically saying that the character she audtioned for appeared"in the past, at school,“there is a good chance that her character would have been in the cheering crowd during the Yellowjackets' pep rally. Her character could also have made another appearance at the high school party that the soccer players attend the night before their flight.
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Instead of playing an unnamed and likely inconsequential character,Sutton is now playing a pivotal character who is already having a significant impactonYellowjackets' past and present-day timelines. Hannah is not only causing conflict in the 1990s timeline, but her death is also the source of the main conflict in the present. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is convinced that Hannah’s daughter is her stalker and is about to confront her. Decades after Hannah’s death, she is still affecting the survivors.
Image via Hulu
Sutton not being cast in the pilot, only to play a major character years later, ended up being a much better result for her. While Hannah is guaranteed to die in the 1990s timeline, her death does not necessarily have to happen in season 3’s final episodes, with her story potentially continuing intoYellowjacketsseason 4.For Sutton, the situation worked out for the best, personally and professionally, and she has already left an indelible mark onYellowjackets.
