Yellowjackets Interview: How Lauren Ambrose & Hilary Swank Cracked That Death Scene

Yellowjackets features some of the very best ensemble casting across the board, but there’s no denying we got an extra special duo in Liv Hewson and Lauren Ambrose. At the start of the Showtime and Paramount+ series, Van Palmer was not meant to make it out of the wilderness alive. However, thanks to Hewson’s screen presence and creative spark, it became abundantly clear that they deserved more time to shine. Not only did the showrunners shift gears and have Van survive the wolf attack in Season 1, Episode 7, but at the start of Season 2, they revealed that Van makes it home from wilderness with the introduction of Ambrose’s present-day version of the character. From that point on, we’ve enjoyed a breathtaking level of connectivity between the two actors.

However, as of Season 3, Episode 9, “How the Story Ends,” the time of Van Palmer being a dual role has ended. The character doesn’t succumb to her cancer diagnosis, but rather, is stabbed by Hilary Swank’s present-day Melissa. It’s a crushing end for a fan-favorite character, one that Ambrose admits, doesn’t offer closure, but because it was never meant to. However, Ambrose herself has found peace in the feeling that she “was just handing [Van] back to Liv.”

With all of Yellowjackets Season 3 available to stream on Paramount+, and with the show’s Emmy campaign picking up steam, I got the opportunity to welcome Ambrose to Collider Ladies Night. During our 40-minute chat, we revisited some pivotal moments of her career, many of which pointed toward a deep appreciation of the rehearsal process. And, it turns out, that love of rehearsing is what helped her and Swank figure out how to play Van’s death and deliver a scene that feels “crackling and real and exciting and weird.”

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