Christina Ricci Says 'It Was Sad to Come Back' forYellowjacketsSeason 3 Without Former Costar Juliette Lewis (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

From Left: Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey on Nov. 10, 2021.Photo: Matt Baron/Shutterstock

After a nearly two-year gap, the cannibalistic survival seriesYellowjacketsis finally back withseason 3. While the new episodes see the likes ofHilary Swank, Joel McHale and Ashley Sutton joiningthe sprawling ensemble, one of the original cast members —Juliette Lewis— has not returned.

Of course, the cast mourned her departure at the time, but as Ricci, 45, tells PEOPLE ahead of the season 3 premiere — streaming Feb. 14 on Paramount+ Showtime before its on-air debut on Feb. 16 — that it was still emotional to return to set without one of their own.

“It was really sad,” she says. “I think the end of season 2 was very sad for us. We were all together doing, like, a week of night shoots and we all had so much fun. Like, being in the green room, I honestly — Juliette Lewis at 3 a.m. in a green room in the colds, it was probably the most fun person you’ll ever experience.”

“She’s like a fair wood sprite, like, such a walking art,” Ricci adds and Tawny Cypress chimes in, “That’s what I call her.”

From Left: Melanie Lynskey as Shauna, Tawny Cypress as Taissa, Juliette Lewis as Natalie and Christina Ricci as Misty.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Ricci says Lewis is “an amazing, fun human being,” adding, “It was sad to come back and know that she wouldn’t be here.”

In a separate interview with PEOPLE, Sophie Thatcher — who plays the teenage version of Natalie in the past timeline — also reflected on Lewis' departure. She admitted that it didn’t really hit her until later on when she was watching the new episodes.

“You don’t really think about it in the moment. It was more me finally watching the episodes and feeling that emptiness and getting the scripts and, you know, not getting that amazing Misty-Natalie dynamic,” she says, explaining, “that was one of my favorite parts about the modern day storyline.”

Thatcher, 24, adds, “But I just wanted to do her justice. I think there was, like, maybe a freedom in the way that there wasn’t the back-to-back comparison, where I was so keen on mirroring her voice in the first and second seasons that I think this season I was like, ‘Okay, Natalie’s in me.’ I’ve been doing this for most of the beginning of my adult life and now, in my 20s, so I felt confident. Natalie’s just changing in a lot of ways.”

“But yeah, it was definitely a huge bummer. But I’m really happy for Julia because she has so much she’s doing right now,” the actress concludes.

She adds, “She eventually finds a way in there, and that leads her then to question all of her friendships.”

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Yellowjacketsseason 3 returns with two episodes on Friday, Feb. 14 on Paramount+ with Showtime before its on-air debut on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.

source: people.com