Yellowjackets Star Says Antler Queen Is More Than Just a Person

The Antler Queen looms large over everything that happens in Yellowjackets. The ’90s timeline is filled with supernatural occurrences that the teenagers stranded in the woods can’t seem to explain. The present day storyline is all a reflection of the things they went through while in the woods. At the center of it all is the chilling Antler Queen, and the symbol that has consumed these women’s lives. At the end of Season 1, Lottie was teased as the potential Antler Queen, and her actions so far in the woods seem to support the theory that she could be partially behind everything going on. According to one of the show’s stars, the Antler Queen is far bigger than just one character.

Simone Kessell, who plays the adult version of Lottie, recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and co-star Juliette Lewis to talk about Season 2 of Yellowjackets. The actress had a lot of questions about the Antler Queen when the first landed the role, but came to learn that there isn’t a single way to define it.

“I remembering saying, ‘What is the Antler Queen? Is it a symbol, is it a metaphor, is it real?’ And I remember them going [no answer],” Kessell said.

“It can be kind of anything that we deem it to be,” she continued. “There was so much about Lottie being the Antler Queen. But really now, we’ve distilled it into the fact that the Antler Queen is a part of all of us, and she really was something that kind of kept these women going to survive in the wilderness. That was my interpretation of it. I had so many questions, but I was trying to play it cool.”

Lewis agreed that the Antler Queen was everything Kessell mentioned. It’s a symbol and a metaphor, as well as a real person. Lottie is caught up in the center of the Antler Queen conversation, and for good reason. That doesn’t mean she is always going to be the one wearing the antlers.

More answers will likely arrive as Season 2 continues. Through four episodes of the new season, there have been very few of those to go around. We’ve just been given quite a few more questions.

What do you think of Yellowjackets Season 2 so far? Let us know in the comments!