Yellowjackets Star Jane Widdop Speaks Out on Series’ Surprising Popularity

Yellowjackets has been a huge hit for Showtime since its debut in 2021 and it shows no signs of slowing down. The series’ Season 2 finale set a streaming record for the network and fans are already eagerly awaiting Season 3, which could start to deal with the surviving Yellowjackets returning to civilization in the 1990s storyline. But while the series is wildly popular now, its success took many by surprise — including one of its stars. Jane Widdop, who plays Laura Lee in the series, told ComicBook.com that even they were surprised by the series’ popularity given how unique the series is and that they’re curious what is going to happen next.

“I mean honestly yeah, kind of. We were just like the little show that could, you know. We had… we were making history with the amount of female slash female presenting people we had as series regulars and that first table read there were only two like series regular actors that were male on the table read entirely and so I just think that all of us just didn’t think that it would happen just because it was like, this has never been done before,” Widdop said. “It’s just not gonna happen, you know. And so, it’s really cool to be able to see that and then able to watch it now and see how far it’s come and I’m just curious on what’s gonna happen next and I don’t even know anything.”

Yellowjackets Director Has Teased a Possible Season 3 Storyline

Earlier this year, director Karyn Kusama revealed that she’s excited for where Season 3 of Yellowjackets could go, particularly in terms of dealing with the survivors returning to the world form the wilderness — something that the series has shown only glimpses of thus far.

“I’ve been so excited by this,” Kusama said. “The concept of that immediate aftermath of re-entry into the world, to me, there’s a whole season worth of material there. And the fact that this is such a long game that each of these characters is facing, in terms of reorienting themselves to whatever normalcy is supposed to be. I’m sure we’re going to learn that their normal is a lot different than our normal. There’s a lot that needs to be figured out between Season 2 and Season 3.”

When Will Yellowjackets Season 3 Debut?

Yellowjackets was renewed for a third season well before Season 2 even premiered, in part because the show has been repeatedly breaking viewership records for Showtime. Just weeks after Season 2 of Yellowjackets wrapped, co-creator Ashley Lyle revealed via social media that a bonus episode will be debuting at some point between Season 2 and Season 3, although a release date for that has yet to be set.

“With Yellowjackets‘ runaway success in Season 1 and the pent-up anticipation for Season 2, we wanted to maximize the momentum by fast-tracking Season 3 now,” Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of Showtime and Paramount Media Networks, explained last year. “The show’s ambition is only exceeded by its execution, and I thank the incredible creative team behind it, including Ashley, Bart, Jonathan, eOne, and the Showtime team, for turning this into such a success.” 

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