Hilary Swank breaks down her bloody 'Yellowjackets' debut and that shocking ending
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What does Hilary Swank hear in public? Even she still gets surprised.
Hilary Swank chats with USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa about her new film "Ordinary Angels" and her humble beginnings in Hollywood.
Surprise! Another Yellowjacket made it to adulthood, and she still wears backward baseball caps.
Hilary Swank's mystery "Yellowjackets" character has finally been revealed: The two-time Oscar winner is playing the adult version of Melissa, confirming another character from the teen timeline is still alive in the present.
The latest episode of the Showtime series (Sunday, 8 ET/PT, but now streaming on Paramount+) explained that Shauna's (Melanie Lynskey) ex-girlfriend faked her death, changed her name to Kelly and has been living a quiet life married to the daughter of Hannah (Ashley Sutton), one of the frog researchers whose death the Yellowjackets have been covering up. Before she died, Hannah gave Melissa a tape with a message for her daughter, Alex. But Melissa never delivered it, instead keeping a close eye on Alex to make sure she was OK before unexpectedly falling in love with her.
Melissa's relationship with Alex is part of what "has helped heal" her, Swank says, but despite the couple's twisted origin, she "doesn't think that it's weird.
"It's such a psychologically interesting thing that you are trying to make peace with the past," she says. "You know that this person loved their daughter, and your way of making peace with it is to love that person the way you think that person would love them. It's so intense."
In contrast to the increasingly dark storylines of the other surviving Yellowjackets, Melissa professes that she has truly put the past behind her and achieved a totally normal, boring life. Swank, 50, says this isn't just a front that she's putting on for Shauna; Melissa has "done a lot of work" and "really feels like she's moved" on.
That seems to really set off Shauna, who it's safe to say has not done the same. Because Shauna is "still haunted by the past," she "doesn't feel like anyone else should be able to be released" from those shackles, Swank says.
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But the episode explores the way that "emotional trauma, even when you think you've healed, can rear its head in unexpected ways," Swank says. Shauna's arrival "brings back a very vivid memory that can trigger what that trauma response is, and then it all comes rushing right back" at Melissa.
The fact that Melissa is ready to pounce when she realizes someone has broken into her home also emphasizes that this is still the same girl who once sadistically sliced Coach Scott's Achilles tendon.
"The tone that my character takes of 'who's in my closet, because I will demolish you,' is a reminder of who this person was and what they went through," Swank says.
The simmering tension throughout the episode explodes in a shocking final scene, when Shauna flips out on Melissa, takes a bite out of her arm and demands she eat her own flesh.
"They both have experienced so much trauma that that's how they deal. They almost go back to being 2-year-olds," says Swank, whose own twins turn 2 next month. "They're like, 'I don't know how to deal with my emotions except for biting your arm off, because there's nothing else I can do to get this release and show you that I mean what I'm saying.' It's literally like a 2-year-old."
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Swank, who returns in next week's episode, says this moment begins a "downward spiral" for Melissa. The actress also teases a "huge surprise" coming up in her storyline that fans won't see coming. She sure didn't.
"People are going to be like, 'Wait, what just happened?'"
The "Yellowjackets" role was Swank's first since she had twins in 2023. The "Million Dollar Baby" star embraced the challenge of returning with such a dialogue-heavy role. "Jumping right back into that postpartum" was "tricky," she says, noting that her "brain was not working in that way for a couple of years."
Adult Melissa's debut followed months of speculation and countless Reddit threads trying to piece together Swank's role in the season, which Showtime concealed in promos. Fans analyzed everything from the actress' eye color to the cast's social media activity to make their guesses. But none of that made its way to the Swank, who had no idea how much buzz her casting has been causing online. "I love that," she says.
Showtime hasn't officially renewed "Yellowjackets" for a fourth season. But assuming the series gets picked up —and assuming Melissa makes it out of Season 3 without being eaten — Swank is open to returning.
"It was a really fun set," she says, "and I can't say that about all sets."
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