The already star-studded cast of Paramount+ with Showtime‘s Yellowjackets is adding even more firepower for Season 3. As first announced by Deadline, two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank has been brought aboard as a recurring guest and reportedly has an option available to become a regular in Season 4 if the series lands another renewal. She joins fellow newcomer and Community star Joel McHale in the Emmy-nominated thriller series amid production in Vancouver. Details about her character are being kept close to the vest for the time being, but she’s set to be introduced later in the upcoming season as an integral piece to the drama’s latest twist.
Though there’s no word on who Swank will play, the series premise alone makes it a strong possibility that she’ll embody another modern-day counterpart to one of the girls on that ill-fated soccer team in 1996. Yellowjackets has thus far chronicled the journey of a group of talented high schoolers whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, causing them to deteriorate from a coordinated if complicated unit into savage clans willing to resort to anything, including cannibalism, to survive. The show jumps between two time periods, also picking up with the girls’ older counterparts in 2021 who try to get on with their lives after the crash yet are still haunted by what happened in the woods. A few of the girls who lived to tell the tale have yet to be properly explored, opening the door for Swank to emerge and shake up this wilderness survival story.
Hilary Swank Joining Already Star-Studded Cast of ‘Yellowjackets’
Whatever role she appears in, Swank is set to join an impressive lineup that still features Melanie Lynskey , Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, Lauren Ambrose, and Simone Kessell among its adult group, and Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, Liv Hewson, and Courtney Eaton as their younger versions. Previously featured in Yellowjackets as well were Juliette Lewis and Fallout star Ella Purnell in a standout role as Jackie. Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the psychological horror survival drama has been lauded for its casting – Lynskey and Ricci both earned Emmy nominations – and the group only appears to be growing stronger as Season 3 nears the end of production.
Where Have We Hilary Seen Swank Before?
Swank was most recently seen on the big screen playing opposite the mountain of a man that is Reacher star Alan Ritchson in the faith-based drama based on a true story, Ordinary Angels. However, she’s proven herself as a bonafide powerhouse time and again with her two Oscar-winning roles as a lead actress in Million Dollar Baby opposite Clint Eastwood and Boys Don’t Cry with Chloë Sevigny. Yellowjackets will mark a return to television for the actress after her role in Alaska Daily, though she’s also enjoyed other small-screen appearances in recent memory, like in Netflix‘s sci-fi drama Away and in several episodes of Bojack Horseman. She’s also lined up for a role in Greg Kwedar‘s action thriller N.A.R. opposite Peter Berg.
Yellowjackets Season 3 may have experienced some delays as WGA and SAG-AFTRA fought for better pay and protections, but everything is now full steam ahead as the series eyes a return in 2025. Stay tuned here at Collider for future updates on the series. In the meantime, Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Paramount+ with Showtime, but Netflix will soon play host to Season 1 starting on October 1.
via Collider