Yellowjackets' Sophie Nélisse in Bathing Suit Shares "Mexico Roll"

Sophie Nélisse wowed us all on the Showtime series Yellowjackets, playing young Shauna, the teenage survivor of a plane crash with her fellow high school soccer players who grows up locked into a mystery that involves cannibalism, murder and betrayal. How did the 24-year-old Canadian land such a role, and how does she stay mentally fit? (One way is to take a vacation after all the hard work; she just shared photos of herself in a swimsuit in her recent “Mexico roll” photo dump.) Read on to see 5 ways Sophie Nélisse approaches life and work and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. She’s “Never Satisfied” With Her Work and “Shocked” at all the Love

“I'm quite the pessimist in general,” she told Dead Talk Live when asked about whether or not she thought Yellowjackets would get a second season. (It has.) “Like I'm never satisfied with any of the work that I do. So I was quite skeptical. But the show runners and everyone that was working on the project, they kept telling us towards the end of the shoot, how amazing the first episodes were and how the response to it was great. And they were very confident that the show would get the amount of love and respect that it got. I was skeptical. But it's hard to say when you're in it, when you're shooting it, there's always little things that you see that other people don't….I mean, I'm still kind of shocked at the amount of love we've been getting.”

2. This is Why the Show Broke Out So Fast, She Thinks

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Why did Yellowjackets become such an immediate smash? “I think it's because it's mostly a bunch of women and that's something we're not used to seeing,” she told Dead Talk Live. “We're used to seeing groups of people and, and we know that men are strong and capable of such cruelty and aggressivity. And that's not expected of women. We're not used to seeing women's darker side and flaws. And I think that that's what makes the show so unique and, to see how strong women are together, when we work as a team and as a group were kind of undefeatable and I think that's what's so amazing about the show.”

3. This is How She Approached Playing a Younger Version of a Well-Known Actress

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 13: Sophie Nélisse attends Vulture Festival 2021 at The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Vulture)

Playing a young Melanie Lynskey, “For me, it wasn't that difficult because if you look at it from a character point of view, my character, when she's set in the wilderness or at any time, actually doesn't know what's gonna happen ahead of her,” she told Dead Talk News. “So I try not to let anything that's written of my older self affect my character, the way I play things, because Shauna doesn't know what events are about to happen. She doesn't know if she's gonna kill someone. She doesn't know what's to come. So I kind of try to just take it day by day. Obviously now that I've seen the first season and, and seen how Melanie plays Shauna, there are little things that I've picked up on, like the way she clenches her lips together sometimes, or the way she just plays certain lines, the dark humor that she brings to it. Those are definitely things that I'm gonna try to incorporate in the second season, if I have a chance.”

4. She Underwent a Physical Transformation

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 13: Sophie Nélisse attends Vulture Festival 2021 at The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

To play a young Shauna, “I had to go through obviously some physical changes because I'm blonde with blue eyes and in the show I've” got brown hair “with brown eyes. And I also noticed when we first started talking that we have quite a different like pitch in her voice, like she speaks way higher and I speak quite lower. So we kind of had to adjust to sort of meet in the middle and kind of, sort of sound the same.”

5. Here’s Why She Became an Actor

WESTWOOD, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 13: Sophie Nelisse attends the LA Premiere of Entertainment Studios' "47 Meters Down Uncaged" at Regency Village Theatre on August 13, 2019 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

“I kind of fell into acting when I was young because my brother wanted to become an actor,” she said at the Toronto International Film Festival way back in 2016. “And at the time I was doing gymnastics, so I kind of just started acting a bit to get money, to pay for the travel expenses. And recently I was sitting down because I needed to find what I needed to study after I finished high school and I was looking at all these different jobs and I was like, nothing is as interesting as like acting. And I was like, there's nothing that fits with my personality as much as acting. I was like, being an actress: It makes me travel. It makes me meet different people every day. And the kind of the routine of like a job that you do the same thing every day, that really bugs me. And with acting, I don't have that. It's always something different and something new. And so I discovered that I really wanted to be an actress, only like three months ago.”

Yellowjackets star Sophie Nélisse is on vacation, and it’s somewhere way, way warmer than the Canadian wilderness (where her hit show is set). Nélisse—who plays young Shauna on the Showtime smash—shared a photo of her in a blue bathing suit, walking between two rows of what looks like a tropical hotel. We’re guessing it’s from Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico, from which she’s been sharing photos all week. “Vamos,” she captioned it, adding a pineapple emoji; in English, that’s “let’s go.” How does the 21-year-old approach her life and character? Read on to see 5 ways Sophie Nélisse stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. She Was a Gymnast

“[Gymnastics] taught me about discipline,” she told Teen Vogue. “You have to repeat a routine a hundred times to get it right, and when you do gymnastics you have to block out everything around you." “Gymnasts require stamina and good cardiovascular health,” sports medicine specialist Marie Schaefer, MD tells the Cleveland Clinic “Exercises that get your heart pumping are beneficial both during and between competition seasons.”

2. She Was Intrigued by the Psychology of the Series

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Yellowjackets captured her right on the page. The show "touches many different genres but I do love that it taps into horror a little bit but also psychological thriller because I love to see the progression of these girls as they're stuck in the wilderness—like, how it affects your mental health and the extremes that they end up going through because they've been stuck there for so long and how some friendships with the girls that were together before the plane crash, how it will affect is friendships and they'll fall apart and how other relationships will come together and some girls will grow together,” she told Sky Atlantic. “But even though it's very dark and it's very intense, there is also some lightness to it and some funny moments specially with like the older cast. You can tell they have trauma that has all of them throughout the years but there's also some funny moments and there's some loving moments also in there.”

3. She Has an “Inner Strength,” Says Her Co-Star

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Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey—who plays the adult Shauna—looked for commonalities in their performance. “Sophie has more directness in her manner. I feel like I’m quite apologetic. I mean, I’m from New Zealand and we’re all basically apologizing for our existence with every word we speak. We’re like, ‘Aw, sorry but here’s what I think.’ My own sort of energy is not quite as direct and confident as Sophie’s, and it was something that I really loved about her and I thought, ‘This is an interesting thing to try to have Shauna be a little bit more good with eye contact, a little bit stronger, not so sort of [hunched] with her body, but a bit more confident with her body,’ because there was something in Sophie that’s like an inherent strength, which I think is really nice for the character,” she told Collider.

4. Her Character Has an “Underlying Power” Also

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We were “finding things that Melanie and I had in common with Shauna,” Nélisse told the Washington Post. “Which mostly is this underlying power that she doesn’t have [at first] that really progresses.” The character Shauna is “in this constant struggle [to] accept her darker side, the darkness I think she doesn’t want to admit that she has, that kind of scares her almost, at times. … I think there’s this constant conflict [between] being herself and being who people want her to be.”

5. As for the Show, She Doesn’t Know How it Ends

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“We know very little about the end, even how they got rescued and how many people died. Are they the only four other than Travis? Are there more? Maybe there are other people that we’re not aware of. We know so little. There’s so much to uncover,” she told Hollywood Life.

On the Showtime hit series Yellowjackets, every one of the young stars is a breakout. But one may look more familiar than others: Ella Purnell has been working since age 9, appearing in films like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Army of the Dead, as well as the TV series Sweetbitter. Now, the 25-year-old Brit (yes, she’s British!) is finally getting the mega-fans she deserves. And she took a trip to Barbados to decompress. “I made my mum take these,” she captioned some photos of her in a blue bathing suit. “STOP IT,” commented her costar Sophie Nélisse. “Stop. STOOOP.” Added Melanie Lynskey, also of the show: “Hahaha (also GOOD LORD you are gorgeous!!!)” Read on to see 5 ways Ella Purnell stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. She Works Out, Sometimes With Her Mom

“Working out with mama!” Purnell captioned a pic of the two in a gym. “Exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting,” says the Mayo Clinic. “So take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. Bored? Try something new, or do something with friends or family.”

2. She Trained for an Action Movie

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For the movie Army of the Dead: “I went to the gym and did boxing lessons with my stepdad, but I’m just not that way inclined. I’ve got the upper-body strength of a spoon and I’m not very coordinated. I’d get told off because if I try to look cool, I’m doing something else weird with my limbs. When I was running, if I’m holding my gun with one hand, I’m doing gun hands with the other [laughs]. We spent time with these two nice ex-army dudes. They taught us how to shoot, move as a team and have each other’s backs,” she told Vogue.

3. Here are Sage Words About Mental Health

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“I didn’t realise that with this support system that I’ve relied on to be there for me—my friends and family who love me and who I love—sometimes you have to tell them you love them. Now what I’m finding interesting is choosing how to spend my time and the people I surround myself with, and how that has a direct impact on my mental health. I had some big talks this year. I’ve got friends of 15 years and we haven’t had a deep conversation in five or six years. Time doesn’t stop like that very often and it won’t stop in the future, so it’s about taking that time out to do that,” she told Vogue.

4. This Was Her Comfort During the Early Days of the Pandemic

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“White chocolate and raspberry muffins! [laughs] I was based in Los Angeles for the majority of lockdown. I was reading through my journal a couple of nights ago, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ I grew up. A lot of stuff went down in my personal life and I had to find hobbies. I’ve been working since I was nine years old. I feel like I was sort of deficient in other parts of my life. My relationships got stronger. I discovered that I love plants, painting and writing poetry. I went camping for a month in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. I learned a lot about myself and overcame some demons,” she told Vogue.

5. Here’s Her Take on Jackie and Shauna’s Relationship

On Yellowjackets, Purnell’s character and ’s character has an intense relationship, sharing secrets but hiding others, supportive while also undermining. "I think Jackie and Shauna are in deep-friend love…. Maybe some of the dynamics between them are a little more complicated because there’s a lot of jealousy and possession and codependence. And that comes up a lot in female friendships."

One of the most popular new TV series of the year is the Showtime drama/thriller Yellowjackets, which centers on a group of high schoolers who survive a plane crash in the 1990s—and then catches up with them, and the mysteries of, the present day. Did they eat people in the woods? Who lived and who died? And who is the Antler Queen? The show is getting critical and audience acclaim, and a big part of it is the amazing lineup of actresses making up the cast. The series includes well-known stars like Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis (as the grown up versions), and up and comers like Jasmine Savoy Brown and Sophie Nelisse (as the youths). Read on to see all the ways the Yellowjackets stars stay healthy and grounded.

1. Christina Ricci

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In an interview with Glamour, Christina Ricci was asked what she would tell her younger self. Ricci says that she would tell her younger self to value the work. ​​”I would tell myself it’s all about the work I did and what I created, and nothing else mattered. I didn’t know that for a very long time, and I wish I had. I think it’s very confusing when you introduce a child to fame because fame is so warping. People clamor for and want it so badly. I think as a kid, you get confused, when really any adult should tell you, ‘No, it’s about what you create and the work you do. It’s about valuing yourself as an artist and not something to be put up for people to consume.’ I didn’t understand that…I thought that I was meant for other people to consume. [But] I was a kid.”

2. Juliette Lewis

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Lewis has had a long career, and she tells People that she has learned from a lot of her younger self’s mistakes. She says that this has allowed her to move forward. “I quit all my” BS “at 22. There is growth. Get out of the past.”

3. Tawny Cypress

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Cypress has a cat to keep her grounded. “Here’s a picture of my right-hand lady, Jolene,” she said in her first-ever Instagram post. “Pets play a huge role in creating a healthy lifestyle. In fact, studies have shown that pet ownership can enhance fitness levels, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, relieve stress, improve mental and heart health, and boost overall happiness and well-being. Evidence also suggests that connections to pets provide good social support — an important factor in helping you stick with new health habits,” says the Mayo Clinic.

4. Jasmin Savoy Brown

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Jasmin Savoy Brown posted this revealing IGTV post on Instagram talking about her struggles with anxiety, as a result of growing up in a religious family. She captioned the post, “Recovering evangelicals listen up!! Quick thoughts on anxiety as a result of growing up in the church.” "As a queer black woman growing up in the Evangelical church, I was taught I was my own worst enemy," she said, recounting her time in summer camp, being told to cover up her body and also being told to "pray the gay away." "So how could I enjoy spending time alone?" she asked. "I suffer from massive anxiety and depression." She has a hard time feeling still and sometimes even simple tasks like meal shopping and cooking feel like a big deal, "something I haven't earned." Her solution? To talk to herself like a friend, with compassion. "You deserve nourishing food," she would tell that friend, and will tell herself. "You deserve to enjoy the process of getting it ready...."

5. Sophie Nélisse

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Sophie Nélisse is a big fan of doing outdoor activities, and one of her favorite things to do is go horseback riding. She posted this series of photos of herself posing with a horse, and going on a trail ride in South Dakota. She captioned the photo, “His name is Trigger. We are very good friends now.”

6. Ella Purnell

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Ella Purnell is a big fan of going outside, and you can tell with just one look at her Instagram, Purnell posted this stunning photo of herself going on a hike in the mountains of Victoria, British Colombia.

7. Sophie Thatcher

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Thatcher is collaborative, fostering a good mood with Juliette Lewis, of whom she plays the younger version. “I’ve always looked up to her. She’s pretty much as cool as it gets, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? was a really big movie for me growing up. We talked a lot on the phone and I would always see her doing the Zoom read-throughs. So I would try and study her mannerisms because she has such specific mannerisms. Artistically, we were always on the same page. We have each other’s backs. And for season two, we just want the best for our character and for both of us to be happy. So it’s very collaborative and I’m really thankful for her,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

8. Sammi Hanratty

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Sammi Hanratty, like Purnell and Nélisse, is also a fan of going outside, and posts a lot of outdoor photos on Instagram. She posted this photo of herself ATV riding in the mountains of Whistler, Canada.

9. Melanie Lynskey

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Melanie Lynskey revealed in a People interview that she’s dealt with a lot of pressure to adapt to society’s body standards. “I was losing my mind trying to conform to something that was not physically possible for me.” She says that she has a lot more comfort with herself now. Given how awesome she is as arguably the center of the series, it shows.