Sophie Nélisse on ‘Heated Rivalry’ and ‘Yellowjackets’ Final Season

Sophie Nélisse, coming off of a busy winter with the release of Heated Rivalry, is preparing to head back into the wilderness for the fourth and final season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

“There’s a lot of pressure coming into this season knowing it’s the last one,” the 25-year-old actress told The Hollywood Reporter on a Zoom call earlier this month. It’s about a week out from when Nélisse is scheduled to return to the show that has, in her words, shaped her young adult life.

Heated Rivalry and Yellowjackets seemingly have nothing in common, but the Montreal native doesn’t feel like they have to. “I approach every role with a different purpose and idea of what it’s going to bring me,” she explains. Heated Rivalry, she says, was a project she took because she knew it had the potential for greater meaning and real-world impact.

In the series she plays Rose Landry, the Hollywood starlet who has a brief fling with the show’s main character Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams. Rose becomes Shane’s support system — and in one of the most heartwarming scenes of the show — she is the first person he ever comes out to.

“What’s really important in selecting a character is the creative team attached, to make sure I work with people I feel really passionate about who are there for the right reasons,” Nélisse explains.

She continues, “It’s really easy in this industry to fall into the machine of Hollywood and doing content just for doing content. At the end of the day, we all have to work and sometimes you don’t have that luxury to be able to be so picky. I definitely want to be very intentional when selecting my characters. That’s also why I’ve gotten into producing, because there are books I’ve read that have moved me so much. To have that creative power has been a really fun journey to be on.”

Below, Nélisse breaks down her emotional Heated Rivalry scene, why the show means so much to her, what to expect from Yellowjackets season four — and why you might not see her in another horror project for a bit.

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What about Heated Rivalry drew you in?

I fell deeply in love with these characters the second I read it. The first two episodes are fun. It’s such a hook, and I’m such a sucker for rom-coms and that will they-won’t they? I was hooked on the first episodes, but then I loved how it developed into something that felt so honest and raw and vulnerable. What I love the most is that it really gave me hope. With all the darkness and all the heaviness in the world right now, we needed a show that brought some levity, but in a way that feels achievable. Beyond that, it’s not a story that I feel like I’ve seen on screen before, and it was really refreshing to see. It gave so much visibility to a community that doesn’t have enough representation. Often when there is a queer couple, they don’t make it or they get killed in the first 15 minutes of a show. To see them coming out as heroes was my takeaway.

What about Rose as a character?

There’s something so genuine about her, something so mesmerizing and captivating because of the way she has this self-confidence that’s not obnoxious or condescending. She has that gravitas, but also knows when not to be in the spotlight. Her point in this entire story is to let Shane shine. A lot of that is through that subtle and quiet support. It was really important for us to really feel those. A lot of our scenes are a little slower, especially at the restaurant. To me, Rose is someone who everyone needs in their life.

There’s nothing as important for any human being than to have someone with whom you can be 100 percent yourself, completely stripped out of every wall and facet and still be loved unconditionally. That is so precious and very rare to find in a friendship, no matter the nature of that friendship or that relationship. Characters like Rose are one in a million that you come across. I loved how she loved him unconditionally and gave him such a safe space for him to feel like he could be his truest self.

What were your talks with creator Jacob Tierney like to tackle the restaurant scene in particular?

We didn’t talk about it that much. Hudson and I actually never rehearsed it. We ran lines, and then when we rehearsed the scene before doing the first take, we went off script because we have a very similar sense of humor, and we just started shooting [the] shit. We were messing around with the scene, and we weren’t saying what was scripted because we were like, “This is a five-minute scene. We’re not going to rehearse it to just do it in a second.” There’s no movement. It’s just us.

There’s something so unique about a first take because it’s the most honest it gets — there’s something magical because it’s untouched. We both wanted to leave it at that and see just how the first take runs out. The only thing Jacob had mentioned was, “Don’t be scared of the silences. Don’t be scared of the awkwardness, don’t be scared to make it slow.” There are a few beats after — once the show’s edited, obviously you trim down — but there’s not much to say.

What about your character specifically in that scene?

I didn’t want her to outshine him. She was really in the passenger seat, and sometimes it’s in the eye contact and the energy of being like, “I will be here whenever you’re ready to talk and open up.” There’s that beautiful moment when it cuts back to his flashbacks. I remember doing ADR after we’d shot the scene once the show was about to be released, and just knives straight to my heart. It’s what really gets me in that scene. Rose is not saying anything, it’s just him living his emotion and all of his duality, everything that’s tearing him apart. And the conflict, and you feel all of that. It’s silent. Even the images are silent. It’s so powerful. We really wanted the scene to be quiet and intimate.

On the very first take, just watching Hudson’s inner monologue, you could see the battle in his eyes and it made me tear up instantly. We both were in a place of really listening to one another in the scene. It wasn’t about what I was going to say next. It was about, how can I make him feel seen and understood and cared for?

What has the show’s response been like for you? It seems like you all knew that you had something special, but sometimes the world doesn’t always realize that right away. It hit at a great time for you guys.

You said it so well. People love to ask that question, “Did you guys know it was going to blow up?” We knew what we were a part of was special, and we all care so deeply for the story. It was a story that needed to be told, especially in this day and age, and felt very of its time. We poured our hearts and soul into it and we knew we were in great hands with Jacob. We knew we would be very proud of the final product, but it’s such a question and matter of timing and who’s seen it, who’s talked about it, the PR around it, the promoting of it. There are so many elements that are out of our control that I don’t think any of us could have predicted how overnight the success was going to be.

We’re so grateful, honored. Before the show coming out, I remember wrapping and being like, “This is one of the best sets I’ve ever been on in my entire life.” Everyone was so genuine and there’s no sense of competition. The chemistry that everyone has is what it was like on set. Hudson is unhinged and chaotic and hilarious, and Connor is so caring. Actually, he’s so unlike his character because he’s so not cold. He’s the warmest, sweetest man. And Jacob, I’ve never seen someone direct a set that felt so effortless. He makes directing look so easy when this guy literally is showrunning, writing, doing everything. I really do believe that when the creators and everyone on set, all the way down to the crew members, are there for the right reasons, there is something that transgresses on screen.

I agree with you.

There’s something really magical about it, and I think the audience really felt that. I fell into this industry very randomly, but I do feel somewhat of a responsibility to be able to make somewhat of a change with my work. Cinema, TV is a great medium to be able to do that because I remember seeing characters on screen growing up that made me feel less alone because they made me feel so seen and understood. In moments that I was having the shittiest day, I would go to the movies and for an hour and a half, I would forget everything that was hard in my life. I’m getting emotional just thinking about it.

No, it’s absolutely OK.

I think of people who have been battling so many things that they’ve never been able to express or talk about, who feel so lonely and that there’s no light for them at the end of the tunnel. Then they fall upon this show and this is their lifeline. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but especially for the gay community, I feel like there hasn’t been the opportunity or chance to have this representation on screen, for some people to finally feel there’s a character that they can relate to. It’s helped some people come out. To know my work has brought people closer together, that it’s bonded people and helped them out of really hard times, that it’s changed their lives to some extent, is really all I can ask for. I’ve been feeling very grateful and emotional of how well the show has resonated with people.

You’ve been working as an actor since you were young. How do you think your outlook on the types of roles you seek has grown alongside you?

When I started, it was all fun and games. I was not a theater kid. I’ve never taken any acting classes to this day. I probably should. You can always become a better version of yourself. It doesn’t have any limits. I will forever be learning from my peers and can always improve. At the beginning, I had no plan or set destination or goal. I randomly fell into acting because I needed a bit of money to be able to afford gymnastics that I was doing at the time and the traveling competitions. I was just very lucky. My first movie went to the Oscars and then I booked The Book Thief, which was a big movie.

At first, I was taking whatever came my way that was fun without any second thought or trying to curate my career. When I graduated high school and wanted to apply for college, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, that’s when I started being a bit more selective and take it a bit more seriously and putting a bit more thought into the scripts I was reading. Then I quickly booked Yellowjackets and since then, it’s opened some doors, for sure, and I’ve been able to be a bit more selective. I just want to have a great balance. Obviously with Yellowjackets, I’ve been offered a lot of horror driven-[roles].

Yeah, I can imagine.

I really don’t want to pigeon-hole myself in that genre, especially because actually, horror is my least favorite genre. I think moving forward, it’s about trying to create a career that feels really different with characters who are as far away from me as possible. That’s what’s fun, sometimes, to step out of your comfort zone, however terrifying that can be. But I really want to try comedy. I’ve never done comedy. I would love that because I think it looks really hard.

I recently interviewed an actor and we talked about how rom-coms are harder.

I do think it’s harder. In comedy, there’s probably a lot of improv and trying things and it not working out. The idea of shooting an idea that comes out of my mind and it landing and everyone being like, “That’s such a bad idea,” would traumatize me, but in a great way. I need to live through that embarrassment because, what is acting if not trying things? It’s a classic process, but I would be really interested in doing comedy. People We Meet On Vacation is actually a role I’d really love, I think would be really fun. I’m a big rom-com gal, so I’m manifesting that for myself. I just want to try to do as many different characters as possible.

I know you’re preparing to go back to Yellowjackets, correct?

I leave in a week to go back.

Wow. Very soon. Have you seen any scripts? How are you taking in the fact that it’s the last one?

They’re very secretive about what happens in this show. We literally get the scripts two weeks before shooting an episode, sometimes even a week.

Wow.

We have no idea. People are like, “Give us spoilers.” I’m like, “I wish I could.” I have nothing myself. But I do think that obviously, there’s a lot of pressure coming into this season knowing it’s the last one. We all feel a lot of responsibility in offering the audience a season that will live up to the expectations that we’ll close out the show, but stay true to the very first season, honoring all of the episodes at the same time. I think it’ll be a really fun one. Luckily, the showrunners have had time to write it and I think are very committed to putting in their all, so it’s very bittersweet.

This show will have shaped my 20s. I’ve known these girls for almost 10 years now in the most formative years of my life. The things that I’ve come to learn about myself… they’ve made me grow so much, so it really feels weird for this to come to an end. But at the same time, so exciting to be able to try different kinds of characters. Every good show wraps at four, honestly.

Or it gets to a point where…

Where everyone’s like, “I would rather stay true to the show and not go off rails just to keep giving.” We’ve been excited about the rescue [of the teen survivors, including Shauna] since we started the show. The time in the wilderness has been so interesting to see how, emotionally, they navigate all of these circumstances, but I think the back to reality is going to hit all of us hard. Then being confronted by all of their demons, all of them navigating the demons they had before going into the wilderness and the things they were dealing.

Obviously, there were different issues to deal with out in the wilderness. [They didn’t have to] deal with a lot of these things that are now all going to come back to the surface, whether that’s previous relationships or their relationship with their parents. There’s a lot of things that were broken before they even went out in the wilderness, so it’s going to double down on them. That is going to be very interesting to see how it unfolds.

What are you going to miss the most? Like you said, the show’s really shaped a lot of your adult life and it is obviously going to be a bit of a change when it is no longer there.

There’s something very fun about being so established, that we know each other so well and we really operate as a group. I’ll miss that we know each other’s flaws and weaknesses and strengths from working season after season together. It’ll be weird whenever I shoot on another project, when you are new to some actor and you don’t know how they operate or their style or technique. To be so in tune with other actors is going to feel weird to not have anymore. And the friendships, it really does feel like you go home to one big family. Working with the crew as well, there’s something so familiar and comforting, especially when you’re not working in your hometown, it does feel a bit like home away from home when I get to go back with the same ADs and the same crews. You’ve established running jokes on set and we know this from season one. That’s going to be really hard to lose, I think.

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Heated Rivalry is now streaming on HBO Max, and Yellowjackets streams on Paramount+.