'Yellowjackets' stars Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse share their thoughts on Shauna's darkness

Despite how some fans may feel, Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse are embracing the darkness of their shared Yellowjackets character, Shauna. Lynskey even made it a point to shine a light on the double standard when it comes to men and women as villains. 

"I know that she’s kind of a tyrant, but the loss that she’s suffered and the psychosis that she’s under, it’s really intense," Lynskey explained to Variety. "People are just so quick to judge. Even when they talk about how she was terrible before the wilderness because she was cheating with Jackie’s boyfriend, it’s like, where’s that anger for Jeff then? He was the other part and he’s just getting away with it. The way that people talk about women and men has been very interesting because people delight in men as villains. But I think, especially when a woman is a mother, there’s this other set of expectations. Then people are like, 'She’s not even a very good mother.' Well, guess what? Some people aren’t. People’s need for things to be very black or white has been interesting for me to see."

Nélisse doesn't back down from the title of villain, saying, "The darkness that is within her is real. I think it’s seen as something so negative, but like, why? I don’t think she’s channeling it right, but that’s because she doesn’t have the resources and the people around her to let her voice it. So when she gets into the wilderness, and there are no societal rules and there’s no form of parenting or any boundaries that are set. There’s just no limit to where that darkness can go."