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The Most Haunted States of America According to ‘Supernatural’

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The Most Haunted States of America According to ‘Supernatural’

After fifteen seasons, Supernatural saw the Winchester brothers travel all across the United States to save as many people and hunt as many things as they possibly could. As Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) rambled along, they passed through and became familiar with plenty of states in the Union, but as the series went on, Supernatural was less of a “road-show” and localized itself to a more central location (i.e. the Men of Letters’ Bunker). This made it easier for the brothers to lie low and plan their next steps in preventing the latest Apocalypses. But early on, Supernatural lived on the road. The dingy motels, open highways, and classic rock became staples of the paranormal series that have lived on beyond the show’s tonal shifts and ever-changing showrunners.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of the most haunted states on Supernatural based solely on how many times each appears in the series, which for this list means they’ve shown up 18 times or more. So kick back, put on your favorite mullet rock bands, and drive with us through the Winchesters’ favorite states.

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8. Colorado – 18 Episodes

One of the most beautiful of the Western mountain states, Colorado is the second state the Winchesters ever worked a case on the show (“Wendigo”) and finds itself tied with Illinois and Indiana as the eighth most visited state on Supernatural. The Centennial State was home to at least one wendigo, a vampire clan, a pack of Malayan cicada spirits, lots of demons, and even the Horseman War (Titus Welliver) before the Winchesters took them out. In Monument, Sam, Dean, and Ruby (Katie Cassidy) took a stand against a group of demons planning on decimating the town (“Jus In Bello”), and in Rock Ridge, Dean struggled to get over his ghost-sickness which was slowly warping his mind (“Yellow Fever”). Some of the boy’s most iconic, and most dangerous, cases were worked in Colorado, and that makes it one of the most haunted places in the country.

Most Visited Town: Manning, CO – A fictional city that was the home of one of John Winchester’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) old hunting buddies, Daniel Elkins (Terence Kelly), as well as the demon-killing Colt.

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8. Illinois – 18 Episodes

Like Colorado, Illinois is also tied as the eighth-most haunted state on Supernatural, though to be honest, it seems like it should be much higher on the list. One of the boy’s earliest cases, investigating the haunted Roosevelt asylum (“Asylum”), was worked in Rockford, and later that season they fought against Meg (Nicki Aycox) and her Daevas in Chicago (“Shadow”). This isn’t even to mention the other ghosts, special children, djinn, demons, and angels who appeared across the Land of Lincoln over the years (Castiel’s vessel, Jimmy, is from Pontiac). But what stands out most in Illinois is the city of Chicago, which, as it turns out, is run by a secret mafia made up of five monster families including werewolves, shapeshifters, djinn, ghouls, and sirens (“Bloodlines”). If that doesn’t make Illinois the most haunted place, then I don’t know what does, but Sam and Dean never made it back to the Windy City to help.

Most Visited Town: Chicago, IL – Big monster conspiracy aside, Dean returned to make a deal with Death (Julian Richings) and the boys came back to take down Dick Roman (James Patrick Stuart) a few years later.

8. Indiana – 18 Episodes

The final state tied for eighth place is the “Crossroads of America” itself, Indiana. Made popular more recently by Stranger Things, Supernatural put the paranormal in Indiana years ago when the Winchesters faced threats like Bloody Mary in Fort Wayne (“Bloody Mary”), a Norse fertility god in the fictional Burkitsville (“Scarecrow”), a group of changelings in Cicero (“The Kids Are Alright”), and a bunch of angry gods outside of Muncie (“Hammer of the Gods”), not to mention the other classics like demons and ghosts. But what makes Indiana unique is Dean’s personal connection to the state, specifically to Lisa Braeden (Cindy Sampson) and her son Ben (Nicholas Elia), who may-or-may-not actually be Dean’s kid. Because of his time with them, Indiana ranks a bit higher than most of the lower 48, but we’ll let it slide since it was Sam’s final wish before he went to Hell (“Swan Song”).

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Most Visited Town: Cicero, IN – The hometown of Lisa and their “not-son” Ben, the Winchesters spent a lot of time in Cicero. Especially Dean, who took a year off hunting to live with the Braeden’s between Seasons 5 and 6.

7. Iowa – 20 Episodes

From beating the terrifying Hook Man legend (“Hook Man”) to investigating the deaths of different magicians (“Criss Angel is a Douchebag”), Iowa is prominently featured on Supernatural are a recurring haunting place for demons, ghosts, Leviathans, religious cults, and Native American monsters. This Midwestern state was home to the terrifying Kohonta (“Don’t Go In The Woods”) as well as the off-the-grid fundamentalists known as the Petersons (“American Nightmare”). Iowa was never afraid to get weird and became a frequent hunting ground for the Winchesters, though they rarely visited the same town twice. More than not, Iowa was a “drive-through” state that the boys used to get to wherever else they were going, and yet, it seemed that The Hawkeye State just had enough high strangeness to keep them around.

Most Visited Town: Salvation, IA – The fictional town where the Winchesters decided to take the fight to the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Salvation only barely appears twice, making it the only place in Iowa to show up more than once.

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6. Nebraska – 24 Episodes

The neighboring state to the boy’s hometown of Lebanon, Kansas, it makes sense that Nebraska would be one of the most visited places on Supernatural. The Winchesters spent a lot of time in Nebraska, even early on in the series, especially at the Harville’s Roadhouse in the second season. The Roadhouse, set somewhere in rural Nebraska, was home to Ellen (Samantha Ferris), Jo (Alona Tal), and Ash (Chad Lindberg), who helped the boys on various cases throughout Season 2 before being burned to the ground by demons (“All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1”). Still, after they acquired the Men of Letters Bunker in Season 8, the boys spent even more time in “Beautiful Nebraska,” fighting Kitsunes in Lincoln (“The Girl Next Door”), the Frankensteins in Omaha (“Dark Dynasty”), and even an alternate version of the archangel Michael (“The Spear”).

Most Visited Town: Harville’s Roadhouse – While not a town, the Roadhouse marked the most popular Nebraskan destination for Sam and Dean. That said, the most visited towns are actually a tie between Lincoln and Omaha.

5. Missouri – 25 Episodes

The Ozarks is a great place for monsters to hide, but even they can’t hide from the Winchesters. The brothers first arrived in Missouri as early as Season 1 to face off against a shapeshifter who disguised itself as Dean, marking the brother’s first troubles with the law (“Skin”). They also took on a racist ghost truck in Cape Giradeau (“Route 666”), some demons in Jefferson City (“Devil’s Trap”), and the Devil (Mark Pellegrino) himself at the bloody and historic Carthage (“Abandon All Hope…”). That’s not even to mention Dean’s time in an alternate timeline where Lucifer possessed Sam and destroyed all of Kansas City, which was rabid with people infected by the demonic Croatoan virus (“The End”). The Mother of the West has been prominently displayed on Supernatural, earning her rightful place on this list.

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Most Visited Town: St. Louis, MO – Appearing in eight different episodes, St. Louis takes the cake at the Winchesters’ most-visited Missourian location. Besides their Kansas home, it’s the Winchesters most worked-in city.

RELATED: 15 Best ‘Supernatural’ Episodes About Family, Ranked

4. Ohio – 27 Episodes

The boys love Ohio, or at least they seem to because they work a lot of cases up there. It makes sense though, as the series creator Eric Kripke was born and raised in Toledo, which the boys visited way back in the first season’s “Bloody Mary.” Sam and Dean also fought against some live-action fairytales in Springfield (“Tall Tales”), a voice-changing Crocotta in Milan (“Long-Distance Call”), the Trickster (Richard Speight Jr.), who threw them into TV Land, outside of Wellington (“Changing Channels”), and lots of other creatures along the way. The Birthplace of Aviation’s monsters are no match for the Winchesters, though, as they effectively dispatch their foes with their expert-level hunting experience.

Most Visited Town: Kripke’s Hollow, OH – The fictional town was home to Chuck (Rob Benedict) when he was still writing the Supernatural books. Dayton comes close though, as the Apocalypse World version appeared twice.

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3. Massachusetts – 40 Episodes

Definitely not a state you’d expect to be near the top of the list, so you can thank Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard) for this one. This New England staple was actually the home of Crowley’s lair at the abandoned Needham Asylum, which the Winchesters stormed in Season 11’s “Our Little World.” Besides Crowley’s earthly base of operations, the boys spent some time in Sea Pines hunting a ghost ship with Bela Talbot (Lauren Cohan) in “Red Sky at Morning” and returned to Sturbridge in “Malleus Maleficarum” to take down a coven of witches. Sam also got his body jacked in Housatonic (“Swap Meat”), and Andover even got a few passing mentions throughout the show. Still, the fact that the King of Hell’s lair was in Old Mass makes this state one of the most haunted in the Union.

Most Visited Town: Fall River, MA – The same town as the famous Lizzie Borden case just so happens to be where Crowley’s Lair resides this side of Hell.

2. South Dakota – 55 Episodes

Just as you could thank Crowley for Massachusetts, you can thank Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) for South Dakota’s spot on this list. At the end of Season 1, the boys reunite with their father figure and begin to visit him more often as the series continued, mostly to come up with a game plan to take down the Devil or Dick Roman. Even after Bobby’s death, Sam and Dean would return to Sioux Falls often to visit Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) and her wayward home of misplaced teenagers. The boys make it out there at least once a season for some reason or another, whether it’s to trap a demon (“Devil’s Trap”), fight Apocalyptic ghosts (“Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”), rescue innocent girls from vampires (“Alex Annie Alexis Ann”), and deal with alternate reality psychos (“The Scar”). After all, who doesn’t love The Mount Rushmore State?

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Most Visited Town: Sioux Falls, SD – Bobby’s hometown and the home of the misplaced Wayward Sisters, Sioux Falls became somewhat of a second home for Sam and Dean… Guess that explains why they couldn’t stay away!

1. Kansas – 160 Episodes

Yes, the vast majority of Supernatural episodes take place in the Winchesters’ home state of Kansas. The boys were born in Lawerence and lost their mother, Mary (Samantha Smith), there to the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Sam and Dean would return home often, be it to face their mother’s ghost (“Home”) or via angelic time-travel (“The Song Remains The Same”). In fact, the final battle between Michael (Jake Abel) and Lucifer was set to take place at the infamous Stull Cemetary at the end of Season 5’s “Swan Song.” The boys would work a lot of cases in Kansas over the years, especially once they discovered the Men of Letters Bunker in Lebanon, which became their new home and base of operations until the series finale “Carry On.” Also, it’s fitting that The Sunflower State would be Supernatural‘s most popular destination given that the band Kansas’ song “Carry On Wayward Son” is the series unofficial theme song.

Most Visited Town: Lebanon, KS – With 135 different Bunker appearances, the boys spent more time at their new home than anywhere else.

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After Driving Again And More, Britney Spears Shares Her Latest Taste Of Post-Conservatorship Freedom

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After Driving Again And More, Britney Spears Shares Her Latest Taste Of Post-Conservatorship Freedom

They say it’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary, and that’s likely particularly true if you’ve been denied access to those things for an extended period of time. After Britney Spears was released from the conservatorship she’d been under, the singer has been reintroducing herself to some of life’s simple pleasures. Last summer Spears was super pumped about regaining the freedom to drive, and in January the “Toxic” singer documented drinking her first glass of wine in over a decade. The newlywed continued to celebrate the post-conservatorship life by sharing her first trip to a bar.

Fans of the former pop singer are accustomed to seeing Britney Spears dancing and twirling and modeling different outfits at her and Sam Asghari’s new home. However, the “Toxic” singer took her followers on an exciting field trip, in which she and her assistant patronized a local drinking establishment. She shared her trip — and a sarcastic remark — on Instagram:

(Image credit: Instagram)

As she and her assistant Victoria Asher apparently enjoyed a drink and an app, Britney Spears couldn’t help but throw a little shade at her family, remarking that she was “so so grateful” for not being allowed to have a cocktail for the 13 years after her father Jamie Spears took control of her life. In fact, the 40-year-old said in her post this is her first time to partake in such an adventure. In the video, she shared:

This is my first time at a bar. First time. I feel so fancy, and I feel so sophisticated.

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How ‘Yellowjackets’ Stars Survived Hollywood

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How ‘Yellowjackets’ Stars Survived Hollywood

Sure, they may have eaten a person back in the day. But there are some things the grown women of Yellowjackets just wouldn’t do. On this, the actresses who play them — Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci — agree, as they gather in a backyard in L.A.’s Topanga Canyon in late July, just a few weeks before they start filming the second season of their breakout show.

The Showtime survival thriller, created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, earned seven Emmy nominations, including outstanding drama series and acting nominations for Lynskey and Ricci. The Yellowjackets storyline alternates between 1996 and the present day as it follows members of a high school girls soccer team whose plane crashes and strands them for 19 months in the wilderness, where they resort to cannibalism to survive.

Part of the show’s nostalgic appeal relies on its casting of these actresses, three of whom audiences knew as young women for their slyly offbeat roles in films like The Addams Family (Ricci), Cape Fear (Lewis) and Heavenly Creatures (Lynskey), to play the crash survivors as adults. In this conversation with THR, Cypress, Lewis, Lynskey and Ricci disclose their ’90s regrets, share what it means when you call an actress “quirky” and reveal how survival bonds women — including in the trenches of Hollywood.

Who here knew each other before the show?

MELANIE LYNSKEY (Points to Christina Ricci.) We knew each other a little bit. I went to a Nick Cave concert by myself, and Christina came up and —

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CHRISTINA RICCI I was very excited to see you.

LYNSKEY So excited. We were having a lovely chat, and then she’s like, “Are you here by yourself?” She’s the coolest person of all time, and I was intimidated. I just felt embarrassed to say, “I’ve come to a concert by myself.” I was like 24 or something.

RICCI I was impressed because I couldn’t go anywhere by myself.

LYNSKEY I also went to see Clay Aiken by myself because nobody would come with me.

It’s surprising that none of you had worked together over the years.

JULIETTE LEWIS It’s wild when you’ve been around so long, and you sort of have a kindred connection to people. There’s certain actors you’re like, “Mmm, we’re not of the same tree,” and then there’s other actors you’re like, “Oh, yeah. We have some roots.”

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Juliette, Melanie and Christina, all three of your Wikipedia entries say some version of, “Often plays quirky or offbeat characters.” What do those words mean to you?

LEWIS Real people, specific and unpredictable.

LYNSKEY I remember I got cast in a movie when I was like 21, and the description of the character before I auditioned was “Blah, blah, blah, the beautiful girl who sits next to him in school.” Then, at the table read, it had been changed to “Blah, blah, blah, cute and quirky.” I was like, “You don’t need to change it. Just keep it …” They’re like, “We better change this description or people will be like, wrong actress.” So, sometimes it feels … I don’t know. I never liked that word, “quirky.”

RICCI When you say that all of us had this description, that to me speaks to a past time, when, if you weren’t the leading-lady ingenue then you were quirky and offbeat. All right, so there’s two groups for actresses? In a way, I’m fine with being in the category I’m in because what it means to me is that I have made an effort in my career to do things that I feel like I haven’t seen before. So, in some ways, I like it. In other ways, I’m like, “Ugh.” It’s a little dismissive. A little cute and dismissive.

LEWIS We come from the ’90s where, when I had blond hair, I was the pretty airhead, and then I dyed my hair dark, and I was the wisecracking, sarcastic girl. But yeah, I think it’s really neat that we’ve all carved this path of range and specificity.

Isn’t another term for that “character actor”?

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RICCI But “character actress” used to be something they used to describe an ugly woman.

TAWNY CYPRESS Or Abe Vigoda.

RICCI Back in the late ’90s, my agents were always like, “We have to be so careful you don’t become a character actress. If we’re not careful, you’re going to end up just like Jennifer Jason Leigh.” I was like, “I like her.” They were so afraid of me not being a leading lady, of me not being sexually attractive to people. It was really the last thing I ever wanted, was for anyone to be attracted to me.

LEWIS My dad was a character actor. So to me, it was something that was super noble. It was a world of adventure and not limiting. I rebelled against the system, the PR system of being in some bizarre idea of beauty. I really revolted against that, for better or for worse. Crying in a bathroom at a photo shoot, like, “I won’t come out.” They want these doe-eyed looks. That’s for sure what I didn’t do in pictures, so I always looked slightly insane, which I prefer over, like, “Do you want to fuck me?”

Tawny, what was your sense of what the expectations were for you when you were starting out?

CYPRESS I’ve had a different row to hoe. I’ve spent my whole career doing shitty roles of the sassy one on the side. Honestly, growing up as an actor, I wanted to be an ingenue.

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LEWIS Isn’t that funny? And I wanted to be sassy and opinionated.

CYPRESS I couldn’t be an ingenue. I just couldn’t. It’s just not in me, you know? I was never presented with those roles, ever, and I was like, “Oh, OK. That’s not who I am.” I sort of, growing older, have embraced my Jersey side, and I am who I am, and this is what you get.

LYNSKEY I started calling myself a character actor in interviews when I was really young because I think it was reclaiming the term or something. I think I just was like, “That’s what I am.” My agents had all that kind of intensity around it, too. I remember when I did Coyote Ugly

RICCI Oh my God, you got a piece in that? I went up for that, and I didn’t get it.

CYPRESS I did too.

LYNSKEY I played the best friend from Jersey. But the scrutiny that was on Piper [Perabo], who’s one of the coolest, smartest women, just the way people were talking about her body, talking about her appearance, focusing on what she was eating. All the girls had this regimen they had to go on. It was ridiculous. I was already starving myself and as thin as I could possibly be for this body, and I was still a [size] four. That was already people putting a lot of Spanx on me in wardrobe fittings and being very disappointed when they saw me, the costume designer being like, “Nobody told me there would be girls like you.” Really intense feedback about my physicality, my body, people doing my makeup and being like, “I’m just going to help you out by giving you a bit more of a jawline and stuff.” Just the feedback was constantly like, “You’re not beautiful. You’re not beautiful.” In your early 20s, so much of it is about beauty, and how people respond to you, and do people want to fuck you? Do people think you’re their best friend? Even the best friend thing, I started to be like, “I don’t want to do that too many times.”

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Did you have to unlearn anything that people tried to teach you when you were starting out?

LEWIS I had developed such a survival mechanism to protect my autonomy, sort of, “You don’t own me. You don’t tell me my value. Only I do.” I was extremely self-critical — it still happens — of my work. It’s almost like a defense mechanism that no one could talk shit about me more than I can. There’s all these things that are wrapped up in how to survive a system. That’s what I’m unlearning today — to be softer. This is a really remarkable industry to be a part of. I feel honored to be a part of it and what it gave me, but I do still hold on to what it took from me in my youth.

Given what you all experienced coming into the industry, do you feel at all protective of the younger actresses who play the younger versions of your characters?

LYNSKEY (Begins to cry.) So much. I feel very protective. At the beginning of production, I sent them all an email, and I just was like, “Whatever you need, if you need a voice, if you need someone to go to the producers for you, whatever you need,” and they were kind of like, “Cool. Thanks.” They’re fine.

CYPRESS Totally fine. Jas [Jasmin Savoy Brown] was a boss on set. She’s like, “This is how we’re doing my hair. This is what we’re doing.”

RICCI They’re very much of a different generation.

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CYPRESS I am protective of Jas in the fact that she is so sexually positive, which I love. She has taught me so much, just knowing her as a person. But I’m like a mama bear to her, or a big sister. I’m like, “What are you putting online right now?” She’s like, “Whatever. Whatever. This is life, man. I love myself.” I’m protective, but I’m also in awe of her, you know?

LEWIS But there is a thing I always want to say to young people: Cultivate other interests deeply so that you’re not getting all your life’s blood from this industry, or your self-worth.

Is there anything you miss about the ’90s?

LYNSKEY I have a lot of love letters from the ’90s.

RICCI Someone used to fax me love letters when he was on tour. I did not save them. I throw everything out. I had a specific thing when I was a child, that we would be punished by the things that we loved being destroyed. My husband, who is a much healthier individual, has gone back and found all my old magazine covers on Etsy because he thinks it’s horrible that I never saved them. As a child, I learned that this is going to be taken from me, so why save it anyway?

LYNSKEY That’s heartbreaking. Well, I saved everything because I’m basically an emotional hoarder. I have this literal suitcase, an old-fashioned suitcase.

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RICCI This is very dark, but I would just like to go back to that age and do it over again and not make so many fucking mistakes. Honestly, I regret so much.

CYPRESS Me too. One thousand percent.

LEWIS Me too.

RICCI I’d like to go back to 1996 and be like, “All right … we had a practice run. It went OK, but it wasn’t really as great as we wanted it to be. We’re going to do this again.” People who are like, “I have no regrets.” What fucking magic life did you live?

LEWIS Where they go, “I don’t regret anything because that led up to this moment.” Really? The thing that could’ve put my dad in an early grave, I fucking regret it. Yes. I was very scary as a young teenage person.

CYPRESS Yeah. I hurt a lot of people growing up, and I wish that I didn’t. I was going through my memory box. It was my great-great-grandmother’s she brought over from Hungary. It’s huge, and it’s filled to the brim with everything from my life. I came across a note from high school. It was my first gay friend, and it broke my heart because he was like, “I want to thank you for not talking to me anymore and just cutting me off the way that you did. It made it hurt less.” I literally was crying, and I had to call him and be like, “I just came across this note, and I’m so sorry that I was that person to you.” When I think back, I think how wonderful our relationship was, but I was a shit, you know? I would definitely do so many things differently.

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LEWIS I’ve had those moments where I turned into … Because I’ve been bullied, but when I was 11 and got in a fight with a girl, I was mean [the same way] how a girl was mean to me. I was really vicious.

LYNSKEY I think people without regrets are narcissists. I think they’re lying to themselves.

RICCI Denial is the only way to get up that river.

What did you all feel when you learned that Roe v. Wade was overturned?

RICCI It’s really horrible to be told so plainly what your value is.

LEWIS I wish the two factions can talk, like, “Hey, what do you do with a bad situation, poverty and drug addiction, and rape?” You have to have an option that is salvageable or is sustainable for the survival of a person, a woman who’s living.

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CYPRESS I don’t really give a shit what your reason to have an abortion is. It’s your fucking body. I don’t really fucking care. You don’t want to be a mom, right? That’s your fucking decision. Look, we can put morals on it and say, “Well, only when you’re raped, or only if it’s …” It’s like no, dude. It’s either in or out. We’re either telling women what to do with their bodies or we let them have their own choice. I am of the mind, choice. I’m not going to judge you for making that decision.

LYNSKEY And there seems to be this general lack of compassion and empathy that’s just growing and growing. There’s so much hatred, and people are unable to look at another person’s life and go, “Oh, you know, that’s an untenable situation,” or even, “That’s a difficult situation.” There’s no grace given to anybody else. There’s no empathy. You don’t get to make decisions for somebody else. You don’t know what’s right for them.

Is there a place for TV and film in that conversation?

CYPRESS I mean, that’s what TV and film do. That’s what art is. On Yellowjackets, let’s talk about Shauna’s baby in the woods, you know? Yeah. I think we have a lot of room to speak on this subject, and I hope we do.

Did anybody have their kids on set for season one?

LYNSKEY (Points to Ricci.) We did.

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RICCI And I was pregnant. I didn’t tell anyone but these ladies that I was pregnant for six months. When we started, I was six weeks pregnant. It was difficult. There were so many times where I was like, “Ooh, when they find out I’m pregnant, and they made me sit in this smoky room all day. When they realize that they made me stand for eight hours, and I’m pregnant, and I have this horrible sciatica, and it’s 100 degrees, oh, they’re going to feel so bad.” They didn’t feel bad at all. But anyway, it was fine. In fact, it would’ve been helpful if I was playing a more emotional character because I can give a real good performance when I’m pregnant, real emo.

How would you finish the sentence, “Yellowjackets is really about …”?

CYPRESS Women. PTSD.

LYNSKEY Trauma.

CYPRESS Friendship.

RICCI Haunting, the way trauma haunts you. The way you can never escape. The way it twists people in different ways.

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LEWIS Aberrant survival tactics.

We know that these characters have done a bunch of aberrant things, as you say, including cannibalism. But do you have in your mind an idea that, “OK, she may have eaten another human being, but she would never do this“?

RICCI I know when they confront me because I’m like, “OK, she wouldn’t do that.” Misty wouldn’t drink that drink. Originally, in the script, she was drinking a Brandy Alexander, and I said, “No, Misty would drink a chocolate martini.” I have rules and stuff for her in my head, and they do conflict with the writers sometimes. I don’t think she actually is interested in men, at all. I think she does it because she’s bored, or because she thinks that’s what she’s supposed to do. Then, she’s also realized that she can have a lot of fun trying to trick them into having sex with her when they don’t want to. It’s like men will kind of know that you don’t want to have sex with them, but if they can get you to have sex with them, they won.

LEWIS It’s a power thing.

RICCI Misty’s way of doing it is through this really horrible manipulation, making him feel guilty and having sex with her while feeling guilty, which would be a terrible experience.

When you have a different perspective on your character than the writers, what do you do?

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RICCI That’s part of the thing with TV that I’ve learned now, being involved in a production but not being one of the EPs, so you aren’t a part of creating what people do. “OK, they wrote this scene. I have to play this scene. If she was in this situation, how the fuck would she be in this situation, and why would she be?” Then, you don’t have to tell other people what you come up with. They can find out about it later when you do press.

Does anybody else have a line in their mind that their character wouldn’t cross?

LYNSKEY I had one. There was something written into a script where I was going on a date with my lover, and they had me going into my daughter’s bedroom and taking her underwear, which was just not practical because I wouldn’t fit it. She’s little. But also, ew. I think there was something, apparently, somewhere, people liked the thing in the pilot where I’m masturbating in my daughter’s bedroom. I was like, “Can that just be an isolated incident? I don’t want it to be a theme.” So I just was like, “I don’t want to do that.” They were great about it.

LEWIS It comes, I think, with experience and respect, that they appreciate if you have a point of view. I have an “anything goes” stamp on me, which they all know. But I have strong ideas, especially about my trajectory in midlife. I’ve looked at Natural Born Killers recently, and I’m like, “Jesus.” Thank goodness I had a partner like Woody Harrelson, but it is so sexual. No one forced me into that. I was a young nihilist who didn’t give a fuck, and I felt comfortable with Woody, and I liked the material. But nowadays, I’m very particular. So, they had written a sex scene, and I was like, “I don’t know. I don’t know that she even gets off. I don’t know that she even can have orgasms.” That’s how deep I went. So it was more like, is she doing something to get something? At the end of the day, I just didn’t even think she fucks, sorry to be so graphic, at this juncture that you saw in season one. I think she might’ve had relationships with all of them in the wilderness. I don’t know if they’re going to write it, but that’s what I’d like to think of Natalie.

LYNSKEY That’s what I think too.

RICCI What? I never thought of that. Who would they be making out with? I guess each other.

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The finale hints that there may be additional Yellowjackets who survived into adulthood. Have actors been cast for those roles?

LEWIS Wait, Melanie, didn’t you say that on our chain, that someone we like is cast to be … (At this point there is meaningful eye contact among the four women.)

RICCI We don’t know for sure. That’s what we’ve heard was close to happening.

LYNSKEY We don’t know anything.

On season one, you were making this show under the radar. Now there’s so much fan speculation. Does that change the way you approach the work?

RICCI There’s more pressure going into season two.

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CYPRESS Have you guys also had that feeling of like, “Can I do this? Is it going to be good, the second season? Am I going to fuck this character up?”

LYNSKEY I have those fears.

RICCI Me too, but because TV is so fast, and you have so little time with the information, the process of talking about the show afterward helps you to evolve your take on your character. To understand things that were intended with the character that maybe weren’t clear originally because you get to hear the EPs talk about it. I’m going to make changes in the next season based on what I have come to realize through all this talking.

Like what?

RICCI Well, that’s a secret.

How much do you want to know about the path that your character is on?

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CYPRESS Fuck, I want to know everything. I sit there, and when I think about the show, I think, “What the fuck are they going to do with this character?” There’s so many different parts to her right now. The dog thing. She’s now a senator. There may be an old love coming back, you know? I’m like, “How are they going to do this?” I just want to know.

LYNSKEY Now you’re a full-time dog killer.

RICCI I didn’t even know that you were supposed to be the one that killed the dog.

CYPRESS What?

RICCI I thought, “Oh, well maybe somebody broke in.”

LYNSKEY That could still be, right?

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CYPRESS Wait, give me more to think about.

So you don’t go to the writers and say, “To be clear, did I kill the dog?”

CYPRESS Oh, we do. They just say, “Mmm.”

RICCI “We don’t know.”

CYPRESS But they do know.

RICCI I don’t think they’re trying to control us with no information or anything. Sometimes, they don’t want to commit to something that hasn’t been necessarily set in stone. I do find it frustrating to not know, and we’re never able to know fully. I have decided to learn how to function with knowing nothing.

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Interview edited for length and clarity.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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James Gunn Addresses Peacemaker Future Amid Batgirl Cancelation

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James Gunn Addresses Peacemaker Future Amid Batgirl Cancelation

Shockwaves from Warner Bros.’s cancelation of Batgirl have had many fans questioning the possibility of other DC-connected projects following suit. Amid outcries from fans of Batgirl, Michael Keaton, Brendan Fraser, and even Snyderverse fans who are always eager to picket Warner Bros., Peacemaker fans started asking James Gunn whether there was any possibility that his DC work was going to suffer amid the company’s cost-cutting exercise. Ironically, considering the history that led James Gunn to work with DCEU characters, it seems that the director and his shows are the only ones who are “safe.”

What seems like a lifetime ago, James Gunn was all set to start work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for Disney and Marvel Studios when some old Twitter posts led to him being unceremoniously sacked. By the time Disney backtracked on their firing, Gunn was already committed to directing The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros., which is why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has taken so long to arrive. Now, during all the chaos at Warner Bros., it appears that Gunn is not worried at all about the second season of Peacemaker getting the ax. When asked if the show was safe, Gunn simply replied:

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“Yes, guys, calm down.”

That is a relief for fans of the small sub-universe Gunn is building inside the DCEU, which along with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, is set to include at least another unannounced project and be linked to the Amanda Waller series that is in development. At least that side of the franchise doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.


Related: Peacemaker: Will More Suicide Squad Members Appear in Season 2?

Is Warner Bros. Still Planning on Rebooting The DCEU?

There have been rumors of a “soft-reboot” coming to the DCEU for a long time, and while it seems at times like Warner Bros. is heading in that direction, they have constantly denied any such intention. During San Diego Comic-Con, the entire focus of the Warner Bros. live-action DC panel was on Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Both of these movies have their small links to the wider DCEU, and once again, Warner Bros. seemed to be causing confusion by including a Justice League montage within the Shazam sequel while at the same time professing that they are not revisiting that particular DCEU set up in any way.

One thing clear from Dwayne Johnson’s appearance at SDCC is that he believes that Black Adam is setting the tone for a new DCEU, and based on everything else that is happening, he could be right. While there is no way of telling exactly where the franchise will be heading beyond The Flash in 2023, with new additional entries like Wonder Woman 3 constantly being stuck in limbo, it has been made clear that some big changes are being made in regards to the DCEU and fans will be hoping that those changes bring some kind of consistency to the franchise before it ends up crashing down around itself.

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