Yellowjackets Star Sophie Nélisse On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

Thank you so much for joining us in this series Sophie. Our readers would love to get to know your origin story a bit. Could you share a little bit of your background with us and how you grew up?

I was born in Windsor, Ontario. My family moved to Montreal when I was four. I grew up doing gymnastics and competed at a high level. I trained to compete in the Olympics potentially. That’s how I learned to speak English. I was competing throughout the country. Gymnastics is quite expensive. That’s how I got into acting. It was very random. I needed money, so I auditioned for an agency with my sister and brother. I have worked as an actor ever since. I’ve been very lucky.

That’s great! You probably have a lot of interesting experiences. Can you share with our readers one of the most interesting experiences you’ve had since you began your acting career?

Every set is different and has its own little stories, but I think the one that’s been the weirdest for me was a shoot that was 47 meters underwater and in a cage. It’s a horror movie. I don’t think anyone’s ever done what we had to do in that movie, the whole underwater thing. We were literally acting underwater. We were in these big tanks and communicating with specially-made diving equipment, where we could see our faces and talk. The whole set was built underwater with fake rocks. We’d be down there for hours. Sometimes we would even kind of take naps down there. It definitely broke all of the rules that I knew about cinema. We didn’t do rehearsals. We couldn’t do any blocking. We couldn’t communicate with the director between every take. It was a very unique experience.

That’s a great story. It’s been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a mistake and then a lesson that you learned from that?

This is a pretty big question. I feel like my whole life is built on tiny mistakes. I don’t have a specific one. But, if I think of everything- the highs, the lows, the mistakes I’ve made were when I was too self-conscious about something. In acting, it’s very important to let go of your ego and not be afraid of making mistakes or looking ridiculous, or offering a choice that might fail or people might not find funny or good. I think that’s what I’ve learned from working with people who have so much experience. They’re not afraid of making mistakes. That’s how you grow.

I have a bunch of minor mistakes. With gymnastics, for example, and the hard work, I used to cheat when it came to physical conditioning. I would see all of my friends executing a skill that I wasn’t able to do and would think: “Maybe if I would’ve trained harder or done what I was told, then I would be where they are.” It’s all of those tiny mistakes like that which have helped me grow.

None of us have achieved success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person you’re grateful for who helped you get a big break?

Yes, my mom. When I got the role in “The Book Thief,” I had to have an adult supervisor on set. My mom had to quit her job so she could follow me. She sacrificed so much to get me where I am today. She’s always supported me throughout my career, even when I wanted to quit gymnastics. She knows me best. Obviously, she doesn’t follow me everywhere now because I’ve gotten older, but when she was on set, she ensured I was taken care of.

Some parents push their kids really hard, and my mom didn’t do that. She obviously pushed me to achieve my dreams, but she respected me and always put my well-being and mental health above everything else. That’s super important because sometimes parents can get caught up in it all. For example, if I wanted to quit acting, she would support me just as she supports me in every decision I make. She keeps me very grounded. She also taught me to be respectful towards others. She not only helped me in my career by following me around but also by teaching me values that helped me grow into someone who’s kind to people and respectful. I think that goes a long way.

Wonderful. You have a really impressive body of work. Can you share with our readers some of the exciting projects you’re working on now and what you’ll be working on in the near future?

I am doing a TV show called “Yellowjackets,” which has been doing very well, and we’re super excited about that. We are going to start shooting the second season in August. I was just in Poland for two months shooting a movie called “Irena’s Vow”, which is based on a real-life story about a Polish woman during the Second World War. She was a servant to a German SS officer, and she managed to save many Jewish people by hiding them in the attic or the basement. The story is super meaningful to me. The movie should come out in early 2023. I play Irena, the main character.

Oh, wow. I can’t wait to see it. It sounds amazing. Let’s talk about “Yellowjackets” for a second. It has become one of the most popular television shows in the last year or two. In your opinion, what do you think has captured people’s attention about the show? What do you think made it such a big hit?

I think because it’s about female-driven stories. We’ve been lacking those. It’s so refreshing, not only to see so many women on screen, but to see women portray characters that we might not have seen portrayed before. It embraces every aspect of womanhood and not just the ugly sides about being a woman, like Shauna betraying Jackie with her boyfriend, but it also shows the respect these women have. I find it fascinating that there’s anger, there’s love, there’s betrayal, there’s confidence. There are just so many sides to these women.

I also think because every character in the show is so unique, it appeals to a wide audience. I think everyone can find a character in the show they can relate to and who speaks to them. We also talk about themes that are sometimes taboo or not talked about enough, which really connects with people. I think people can identify with these characters and feel like someone finally understands what they’re going through.

Amazing. Are there any lessons or messages we could take from the show and apply to what’s happening in our society today? Is there something you think is relevant to 2022?

I think the message could be that if we rally together and have a greater sense of community, even though there’s a lot of betrayal in the show, if we stick together and stand by each other, we can make anything happen. We can defeat the odds.

I also think about how relationships are important, how it’s important to have people you can rely on, to accept their mistakes, and to be able to accept the grieving period. The show speaks a lot about trauma and emotions that have been pushed down. All of these women have a lot of issues around the events that occurred in their lives. There is a lot of discussion about mental health and reaching out for help if you go through something very traumatic. You need to talk about it and be vocal. It’s okay to get help and need a support group.

The fans have been asking: Is it for sure that Lottie is The Antler Queen? Are you able to answer that definitively?

I can’t; I don’t even know who The Antler Queen is. I don’t know what happened to Shauna or if she’s The Antler Queen. I don’t know anything. So, I’m very curious about everything myself.

Okay, great. This is the signature question we ask in almost all of over interviews: Do you have five things you wish someone had told you when you first started acting and why?

I wish someone had told me that there are going to be lows and the lows are important. I’ve been so lucky in my career. It’s been very easy. I never put the work in. It’s not that I’ve had huge lows, but I’ve had lower points, and now I realize they made me appreciate the highs so much more. When I was going through one of those low periods, I would double up my efforts and work harder. That made me better in the long run.

So appreciate the lows. And, as I mentioned earlier, let go of your ego. I think that’s super important. Don’t be afraid of looking silly or stupid. That’s something I’ve never had an issue with, but I would definitely tell this to someone. You have to accept that acting is a game. You win, you lose. There’s a back and forth. You need to try different things, and if you don’t try and you don’t fail, you’ll never grow and get better. Stay grounded and be respectful of others.

Also, I think everyone on a set is equal and to treat people as your equal. I don’t think anyone on a set is more important. Everyone is literally crucial to the final product of the show or the movie. I think there shouldn’t be any such thing as a hierarchy or one’s better than anyone. Everyone is important. Treat people with respect and kindness. That will get you far.

And have fun. At the end of the day, you need to have fun doing whatever you do. And, if you’re doing it for the wrong reasons, you have to check in with yourself and ask yourself: Why am I here? Why am I doing this? Because if it’s not for good reasons, then in the long run, you’re not going to last and you’re not going to be happy. So just make sure to have fun. It should be fun and you should love what you do.

And lastly, everything happens in time. It’s so hard to look at other actresses when you don’t get a job. You’re frustrated and thinking: “I wish I had this project. I wish I was farther along the road.” I believe that everything happens in time and everything that happens to you is a learning experience. It’s part of the process. It’s so cliche but trust the process. Trust that if you didn’t get the part, maybe it’s because you’ll get another one that will teach you a different lesson, and in 10 years, it will serve you somehow.

So I think to trust that everything will happen in time and you just have to be content and happy with what you have in the present. It doesn’t mean just sit on whatever you have and take it for granted. It just means to stop being so eager or jealous.

Amazing, Sophie. Because of your role and position, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? Because you never know what your idea can inspire.

I think it would be more compassionate. I think that would solve so many problems in the world if we were all more compassionate and able to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Then we wouldn’t be so selfish. We would all be more collaborative. If we listen to each other more, we’d be more open to change and help. I just think that would fix so many problems — the environment and feminism and so many other issues in the world.

Beautiful, Sophie. Thank you so much for your time and for these amazing stories and insights. I wish you continued success.

Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time.