Two-time Oscar winner Swank (pictured) will be a recurring guest actress in the upcoming season, which is currently filming in Vancouver. Sources report that there is an option for her to become a regular face if the successful series gets a fourth season.
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Yellowjackets is the story of a team of talented high school football players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness.
The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to fierce clans, while also following the lives they try to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really the past and that what began in the wilderness is far from over.
Details about Swank's character, who will be introduced later in the season, have not yet been revealed. Based on the show's format, it's conceivable that she'll play the modern-day, adult version of a teen on the football team whose story hasn't yet been fully explored.
The series already has big names playing the circa-2021 characters, including regulars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, Lauren Ambrose and Simone Kessell, as well as Juliette Lewis who left after two seasons. Their younger counterparts are played by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, Liv Hewson and Courtney Eaton in the 1996 era.
Season three of Yellowjackets, which also stars Joel McHale, debuts next year on Showtime. Meanwhile, the first season of the series, which is a mix of survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, became available on Netflix in the US on October 1, bringing the series to a new audience. All existing seasons of Yellowjackets will remain on the series' main streaming home, Paramount+.
Yellowjackets is produced by Lyle, Nickerson and fellow showrunner Jonathan Lisco. Creative Engine's Drew Comins also serves as executive producer, along with Jeff Byrd, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa and Brad Van Arragon. Produced by Lionsgate Television, Yellowjackets premiered in 2021 and was well received. In its first two seasons, it received ten Emmy Award nominations, including two Oscars for Outstanding Drama Series.
Swank, Oscar winner for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, recently starred in ABC's Alaska Daily, earning a Golden Globe nomination.