The incredibly popular series Yellowjackets became a critical and audience favourite when it premiered last year on Crave in Canada and Showtime in the States. The dark, grisly series—which was just named Best Horror Series at the Critics Choice Super Awards—is by all means a survivalist drama that hinges on cannibalism.
The series follows a New Jersey high school soccer team who are stranded in the Canadian wilderness for 19 months after a tragic plane crash. The first half of the series takes place in this 1996 timeline while interspersed with the current day, showing the aftermath of how the survivors are living with their secrets.
The cast is packed with actors who own their role and stand out, which is a major feat in such an ensemble series. The young actors include Jasmin Savoy Brown, Canadian stars Sophie Nélisse and Kevin Alves, Sophie Thatcher and Samantha Hanratty. The older cast includes Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, Melanie Lynskey (who just won a Critics Choice Award for her stellar performance) and Christina Ricci.
We caught up with Toronto-born Kevin Alves, who plays young Travis, to discuss all things Yellowjackets, the craziest theories by the hive, filming in the Canadian wilderness, and his hopes for Season 2.
I loved Yellowjackets. You’re starring in one of the best shows of the year. How does it feel? Did you ever imagine the reaction and fandom and the hive?
You know, when you’re making a show, you just have no idea, right? You really don’t know what you called for. I remember when I read the script the first time I thought it was spectacular. When I watched the pilot for the first time, I thought it was awesome. When I heard who was attached to it, I thought it was great because I joined the cast after everyone else. I wasn’t in the pilot originally, I got written in once the show was picked up. So I knew that there were some really cool parts to it. But there’s so much that can happen between shooting a show and it coming out that you have no idea where it’s going to turn out. I was not ready for how excited everyone was going to be. I think it started to become a reality as we saw the reviews come in and how much everyone’s really enjoying the show. And then to start seeing all the theories and the Reddit pages it was pretty surreal. Really cool, though.
Have you seen the Yellowjacket fan theories? I’ve spent hours going down the rabbit role on Reddit.
Oh, yeah, I think each week I was spending three hours. It was too fun. It’s really nice to see how passionate so many people are about the show and picking it apart and diving into these theories. That’s just a testament to how great a job I think Ashley [Lyle] and Bart [Nickerson] and the rest of the writers all did in creating a story that was so compelling that you want to solve this mystery of what’s happened.
I love that it’s got all these different genres together. It’s not something that’s predictable.
Yeah, I think that’s the beauty of this show, being a week-to-week release was the ability for it to continue to bend genres, because every week, you end an episode and people would talk about it in one way. Then by the time you got to next week, we flip it upside down, it’d be different and then you feel like it’s a whole different show for a second because this mystery is unfolding right in front of your eyes. I think if this show had been all at once, it would have done amazing, but we would have lost that beauty of the week to week of everyone kind of telling their best friend, I don’t know what’s happening. But this is happening. I was talking to a stylist who I’m working with next week on a magazine shoot and they said at best that the idea of the show made us appreciate how much we loved week-to-week releases.
“There was a theory that I read, claiming that I was going to be AQ with the antlers. I found that wild when I first saw it only because I had never thought of it before. I was like, ‘Oh, wow, there’s plausibility there.’”
What’s the wildest fan theory you ever read?
They’re all so good and all justified. That’s the cool thing about the Reddit theories is that they find a way to justify people talking about it, they figure out how it’s plausible. There was a theory that I read, claiming that I was going to be AQ with the antlers. I found that wild when I first saw it only because I had never thought of it before. I was like, ‘Oh, wow, there’s plausibility there.’ So it was cool to see that and just to see the detail. There are just too many theories. I was really on the bandwagon of Adam is Javi theory for a long time because I thought that was spectacular. I thought that was really well done artistically. Like all the shots that you’d see between Adam and Javi and Shauna in the past and future it was just it was so well done so yeah, I was definitely on board for that.
What is your craziest theory on who the Antler Queen is?
So I’ve been avoiding giving any of my guesses because we talk about this on set so much and we had conversations all season about this and so I know that my guesses have always been really close to the truth because we know enough. I know I talked to Ashley and Bart enough to know enough so I stay away from giving all my guess because I know that Reddit’s just going to run with it.
Right now, the bet is on Lottie.
That’s a big bet.
How much of the entire plot did you know while filming? Or were you given each episode at a time?
So I knew a little bit more when it came to Travis, specifically, because I got to sit down with the EPs and the writers before we started shooting and I got to ask some questions and they were so amazing at answering them and helping me kind of understand the direction we’re going with the role. But in the overall plot, I have no idea. Even specifics about Travis, I didn’t know. I remember we are shooting episode seven, I believe and Jamie Travis, the director comes up to me and I’m like, “Hey, I’m just loving where we where we ended up the past couple episodes of Travis and what’s going on.” Like it felt really authentic and good, because we have just shot the scene where Natalie and Travis try and have sex for the first time, and it doesn’t go exactly as planned. And I just thought it was such a raw real moment that I think so many teenagers go through that I love the idea of shooting that and representing that authentically because I don’t think it’s represented authentically all the time. So I just told him and he just looked at me and was like, “Oh, just get ready for episode nine.” I was like, “What now? Excuse me?” He’s like, “Yeah, Travis’s best story arc is in the final parts this season.” I was like, “OK alright, I’ll get ready, I’ll get ready.”
So when you started filming, you didn’t know the entire arc?
Yeah, I remember specifically, I believe it was Drew Comins that asked me like, “What do you want to know?” when I was in my first meeting. I said, “I don’t need to know anything about his future or what’s actually going to happen to him.” But I wanted to know anything that we’d find out about his past that was going to inform his decisions in the future because I think that’s really important thematically to know, as an actor. So that’s all we really talked about. I didn’t really ask to know exactly what was going to happen to him. I just wanted to know what was going to get him there. I also find that with TV shows, the more you know, sometimes we don’t want to give it away too soon in the performance even. So it was sometimes better to only know where he was at right now.
“I would love to see where [Travis is] going to live within the group. I think that would be really interesting to tackle, between this division that’s happening between the girls, as we’re seeing on the show.”
So when I asked you earlier about the fan theories, and you said you had been discussing and you have a close idea. So does this mean you have an idea about the next seasons, or the future of what the arc could be for these characters?
So I had some small discussions about Season 2, closer to the end of shooting. But so much has changed and so much is constantly changing, that I have a feeling that most of what I even knew could have changed by that. So I don’t really know where we’re going. It’s exciting just to sit back. I did have a cool little quick chat with Ashley and all I know is that she said the writers’ room is filled with brilliant minds, and they’re having a great time doing it. So I’m really excited to see what they cook up.
Travis has his own levels of darkness and the shades of what it is to be both a victim and a villain. How was it to research your character and find that balance? What’s your perception of who Travis is?
Yeah, with Travis, it was really important to first be authentic to the time period, this was 1996. How would a 1996 17-year-old react in a situation? Not a 2021 teenager. That was really important to start with and make sure that I justify that not in how I would do it now but how someone would do it at that point based on pop culture at that time and based on social norms at that time. So that was really important, which made the villain side of him a little easier. Because it was his not knowing or his ignorance that leads to a lot of his decisions at that time, which kind of make him that villain, but aside from that, it’s coming from a place of not wanting to be. It’s coming from a place of trying to fit in and figure out his place in this society of people now, and being very uncomfortable and grieving. He’s grieving his dad who he watched fall off that tree and so I think that’s really tough. But in terms of navigating, making sure that he was human, I definitely had to spend five months championing his decisions, made sure that every decision he made was justified and so I spent five months really liking this guy because that was my job… to make sure that I cared about the person and so I pulled from my own life. Like what kind of masks I would wear at different times in my life and figure out what masks he was wearing and definitely making sure that we showed a different side of him when it was just him and Natalie, when they’re at their best, and then bring out his mask side when he’s hurt. So there was a lot of that happening. And yeah, then watching the show no question, I was like every other viewer wanting to hit him over the head 18 times. But when we were shooting, I think it was really important to try my best to justify and not judge him.
Since you said you pulled from your own life. How did you relate to Travis?
I believe we both have felt like outsiders many times and the reason for that being in my life is that I was a figure skater growing up competing internationally. And so I was never really at school that much, I would leave at 12 o’clock, I was away for weeks on end. And so I was kind of invisible in many ways in big groups. And Travis, I think until he gets to this plane crash, he was invisible. They don’t even really know who he is, until we get there. I think that’s a big part of his story is kind of overcompensating because of him feeling like no one took him seriously. So I believe that we kind of share some similarities in that sense of feeling a little bit like an outcast. There were periods of time where it was more difficult to talk to people that I liked and feel like I was a part of a group but all in all, I definitely tried to let him be him and make sure that I wasn’t bringing me to him, but just letting him be his own guy.
“There’s not a single cast member I think that would survive the wilderness.”
I do want to talk about episode 9!
First off at that episode, I’m so thankful that we had such a brilliant intimacy coordinator, Kathy who helped us make sure that everyone felt safe and good in the environment that we were trying to create so that the scenes were authentic. But when we were doing them I was also very lucky that Daisy [von Scherler Mayer] was our director because she definitely understood that I had this vision for how I saw that whole scene in the chair playing out and where things were going to go and how it felt in one way versus other ways. And when we were blocking it, I pulled Daisy aside, had some thoughts with her, she had some thoughts and we kind of decided on like how we wanted to go about it together felt really collaborative. She allowed me to help block and create that sequence with her and so it felt very full, very creative and collaborative between everyone in terms of what we were doing and how we were going to make it feel right and not play it as just like a stereotype scene but actually give it some authenticity into how he was brought into the situation that he enjoys things at first… we wanted to bring up the question of consent. Where does consent start? And where does consent end within that scene, and I think there’s a blurred line there. And I think it’s important for us to talk about where those blurred lines kind of come and make sure that we’re paying attention to them.
What was it like filming in Vancouver in the wilderness?
Yeah, I love B.C., I think it’s so beautiful. It’s just a place where you can be in the city and get out so quickly and I love that. We were shooting about an hour away all our wilderness stuff from downtown DC. So we will kind of stay at like a hotel for the couple days that we were shooting out there and then drive back. So it was kind of nice, because we had this sense, especially the first week of shooting where we were all at the hotel and created a bigger sense of community between the cast because we’re stuck together in this small little hotel just waiting to shoot the next day. So it was really nice to bond with everyone during that time and it was it was a fun experience. Because we did then have some time off whenever they’re shooting the 2021 timeline. And that allowed us to go on road trips, go to Whistler, and just really enjoy what B.C. had to offer together. So it was a really nice work-life balance with the cast. We definitely like to hit some good restaurants downtown Vancouver and you know, the Italian Kitchen. But honestly, we went to Whistler a couple of times, just because we like being up there and kind of getting a city cabin feel for sure.
Since you’re from Toronto and survived our winters, do you think you’d survive the wilderness on Yellowjackets?
No, absolutely not. There’s not a single cast member I think that would survive the wilderness. We all literally go to crafty every two hours, get a blanket when it’s, you know, below 10 degrees. There’s no way any of us are surviving that.
From this cast, who do you think has the strongest survival instinct?
I’m still going to say Luciano Leroux. I think Luigi is just going make it happen. Whatever her needs to do to survive, he’ll do.
What are some of your favorite spots in Toronto?
Oh, my favourite spots in Toronto . . . Honestly, I’m a huge Raptors fan. So if you can get me in the ACC during a Raptors game, I’m there 100 percent. Anytime. I’m loving their seven-game winning streak right now, eight tonight. But elsewhere in Toronto, I’m a huge escape room person. I love doing escape rooms with friends. Here we have a couple of really great escape room places. I want to go try all the new rooms here because I’ve been away for quite a bit. So I’m here for a week or two. And so I want to try a bunch of those with some friends. And then I’m also just like waiting for the nice weather to be able to go to Hyde Park… love Hyde Park so much. Even walking downtown, I also love restaurants in Toronto, like anywhere. I could just walk down the street and pick any restaurant and I’m sure I’m gonna like it because we have so much good culture and food here.
Is there a season two storyline you’d like to see for Travis?
It would just be really cool to see where he fits in with this division that’s starting to happen. I love seeing his storylines, his love interest storylines. But I would love to see where he’s going to live within the group. I think that would be really interesting to tackle, between this division that’s happening between the girls, as we’re seeing on the show. I just want to see where Travis fits in. I also want to see what lengths he’s willing to go to in order to find this brother.
