Jasmin Savoy Brown Talks Yellowjackets Finale and Scream Ending

[This interview contains spoilers for Yellowjackets and Scream.]

Jasmin Savoy Brown is having quite a moment. The Oregon native is not only a series regular on Yellowjackets, the most buzzworthy series right now, but she’s also a key player in Scream (2022), the number-one film at the domestic box office. Plus, she just announced a new podcast for Netflix called The Gay Agenda, which she co-hosts alongside her Yellowjackets co-star Liv Hewson. The podcast, which celebrates queer joy, was actually sold to Netflix’s Most before Brown and Hewson knew that their Yellowjackets characters would have a romantic relationship on Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson’s breakout hit for Showtime.

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With the Yellowjackets season one finale now in the books, Brown is taking stock of Taissa’s relationship with Hewson’s Van as the latter is behaving in a rather unsettling manner. Since Taissa feels responsible for the wolf attack that Van suffered, Brown believes that her character’s guilt is causing her to forgive some noticeable red flags.

“I think it’s already in Taissa’s nature to ignore the supernatural and to ignore Lottie’s [Courtney Eaton] visions,” Brown tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But there is that scene in episode ten where Van comes up to the attic and basically tells Taissa, ‘I need you to believe this with me.’ And it’s guilt. It’s also fear of losing her, and I don’t think Taissa is mature enough emotionally to be able to say that. So instead, she just goes along with Van even though she hates it. So yes, I would say that it’s guilt.”

When Brown auditioned for Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Scream “requel,” she had actually never seen Scream. After her initial audition, she received a callback and was asked to perform a monologue that was reminiscent of Randy Meeks’ (Jamie Kennedy) speeches in Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000). Brown, in fact, plays Randy’s niece, Mindy Meeks-Martin, in the new film and serves a similar role as far as identifying Ghostface’s pattern in relation to the horror genre, franchise moviemaking and movie fandom. Despite her character’s connection to a legacy character, Brown opted not to revisit the earlier films until the film was already underway.

“I was afraid that if I did that, I would overthink it and copy him,” Brown explains. “That monologue was part of my audition, but when I auditioned, I hadn’t seen Scream. I actually didn’t see the Scream films until after I was cast and we were shooting. So I just thought, ‘Well, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing when I auditioned and they liked it. I’m just going to trust that.’ So I only watched the first Scream one time while we were shooting, and I’ve since seen it a few more times. But I didn’t want to overthink it.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Brown also discusses the particulars of Taissa’s haircut and jewelry on Yellowjackets. Then she opens up about the ending of Scream and what makes it special.

So I think I’ve cracked the code for you and television. A premium cable network must be involved. The character must be an athlete. And there must be running through forests and swimming in lakes with at least two other female characters…

(Laughs.) And a cult!

I missed the most obvious one! So only say yes to TV projects with those attributes.

(Laughs.) But oh my god, you’re right. That’s so funny. Now, that’s good for me to know. You’re absolutely right.

[Writer’s Note: Brown’s role on The Leftovers shared these attributes with Yellowjackets.]

So what was the timeline involving the Yellowjackets pilot, Scream and then shooting the rest of Yellowjackets? Was it that order?

Yes, we shot the pilot for Yellowjackets in late 2019 and I was shooting Sound of Violence at the same time. So I was doing both. And then 2020 happened, and Scream happened in September, October, November of 2020. And then we shot Yellowjackets in the summer of 2021. And now they’re all coming out at the same time here in 2022.

Did the Yellowjackets audition feel like any other pilot audition? Or could you sense that there was something special about this one?

So firstly, I was so annoyed. (Laughs.) I hadn’t had auditions for a while so I went on a trip to Oregon to see my family for ten days. And of course, the second day I was there, I got eight auditions and had to turn right back around. So I was annoyed at the timing because that’s how it goes. They always say to leave town if you want to book a job. But I thought there was something spectacular about the script and its pulse. The script reads the same as it presents on TV. It just keeps moving. There’s something driving it. It’s so female-led and so dark and so gritty. So I did feel something special, and I knew the job was mine from the second I got the email. That’s how I’ve felt about every single thing I’ve ever booked except for my guest star on Grey’s Anatomy. I didn’t think I was going to get that, but with everything else, I just had this feeling in my stomach. I was like, “Oh, this is mine.” And it was pretty cool because it was the hot pilot in town that year. So it was exciting to become a part of it.

There’s a moment where 1996 Taissa interrupts a confrontation between Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and Jackie (Ella Purnell), and in that moment, your voice sounded exactly like Tawny Cypress’ present-day Taissa. So did you and Tawny watch each other’s dailies? How much interaction did you have while filming?

I never watched her dailies, and I only went to set once to watch her film. We talked a bit, but we didn’t have to talk too much. We very much have the same understanding of the character. We talked more about the small things. For example, does Taissa pronounce either as “ee-ther” or does she say “eye-ther”? Things of that nature. But something random and cool, we both had the same Airbnb host, and we lived in the same building. We were also the only people that brought our cats with us to Vancouver, and our cats are both tortoiseshell cats. How weird is that? Even as human beings, we’re very much the same. So I think that speaks to those similarities because I didn’t plan that.

Did you focus on the present-day material just as much as 1996 material? Did the present-day material ever influence your choices in 1996?

No. (Laughs.) I think that’s the nice thing about being in the ’96 timeline. They have to base their choices on us because we are their living backstory. So if I did try to base any of my work on what happens in the present day, it just wouldn’t work because we don’t know, as human beings, who we’re going to become outside of manifesting. So I think the younger cast has the easier job here in terms of that, but a harder job in other ways. It’s pretty split.

I hate to be a cliché, but I have to ask you about the haircut. Since they’ll sometimes use a wig to recreate these moments, did you actually cut your hair on camera?

Yes, and I love that you asked this. Actually, no one has asked about this.

You’re kidding!? It’s such low-hanging fruit.

No one asked! (Laughs.) So that was my idea. I pitched that to the writers from the second we got to Vancouver. I went, “I need you to know. If I, Jasmin, was stranded in the woods, I would chop my hair off after a few weeks because it would just be in the way.” So I further evolved the idea because it was important to me that we see Taissa’s hair being really important to her from the get-go. She wraps it every night. She doesn’t get it wet. She continues her wash day ritual. And so by the time she goes on this adventure, cutting her hair isn’t just a matter of practicality. She doesn’t know this, but it’s also a matter of losing her identity. It’s getting rid of excess, but it’s also accepting that, “Who I am is gone.” And then there’s another piece of that that has really gone unnoticed, but I’m sure you’ll appreciate knowing this. So prior to the haircut, prior to episode seven, Taissa always wore a watch, a necklace and a ring. Those were pieces of her identity and pieces of the outside world that I felt were important to her to keep alive. But somehow, during Van’s (Liv Hewson) accident and when Taissa climbs the tree and then kills the wolf, all three of those pieces of jewelry come off. They disappeared somehow. So in that moment, she’s lost her identity with her hair, she’s lost her identity with these items and she’s lost her identity as the leader now that Van’s been hurt and she failed. She has completely lost who she is and has to rebuild it, so I think that’s something we’ll find in the coming seasons. But to loop back to your original question, it was my idea. I really cut my hair and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. It was really hard, but it was also a really good exercise for me to separate how Taissa felt about cutting her hair and how I felt about it. Because for Taissa, it was sad and it was a moment. For me, it was like, “Get this thing off me! I want a haircut so bad!” (Laughs.)

So what are you eating when Taissa sleepwalks and eats dirt?

Squished Oreos and cookies. It’s nice at first, but by take twelve, you’re like, “Ah, this is too much sugar.”

The cast is pretty in the dark about the future of things, but do you have any idea where the sleepwalking and dirt-eating are headed?

No idea. I’m just as in the dark as the fans. In whatever episode it is, older Taissa sleeps over at Shauna’s [Melanie Lynskey] and she says to her, “You know how bad it gets, the sleepwalking.” That has to be alluding to something we haven’t seen and it’s kind of freaking me out. (Laughs.) So I don’t know what’s going to happen.

In the finale, Shauna makes a tragic discovery in the snow, and Taissa was the first one there to comfort her. Was that a rather difficult day since you were up close and personal as Sophie Nélisse’s Shauna wailed?

Honestly, no. But that speaks to just how brilliant Sophie and the whole cast are. I am grateful for any chance I get to work with Sophie. Our scene with the attempted abortion, that was the darkest scene, and it’s one of the most intense scenes I’ve ever shot in my life. But between each take, we were just goofing off because we have to really keep the balance. I think we scared the crew because they didn’t understand how we could go so dark to so light. (Laughs.) But no, it was fun to shoot that scene.

Taissa didn’t want to bring Van on her journey to find help, but Van insisted on it anyway. And the trip was ultimately cut short because of the wolf attack that Van suffered. Is Taissa’s guilt causing her to overlook the troubling things that Van is saying and doing by season’s end?

I think so, yes. I think it’s already in Taissa’s nature to ignore the supernatural and to ignore Lottie’s (Courtney Eaton) visions and all of this stuff. But there is that scene in episode ten where Van comes up to the attic and basically tells Taissa, “I need you to believe this with me.” And it’s guilt. It’s also fear of losing her and I don’t think Taissa is mature enough emotionally to be able to say that. So instead, she just goes along with Van even though she hates it. So yes, I would say that it’s guilt.

It’s interesting how 1996 plays such an integral role in both your new projects right now. And since Scream came out in December 1996, Taissa and co. will have to wait almost two years to see it. That’s the least of their concerns right now, but still.

Whoa, I haven’t thought about that! That’s crazy! (Laughs.)

So your Scream (2022) character, Mindy Meeks-Martin, not only serves the Randy-type role, but she’s also Randy’s (Jamie Kennedy) niece. And like him, she has a handle on Ghostface’s plan in relation to the horror genre, franchise storytelling and movie fandom. Did you go back and watch Jamie’s monologue footage as you prepared for Mindy’s big monologue?

No, I was afraid to do that. I was afraid that if I did that, I would overthink it and copy him. So I had to make sure I just surrendered to and trusted the directors [Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett]. I trusted that they cast me for a reason. That monologue was part of my audition, but when I auditioned, I hadn’t seen Scream (1996). I actually didn’t see the Scream films until after I was cast and we were shooting. So I just thought, “Well, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing when I auditioned and they liked it. I’m just going to trust that.” So I only watched the first Scream one time while we were shooting, and I’ve since seen it a few more times. But I didn’t want to overthink it.

Was there anything else that was unusual about the audition process?

No, it was pretty straightforward. The monologue was the callback scene. Before that, it was the scene where we sat around the couch and talked. When I met with the [Radio Silence] guys over Zoom, we all vibed. We liked each other. So there was nothing unusual about it for me, except for the fact that I didn’t know what Scream was. So I think if I did know, I wouldn’t have booked it. I was just like, “Who are these dudes? Cool. A horror movie? Dope, sure.” I was so chill and I think that worked to my advantage.

What were your interactions with the legacy actors like?

Beautiful. They were all so kind and welcoming. I’m sure you’ve heard this story by now, but David Arquette taught us all how to paint in the style of Bob Ross. So that’s just one of the many ways to describe how we got to know them. Courtney [Cox] had us over to her place in L.A. for karaoke night. Neve [Campbell] had us over to her place in Wilmington to play cards. So they were very lovely and very welcoming. I genuinely love every single member of this cast.

[The next question/answer contains major spoilers for Scream.]

So when I went to watch Scream, Taissa’s conversation with Van about the horror genre’s tendency to kill Black characters first was fresh in my mind. So I got rather emotional seeing the twins survive in the end, especially as Mindy saluted Chad [Mason Gooding]. Since you shot Scream first, did Mindy come to mind while you filmed that Yellowjackets scene?

She didn’t [come to mind] simply because that was my big episode and I was just fully in my ego and worried about doing well. (Laughs.) But since then, I’ve thought about it some more. It’s such an honor to get to play a queer Black woman in the franchise and to get to survive. It’s also cool that the people of color are the only people to survive from the new cast, and it’s really beautiful that the only survivors of the new cast are all siblings. There’s just so much to look at there, and I’m sure as I read more reviews and talk to more people, I’ll understand even more of the depth of it because getting different people’s perspectives deepens the impact. So I’m very grateful and it hasn’t completely sunk in yet.

Since we didn’t get the chance to talk about The Leftovers season three, how did that initial conversation ultimately go? Did someone basically call you and say, “I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is we’re dropping a bomb on Evie, but the good news is you get to go to Melbourne anyway…”?

(Laughs.) Yeah, pretty much. Here’s how it actually went. They said, “We want you to do two or three episodes,” and I was like, “Sick.” And I was dating someone at the time who worked in the office at The Leftovers, and when she got the outline, she snuck it to the bathroom, called and read it to me. And she was like, “You blow up on the third page!” (Laughs.) I was like, “What?! No one told me that. I guess I’m not going back.” I was so sad because I really thought that would be the end of it. And then cut to episode three or four where they went, “Hey, do you want to come to Australia?” And I was like, “Hell yeah!” So that’s the nice thing about having eyes in the office. I recommend it for most actors. (Laughs.)

Is The Leftovers group text inactive at the moment?

It’s pretty inactive, but there are individual relationships. I still talk to Carrie [Coon] and Regina [King] and Jovan [Adepo]. I actually just called Jovan last night with a very funny TikTok that was making fun of him. I like to keep him humble.

You just launched a podcast for Netflix called The Gay Agenda, and your co-host happens to be your Yellowjackets co-star Liv Hewson. So can you tell me a bit about the podcast?

So I was very excited about this podcast, and I pitched it to Netflix. I pitched it to Gabrielle Korn at Netflix, at Most. We’ve been friends for years since she worked at Nylon, and she always asked me to bring her something so we could work together. So I took her this podcast. I said, “What do you think of a podcast?” And she said, “As long as it’s not an interview podcast.” So I said, “Awesome, I have an idea for an interview podcast,” but then she was into it. I wanted a space to celebrate queerness and queer joy without all of the tragedy porn. It’s just a space for us to talk about the beautiful positive aspects of our lives and to celebrate one another. And everyone loves Liv, so they were into the idea of Liv being my co-host. It’s funny because when Liv came on to co-host, we did not know that our characters would be in love on Yellowjackets. We had no idea. We’d only shot the pilot, and then I sold this podcast to Netflix in the spring of 2021. So then we got to Vancouver and we were like, “Perfect! We’re working on this job together. We’ll shoot and we’ll record podcast episodes on the weekend.” And then as the seasons unfolded on both the podcast and the show, we went, “This is pretty funny. We’re falling in love on this show. Fans are going to love this.” And so far, they do.

Doing random podcasts with people like me in 2015 has clearly paid off. [Editor’s note: Brown was a guest on a personal podcast hosted by the writer.]

(Laughs.) It has! I learned from the best. Thank you.

I went back and listened to our podcast interview, and it’s a special kind of torture. You’re note-perfect as usual, but to me, listening to old podcasts is a modern version of looking at old photos of yourself.

Oh, I know. I really do. Just don’t do it.

I kept trying to get you to watch Blue Valentine, and for whatever reason, I needed to know your favorite Portland food truck.

(Laughs.) That sounds great. People love when you go on a brief aside. It keeps it real. It keeps it fresh.

***
Yellowjackets is now available via Showtime, and Scream is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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