Why Callie Killed Lottie, Sarah Desjardins Interview

[This story contains major spoilers from the season three finale of Yellowjackets, “Full Circle.”]

After setting up a whodunit earlier in the season, the Yellowjackets finale revealed who killed Lottie Matthews. The answer was a surprising one, but not to the actor who made the fateful push.

Callie Sadecki, the teenage daughter to Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), was the one who shoved the show’s most spiritual successor of the wilderness down a flight of stairs to her death. That fateful push came after an interaction that raised more questions, even though it also provided answers, in the revelatory season three ending, “Full Circle.”

Sarah Desjardins, who plays Callie in the Showtime series’ present-day timeline, tells The Hollywood Reporter that she was sensing a Callie-Lottie face off ever since the tragic season two finale, when Callie was nearly caught in the crossfire of the adult survivors’ “hunt” that took the life of one of their own, Natalie (Juliette Lewis). “How Callie was looking at Lottie as Lottie was being driven away, I thought, ‘If we get a season three, I know who Callie is going to be thrown together with somehow.’ I remember thinking that would be interesting,” she says.

Below, in conversation with THR, Desjardins peels back the complex layers of her deadly confrontation with Lottie to reveal what it says about the wilderness, Callie’s relationship with mother Shauna (who has now been revealed to be the new Antler Queen in the past timeline) and the mystical questions at the heart of the hit survival series: “[Callie] was scared. But she was also scared because she knows that part of it wasn’t that.”

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You gave me a great poker face when we spoke at the beginning of the season and I asked if we’ll learn more about Callie and her importance in the show. What’s it been like keeping this secret?

It was fun to keep this big secret, knowing how much more we were going to delve into Callie and that the audience was going to really get to see how she develops this season. I did tease that, but knowing exactly what happens and that it would slowly be revealed to all is very satisfying.

I understand you have conversations at the beginning of each season with the showrunners about your character arcs. What I’m gathering is that not all of this was plotted out from the start, or at least it wasn’t all shared at that time. What were you clued in on during that conversation?

I honestly don’t know how much was plotted out from the start. They are very secretive, those three [Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco]! (Laughs) In our first meeting for the season, within the first 90 seconds, Ashley was saying, “It’s hard because Callie’s a part of so much this season that’s really integral, and we don’t really want to give any of it away to you.” So at the beginning, they told me she was really important, but they didn’t want to tell me how.

So then when did you find out that she kills Lottie?

In that first meeting, they did tell me that Lottie was coming to stay at the Sadeckis house. We discussed Callie’s curiosity with Lottie, Lottie’s curiosity with Callie. A lot was teased about what was to come. We discussed where Callie might be coming from in trying to convince her parents to let Lottie stay. So I did know there was going to be time spent together with Lottie and Callie, and I also knew before getting the scripts about the tape. But I didn’t know what was going to be on the tape [which is a recording from dead scientist Hanna, played in the wilderness timeline by Ashley Sutton].

Callie never even hears what’s on that tape, right?

Right. And in that conversation, they did not tell me that I was going to be killing Lottie. But I did have a feeling before we even started the season.

Really, why?

I felt like where we ended up at the end of season two, with how Callie was looking at Lottie as Lottie was being driven away [after Nat’s death], I thought, “If we get a season three, I know who Callie is going to be thrown together with somehow.” I remember thinking that would be interesting. They did not tell me anything then. But I remember thinking that would be very full circle. And, isn’t that the title of the finale?

Yep, it’s titled “Full Circle.”

I didn’t even know that until recently. Then we were shooting episode three of this season, where Lottie and I go to the mall, and it was one of those times where things kind of get spoiled in a costume fitting. It ended up not even being relevant to the plot, but when we were shooting the shopping scene, there’s a dress that Lottie picks and she says, “You should be wearing something like this.” At the time, they had the rough plan about Lottie and Callie, but they didn’t know exactly how it was going to materialize. There was a lot of conversation about the outfits that day, and I tried on a lot of the dresses that Lottie holds up. I remember the vibe and being like, “Will I be wearing it when something happens?” It seemed like it was important what the dress looked like on me.

That episode was directed by Jonathan Lisco, our showrunner and one of our incredible writers, and we were having a conversation about the episode, because everyone’s so wonderful on our show about wanting to discuss everything. I just started to realize that if Callie kills Lottie, I would really like to know earlier on. I totally respect that sometimes they would choose to not let the actors know, because the character isn’t supposed to know she’s feeling that way, but I’m not one of those people! So I was on this call with Jonathan and I remember being pretty cheeky. I decided I was going to say something and see how he responds. So I was like, “…because Callie kills Lottie, right?” He was like, “[Pause] Where did you hear that?” I was like, “So… yes?” That was when Jonathan told me that was the plan, but they hadn’t solidified exactly how it was going to take place.

So you actually have been playing Callie as harboring these feelings towards Lottie. Why did she feel so threatened by her?

In a way, we can say threatened. But I think Callie was scared. Lottie and her connection to the wilderness is kind of a gateway for Callie. There’s so much that is unknown to Callie. Lottie is a gateway into having more access and understanding. Even though Callie doesn’t know anything about the wilderness, she can sense there’s something akin between her and Lottie where she could find things out. But it’s a scary thing, because it’s so unknown. As we see in that scene before the death, Callie is like, “What is that?” In my opinion, she’s asking Lottie, “What is going on inside me? What is this thing?” And when Lottie says, “You know what it is,” that’s really terrifying for Callie. She gets scared and defensive, and doesn’t know what to do.

More than any other season and role that I’ve played, I’ve been able to watch this a bit more removed. And in watching it, I see Callie is shutting down. She’s getting defensive. She’s deflecting. Callie has a line where she’s like, “So what? It’s adrenaline?” It’s very defensive. I think she’s desperately looking for ways to explain it away as something else.

So is the “it” that Callie is feeling the power or force that they all believe exists from the wilderness?

I think where Callie is at right now at the end of season three with “it,” is that she doesn’t know what it is. But Lottie is right. If she looked deeper, if she accepted what was going on, if she surrendered to it, then she would know what it was. And that’s what’s so terrifying. When we reach the top of the stairs, Lottie says, “Your mom can’t love you because she’s jealous,” and Lottie reveals Callie is more powerful than her mom, just as the show in the past timeline is showing us how powerful, how power hungry and how animalistic Shauna is getting.

Of course, Callie wasn’t there. Callie doesn’t know those things. But having that juxtaposition in this moment, I genuinely believe that “it” does take over and that Callie knows she is terrified to give into whatever it is. Because she may not know what’s happened to Shauna in the past, but she is looking at her mom now and everything that’s gone on and she is very scared of what her mom is capable of. So whatever this instinct is, there’s also fear. We don’t see the fear as much in the moment of the push.

Also, I think the way that Lottie is serving up this intention to her is very intense. It’s very aggravating. I won’t speak for Simone, but when I think about the story and the journey, I do think that was somewhat intentional because Lottie is seeing that this is what’s meant to happen. So Lottie’s going to do what she can to make it happen.

When you pushed Lottie to her death, it felt to me like Callie made a choice. When I said that to your showrunners, they were like, “It’s interesting that you think it’s a choice.” You say it was an instinct.

I love hearing that they said that to you. I don’t fully know their intention, and Callie doesn’t either, but I don’t think it’s a choice. Whatever it is that’s in Cali, there’s no choice there. But it’s so complex, because I understand you thinking that it was a choice to push her.

Perhaps in that moment with Lottie egging Callie on and being forceful, it is a choice to give in to that energy. Callie gives into the energy and pushes her. And once that happens, because I do believe a big part of it is fear, we have the push and the choice of giving in. It cuts to Lottie falling and then we back to Callie’s face, and there’s a shift almost immediately when she realizes what she did, and we’re back into the fear. So I really feel like it’s a mixture of the deep fear that Callie has about the energy inside of her, and then being egged on by Lottie and choosing to let that energy take over in that moment.

I have felt for the majority of this season that everything can be explained. The frogs were a huge answer. And if you can explain the screaming trees, then probably everything can be explained. But now speaking with you, you’re saying there’s some unexplainable energy that’s been passed down from Shauna to Callie, and we also see that Lottie saw this vision of her death in season one. How do you interpret the mystical questions raised in the show?

I just got chills! You’re not the first person or journalist to say to me that they feel like there’s nothing supernatural going on. In those moments when people say those things to me, I realize how I feel about it because my instinct is to reply, “How could you think that?”

Your penultimate episode director Ben Semanoff told me he thinks everything is still unanswered. This is the whole point of the show, right? That debate and what it says about what people believe.

I’m sure it’s slightly informed for me because I play Callie, but if I think about removing myself from that and if I was just watching the show, to me, there so clearly are supernatural elements. In my day-to-day life, I don’t know what my beliefs are necessarily, but I’m a big believer in energy and that what you put out, you get back. I just can’t believe that there’s not something larger going on, and our show is a version of that. Our showrunners have talked to me about this energy that Callie is feeling, but they haven’t confirmed to me that it’s supernatural. I just think that. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if it’s not!

There may never be a definitive answer, but what Lottie says is that because they lost Shauna’s baby in the wilderness, they got you, and you are more powerful than ever. What do you make of that?

I can’t know for sure, because I don’t know how this energy works. I would just imagine that, as you pointed out, Shauna’s son didn’t make it. But Callie came from Shauna’s womb as well. This is me hypothesizing, but it is proven that babies in the womb absorb feelings, emotions, trauma from the mother. Callie did come after the wilderness, but that doesn’t mean her mom’s trauma wasn’t present.

I really love this ending of Shauna jornaling. There’s a completely different energy to how Melanie [Lynskey] does that voiceover as Shauna to end the season. Just really giving in. I got chills in a way that surprised me as Shauna is saying, “I don’t want to fully remember everything that happened, because we fucking loved it out there.”

Shauna is stripped of being a mother and wife for the moment, because Callie and Jeff [Warren Kole] have left. It seemed Callie was genuine when confiding in her dad that she’s scared of her mom. How long do you imagine Callie stays away from Shauna?

I don’t know and I support our team whatever they decide. But I hope Callie would find her way back sooner than later, because I feel like that’s so much more interesting. In the present-day timeline, we’ve been wanting Shauna and Callie to connect for so long, so to bring them together sooner than later I feel is more complex. I think that would be really rich as opposed to building tension by keeping them apart. Because in a way, I feel like they’ve been apart the whole series.

Their biggest bonding moment came in the premiere when they connected over Callie spilling animal guts on mean girls at school. Looking back, that was a big hint she’s more like her mom than we know.

Yes.

Lottie told Shauna that the heart necklace wasn’t what Shauna thought. We think the necklace is about marking someone for sacrifice. What do you think Lottie meant by that?

I don’t have a real answer, but I thought similar. I definitely read it like, “Does this mean I’m marked for death?!” Either way, that scene [when Shauna rips it off my neck] was about how Shauna definitely thinks that it means I am. I will hypothesize with you that, with how the season ended, and with Lottie sharing that I’m more powerful than my mom who is now Antler Queen, does that mean I’m that powerful? As an actor, what would that look like? In the present-day timeline, what the heck does that look like inside a scared 17-year-old who is not trying to survive in the wilderness and who has not been through that, but who maybe has an energy coursing through her, like the energy of that survival instinct of that experience? I feel so grateful to portray this character because there are so many places we could go.

The fans speculated that you could have been Pit Girl. Now we know that it’s Mari [Alexa Barajas] but it’s almost like they picked up on the intrigue around Callie. Pit Girl is powerful in the lore of the show, and now we see that Callie is too.

That’s such a good point. You’re so right. Of course, I didn’t really think that theory of Callie being Pit Girl was possible, but with a somewhat unexplained supernatural element to our show, you never know. I thought maybe there was some way of a present-day parallel or mirror. But I’m glad the audience got that question answered, and I feel like it’s done in quite a satisfying way. It feels like a weird thing to say, but Alexa did a beautiful job. I hope the audience feels satisfied. I hope they find it as engaging and compelling to watch as I did.

What lingering questions do you hope to explore in a potential season four? [Note: Yellowjackets hasn’t yet been renewed.]

One of my favorite things of the season was when Lottie asks Callie, “If you could describe yourself without fear or shame, who are you?” I’ve always felt that in that moment, and I think it’s why Lottie’s asking it, that Callie is so scared because she doesn’t have the answer. But all season long Lottie is showing Callie that if she really surrendered to what’s happening inside, the answers are there. I’m so excited about the possibility of getting to find out those answers.

The scene where I tell my dad what I did, Jeff says, “You were scared.” There’s a duality to that because I felt like that’s when Callie gives in to letting her dad comfort her because it is true, she was scared. But she’s also scared because she knows that part of it wasn’t that.

When I talked to Simone earlier this season, she was still digesting her fate and was sad to go so early on in the season. Now that we’ve seen the payoff, what was it like to film her final scene?

It was one of our last days. It was a crazy day, because we were shooting multiple scenes at once on the same stage, including the scene where Simone and Courtney [Eaton] talk in the morgue [for the Lotties scene]. But shooting our scene was great because it felt so important. Bart [Nickerson] was directing the finale and when shooting the takes, we really took our time and talked about it. I feel really grateful to have had that experience with Simone.

We actually met in between seasons one and two for The Night Agent. Simone came in on the first episode of that show and our characters never interact, but we all had a dinner before production. So we met that night and ended up talking, the two of us, for hours. I finished that to then go do season two of Yellowjackets, and there is Simone as Adult Lottie. It was so nice to have more scenes together this season.

In that final scene, I can’t speak for Simone, but I think we were on a similar plane of thinking: “I really hope we got this right.” And I felt pretty good about it. I do want to sing her praises because who you are acting across is so impactful for your own performance. When you’re seeing my performance, you’re not seeing what Simone is giving me, because we’re shooting my side. Simone, take after take, was delivering her performance with such intention that it also affected me in ways that were unexpected. I will always relish that, because that’s why we do it. We want it to be as authentic as possible. I’m really learning in my own acting journey that I love to control things. Oftentimes when I start to feel uncomfortable in a scene, it probably means it’s something more on the side of special. Simone provided space for me as Callie to feel uncomfortable, and it was special.

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Yellowjackets season three is now streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime, with a linear airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on Showtime. Follow along with all of THR‘s season three coverage and finale interviews, including our interview with showrunners Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco, and Alexa Barajas on her Pit Girl reveal.