Finding a cast to assemble to deliver a show about a high school football team turning cannibals after a terrifying plane crash has always been a challenge. Now, imagine looking for two actors, one to portray the 1996 timeline and the other to present present-day survivors.
By some way, Yellow jacket was able to stack both sets, but the process is not without its chaos. (Too early?)
“It really feels like the production is affecting us,” co-creator Bart Nickerson speak. “And it was, ‘Oh my, we have so many roles and we just can’t find the right person,’ but then somehow it all just comes together after hours and hours.”
Nickerson and his writing partner and his wife Ashley Lyle participated heavily in castings, which Lyle described as “emotionally devastating”.
“Oh my, it was just a tough day,” she added. “I have a lot of empathy for every person who walks into the room.”
While they were casting two people to play a character, physical consistency was not a priority for the creative team.
“We said from the start that this was a really big challenge, and I think we really needed to focus on the essence of the characters instead of their physical specifics,” said Lyle. explains, “and in a strange way, by doing that, we ended up with actors who could all magically look alike.”
Nickerson added, “We couldn’t believe the cast we had.”
