Ashley Sutton first auditioned for Yellowjackets five years ago. The Florida native was trying to build out her acting resum and was a huge fan of Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickersons television work (they wrote and produced on Narcos and Narcos: Mexico before creating the Showtime drama) when she got the chance to read for a small part in a then-unknown pilot. Sutton can barely remember what scenes she read, or who the character was, but she does remember laughing a lot throughout the process. Ashley and Barts work is quite spooky, but theyre so funny and I really noticed that in the audition, she says. The part never made it into the show, but Sutton kept tabs on the series: I was quite diehard from the very beginning. Then, years later, she got a call from her team that she was getting another shot at what was now one of her favorite television shows. Sutton was cast as Hanna, the wide-eyed and enthusiastic scientist who finds herself researching the (fictional) Arctic Banshee Frog in a very cursed portion of the Canadian wilderness. Yellowjackets audiences got a small glimpse of Sutton at the end of last weeks episode, as she and her fellow trekkers came upon the cannibalistic soccer team during a terrifying ritual; this week, we learned much more about the ways the newcomer will ingratiate herself with the stranded teens. Below, Sutton introduces herself to The Hollywood Reporter and shares what it was like to be both a cast member and a fangirl.

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So tell us how your casting process on Yellowjackets came full circle

After my first audition, I didnt expect them to bring me back, even when I was seeing how they were bringing new people onto the show all the time. But my team reached out to me about an opportunity for season three, I got in front of casting and did a few auditions, and then the showrunner called me and told me I booked the job. It was very quick and unexpected. I had such a fan perspective through the whole thing, even when I was on set. And even Hanna does, right? Shes walking into the world of the Yellowjackets and gets to experience it the way the rest of us did thinking, What are they doing and what is happening?

Were you looking to get into prestige drama?

I started getting an interest in film because of my grandmother she had a bookshelf of movies. Shed arrange it with the new ones on the bottom shelf, so that I could always pick from what I hadnt seen. Every time I would get to my grandparents house Id go into their room and watch movies all day. I consumed every genre. When I first came out to L.A. to act, people were like, You have really big eyes, you should do comedy (laughs). But I really love any kind of intricate character lately Ive been saying that I love them when theyre morally gray. Women who think that theyre right, based on what theyve gone through, but it might not be right for everybody else.

What was your journey to getting this big break?

I went to college to be a sports reporter, and I was doing acting stuff on the side. But one day I just realized, the news is a very difficult working environment and I dont know if I want this to be my life in 10 years. Id also met a manager, who mentioned that if I ever moved to L.A. I should look her up and she would represent me. So I quit my job, worked at Starbucks to get insurance and then eventually transferred to a Starbucks in Burbank I worked at the one by Bobs Big Boy. All of this was within eight months. I had never even been to Los Angeles before, so I didnt know what to expect, but I started to realize I could make a career out of acting when I started getting a lot of opportunities to audition. I was developing relationships with casting directors, who wanted to see me work, and I realized that I just needed to wait until I found the right role.

Courtney Eaton as Teen Lottie behind Nelson Franklin as Edwin, Ashley Sutton as Hanna and Joel McHale as Kodiak in Yellowjackets episode seven. Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. When you got the audition scenes for Hanna, did you know that she too would turn out to be morally gray? Or was the character presented as more of an innocent victim?

I think in the beginning, Hanna was naive and innocent and really just wanted to go find those frogs. I really focused on figuring out why those frogs were so important to her, why she would leave her life for a period of time and go into the wilderness just for these frogs. I needed to figure out her launch codes, which is what one of my mentors calls it it helps you take things in the right direction when youre in the moment on set. So I thought, Okay, Hannah is this nerdy, quirky girl who loves frogs. But as I got more and more scripts I realized like, Oh okay.[theres more to it.]

Do you think these characters all had a darkness inside of them, or can the woods turn even the purest of heart?

I think anybody who is in that situation, its about what would they do to survive? I imagine almost every single human being would do everything possible to get through it. So I think it was always inside of Hanna, I just dont know how much she connected with it before these events. I think its really apparent in the moment in episode seven when Im hiding in the log, and they know Im in there, and I make the decision to get out of the log. I think in that moment she comes to terms with the darkness, that shes going to have to stand up and fight and that it might not be pretty. She cant frolic in the woods and flirt with boys and find frogs anymore. That moment is her stepping into that other side of herself for the first time. That was also my first day filming in the wilderness, and my second day on set overall. It was pouring rain, like it often does in Vancouver, and we were so drenched and muddy. I was like, this is my initiation into Yellowjackets. I also got legitimately scared the first time I walked on set during episode six during that spooky ritual thing around the fire. It was so dark, and they walked Nelson [Franklin] and I down to the fire and it was our first time there, I was just like, What are we doing and what is happening right now? It was terrifying.

Were there any actual first-day jitters, considering youre joining a very tight-knit group?

My first day was with Nelson Franklin and Joel McHale, and then I had a day shooting with a small group of cast members, and then I was introduced to the big days with the full cast. Everyone was so welcoming and kind, and also excited to have new people in the wilderness. It was like Christmas for them, that new faces came in to hang out.

Sophie Nlisse as Teen Shauna and Ashley Sutton as Hanna in Yellowjackets, episode seven, Croak. Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. What sort of advice, or plot secrets, did you seek out?

I worked with Jennifer Morrison as a director on episode seven, and that was such a gift to have an actor, who has been in so much television, direct me. We talked about having kids I dont have them, but Hanna does, and Jennifer is a mom, too. She also really gave me ownership over the character and creating what she would be like.

Do you have any theories about the show that changed during your time working on it?

I still really dont know whats going to happen. Obviously, we know that they get rescued. But I dont know how that is going to happen. When I got the first script from this season, I totally believed that I was going to be the person who rescued them (laughs).

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Yellowjacketsseason three releases new episodes Fridays on Paramount+, with a linear airing Sundays at 8 p.m.on Showtime.Follow along withTHRs season coverage and interviews, including our interview with Joel McHale.