‘Yellowjackets’ Star Tawny Cypress Talks Tai and Van’s Relationship Arc in Season 3 (Exclusive)

Get ready for a Yellowjackets love story like no other. After Taissa “Tai” Turner (Tawny Cypress) and Vanessa “Van” Palmer (Lauren Ambrose) revived their teenage romance in the first episodes of Season 3, Cypress teased to PopCulture.com that there are good times — and bad times — to come for Tai and Van this season.

“Tai is in love. She wants to stay in love. She found pure happiness and that’s what her driving force is,” Cypress told PopCulture of her character’s journey this season. “And as I like to say, the season’s got a lot of heart.”

With both Tai and Van facing the trauma of their time stuck in the woods as teens and Van dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Tai said there’s “always going to be dark aspects” of their relationship. “These women are completely traumatized and they’re terrible people,” she said. “But, you know, honestly, when Lauren and I sat down for this at the beginning of the season, we came to the decision that we were just going to try and tell the best love story that we could. I hope that comes through for the fans.”

She added of what the future holds for Van and Tai, “You’re going to see a lot of love between these two this season. And there are good times [and] bad times. It’s not any of their doing though. They’re just sort of around a lot of chaos, you know.”

Some of that chaos could stem from Tai’s other side, whom fans have seen take over during some of her darkest times. “I feel like watching this season is going to make people want to go back and watch the other seasons because you’re going to find out that you’ve been seeing Other Tai a lot more than you’ve thought,” she teased.

It’s been “so cool” to play what feels like “four different Tais,” Cypress explained — one for each season as well as Tai’s dark side. “It’s a huge playground for me,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Cypress joked of the twisted journey to come in Season 3, “So hopefully, people will enjoy the way [the season] ends. …And hopefully, it’ll make them throw up.”

New episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 premiere Fridays on Showtime and on Paramount+ with Showtime.