Nuha Jes Izman on landing her dream role in Yellowjackets

Nuha Jes Izman is feeling pretty nervous. Zooming in from her apartment in New York City, this is one of the actor’s first interviews since she landed the role of newcomer Crystal in the long-awaited second season of Yellowjackets, Showtime’s smash-hit thriller series charting the aftermath of a girls’ football team, out on a school trip, whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness.

What follows is a dual timeline of strange and gruesome events. One takes place in 1996, as the teens fight to survive in a Lord of the Flies-type set-up, their relationships becoming increasingly fraught. The other flashes forwards to the present day, when the mysterious events brought on by the crash continue to haunt those who made it home in one piece. A dark, supernatural force looms large – and as last season’s finale left us with more questions than answers, viewers are eagerly anticipating the show’s next instalment, which drops this weekend.

“Yellowjackets was the show,” Izman says, palpably excited. ​“When the trailer for the first season came out, I remember thinking, damn, I wish they were doing this three years from now so I could get a chance at it.” Having freshly graduated from the prestigious Stella Adler Studio of Acting, the 20-year-old couldn’t believe her luck when she was offered an audition.

“I was getting ready to go to my survival job waitressing at a café, so I quickly memorised my lines and sent a tape off,” she continues. ​“I thought it was the worst acting I’d ever done in my life and didn’t hear anything back for about two months.” Then Izman got the call: the producers for Yellowjackets loved her and asked if she could fly out to start working the next day.

When the show premiered at the end of 2021, it captured the imagination like no other show had in quite some time. It had everything: mystery, an original concept, a crop of fresh acting talent and a chance for cult favourites like Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey and Juliette Lewis to sink their teeth into the meaty roles they deserve.

“In season two, you get to know a bit more about some of the other girls who were stuck in the woods,” she says, remaining fairly, and understandably, tight-lipped about Crystal. What we do know, though, is that she’s a theatre kid who forms an immediate bond with Misty (Samantha Hanratty), the erratic outcast of the group, which means Crystal is a character from the past. ​“You really get to delve into that friendship.”

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Izman relocated to New York five years ago, determined that her acting career would take off by any means necessary. She ​“played the high school game” for a while, as per her parents’ wishes, knowing that she’d be off to study drama the second she graduated.

“My final year, I auditioned in secret, in my bedroom at 3am on Skype callbacks. My parents didn’t have the money to send me anywhere, so I applied for scholarships and figured it out. I’ve always been the type to do something and then apologise later. It was always very clear from the get-go that I had to make it work because I wanted it so badly.”

Well, the hard work has paid off. Which means only one thing: a sit-down with Izman to find out all her juiciest acting secrets, obviously.

The film, TV show or actor that made me want to get into acting is…

I wouldn’t say there was a particular one that made me want to do it. Growing up, I’d watch movies and TV shows for hours. I loved the way they made me feel, laugh and think. It was the way I felt watching everything that made me want to get into acting. I wanted to do that for other people: make them laugh, make them feel seen and a little less lonely.

My most embarrassing audition moment was…

I was auditioning for this play in New York and it was probably my third callback – I should have known what I was doing, basically. They gave me some new scenes and said, ​“Come back tomorrow.” I’m embarrassed to say I had some relationship drama happen that evening. I was like, ​“It’s fine, I can push through it.” I walked into the audition room so confident and ready. I say my first line… And it isn’t my first line. I look down and realise that I’ve just read the lines of the person opposite me in the scene in front of a table of producers, the director, the writer. I apologised, started again… and I did the same thing. I spent the rest of the time just reading from the paper so I could get out and go home as quickly as possible. Needless to say, I didn’t book the job.

The biggest lie I’ve ever told to get a part was…

Embellished, maybe. But no, I haven’t lied! I’m very transparent. I will try to do anything, though.

My foolproof trick for memorising lines is…

I love colours. Growing up, I was the kid who had fifty coloured magic marker pens writing her notes in class. I will highlight one train of thought in one colour, then the second my character switches things up, I’ll use a different one. It helps me to visually see things in my head. That, and excessively saying my lines out loud.

The one thing I have to have in my trailer is…

I get so thirsty on set, so my water bottle. And headphones.

The project that taught me the most about myself was…

I find that it’s always the last one that I worked on. In this case, that was playing Crystal. Going back to the reason I love doing this, there’s a childlike innocence about her that sees the world through rose-coloured glasses of opportunity and love. I think I needed that at a time in my life when I’m on the cusp of being a grown-up. I needed to sit in the shoes of 15-year-old me again.

The TV show I’m bingeing at the moment is…

I binge-watch New Girl every few months. It’s mindless watching – I’ll have it on when I’m taking a shower, when I’m making dinner. It’s my comfort show.

The person who left me the most starstruck was…

Christina Ricci. I walked on to the set, into the make-up trailer, and there was no one else there but her. I respect her a lot.

The best piece of advice I got in the industry was…

My teacher, Steve Maurice Jones, said this to me early in my training and again when I graduated: ​“This thing that we do, it’s important, but it’s not serious.” That resonated with me a lot. I think us actors really dig into ourselves to do better and we can be quite harsh on ourselves. We just have to let that go for a minute. What’s the point in doing it if it isn’t fun?

One thing I wish I’d known about being an actor is…

Bring as much of yourself into it as you can. You spend so much time on set and you invest in this other character. You’re sitting in their shoes for a long time, for hours a day. What I wish I knew sooner was, how can I bring myself into that so I don’t lose myself completely?

My dream role is…

Jennifer Coolidge was once asked this question and she said ​“a dolphin”. I get that. But I don’t have a dream role – more of a dream experience. I want to be able to work with a bunch of actors that I respect and know that we created something fucking special.

When I’m not acting, I’m…

Watching New Girl and hanging out with my friends and family as much as I can. With Yellowjackets, I learned that you get a call and then the next day you’re flown out, gone for months. I’m trying to make up for lost time!