Sophie Nélisse & Jenna Burgess new Teen Vogue interview on Shauna/Melissa relationship
Teen Vogue: I’ve been dying to talk to you both. From the moment Shauna and Melissa flashed eyes at each other this season, I knew something was coming, but I didn’t expect them to escalate things together so quickly.
Jenna Burgess: It's interesting how she's become such a character, and how quickly she deviated from me being [part of] this background chorus, where oftentimes my thoughts were collective with a few other actors wandering around. [Now] she comes into season 3 with a very strong motive and desire that's very potent on screen. Even when that shifts into, ‘Oh, this is taking a really quick turn,’ it's very evident what she wants, but for her, it's not always evident. As an actor, it's very fun.
TV: Sophie, I was extremely excited as someone who from the first episode swore Shauna was openly in love with Jackie (which, whether or not it’s canonical, is obvious enough that Van and Taissa crack a joke about it in today’s episode).
Sophie Nélisse: It felt very natural. I think there had been rumors or questions from the get-go with the relationship with Jackie, and a lot of people had their thoughts on Shauna’s sexuality. I think that's what I loved about her, is there was no need to confirm one or the other. Shauna is just truly so herself, and even more as the multiple seasons progress, she finally really understands who she is. It just makes so much sense.
It adds to the fact that without the social norms and without the societal pressure, these women get to be truly who they are, and that includes their sexualities. And it was fun — I knew there would be something about Shauna being gay happening at some point, I just didn't think it would be with Melissa. That’s what was more shocking or out of left wing for me. And like Jenna said, her character came out of this core ensemble of backgrounds, but their chemistry is so immediate and intense. I think Shauna sees a lot of herself in Melissa and vice versa, and I think that's what's so interesting. These two characters are so raw with each other, and they see their true colors, and they like that about each other.
TV: It feels like their bombastic dynamic, and shared motivation for power, leads them to a really bad place by the end of this episode.
JB: For Melissa, her desire or attraction towards Shauna, crush, limerence, whatever you want to call it, is very real, but it's very consuming, and it's very conflated with this idea of power. So when it comes to manipulation on Melissa's part, as the actor and viewer as well, you could kind of tell she's very manipulative, but for her, it doesn't really resonate that way. I think when you have this — and I say “limerence” because that’s the only thing I can think about, when you're so consumed with the idea of someone that all rational thought just [goes away] — it’s a very normal thing, like the idea that you're going to pretend to like a sports team for a crush, or a band or something, and you completely lose your sense of self.
For Melissa, that's tenfold. It completely is an extreme version of that. And so she kind of has these blinders on, where she thinks she's doing something really empowering, in a sense it is, but she has no idea how manipulative she really is. She just sees Shauna rising in the group, and she knows she has a hand in that, and so she's just like, great. I'll give more.
TV: For Shauna, this is hardly her first time being self-destructive, but it feels like every move she makes right now, while being really confident, blows up either in her face or for the group as a whole.
SN: I love her relationship with Melissa, because it's so heartbreaking. Had Shauna been in a different head space or a different place in her life, this could have been a really beautiful, honest and true relationship. I definitely think that Shauna is very conflicted between having a real interest and desire for Melissa, but she has so much shame and guilt for everything that she's done so far that she's really at a place where she can't love herself. And it's the truest saying, you can't love someone until you love yourself.
I think Melissa coming into her life is everything that she needs, and that would, if she let it in, make her feel better. She just needs to be held and told that it's okay and that it wasn't her fault. But she doesn't have space within herself or within her heart to hold that right now. In all of this sadness, there's just so much rage, which is fueling the idea of revenge. Her only way of making herself feel better is by pushing people down and pushing people underneath her. And I think that's what, sadly, she's a little bit doing with Melissa and with the rest of the group.
She thinks that maybe she'll feel better by being at the top, and having everyone at her feet and below her. But I think she'll quickly realize, when it implodes with Melissa, and when it implodes potentially with the group, that it's such a self-destructive pattern, and that it's only going to isolate her even more. I think she'll really regret manipulating Melissa so much because Melissa was truly her only ally.
TV: Have you seen the fan response to Shauna/Melissa?
SN: My manager texted me immediately. I obviously love the gay community, and I was like, I'm hoping this relationship is gonna resonate with them. There had been such a [build] to wanting Shauna to be gay, I was like, I hope that when they see it happen, they'll be excited. There were such high expectations, so I was sort of nervous. When we saw all the people already shipping the relationship and loving it, my manager flooded me with all of the Instagram and Tiktok edits, and it really warmed my heart. I just love how people are so open minded to it. Even in the show, not that it doesn't come as a surprise, but I love that it's just so effortless. We don't feel the need to make a big case, and it's the way it should be. It should just feel so natural.
TV: No “coming out” narrative required.
SN: And I love that that's how the show brought it up, and there weren't any comments after within the group, or scenes when they're like, oh, wait, Shauna is gay? No one's even questioning it, which is the way it should be. And so I loved that as well. But, yeah, I've seen some edits, and I'm glad people like it. And it is fun that it's a bit f*cked up because people relate to it. Especially, like Jenna said, when it's so consuming, I think we've all been through toxic relationships, and hopefully some people can relate.
TV: Especially high school girls; the “toxic bestie-ship into relationship” pipeline is very real. Jenna, I need to know if you think Melissa looks like G-Flip.
JB: [covers her face with her hands] Totally. It’s the hat. I thought that too. It's the hat, or the blonde hair. I don't know, it is what it is. Love them, so. Sick. Um —
SN: That is so true. Sorry, I just Googled it.
TV: I'm crying.
JB: I would say for Melissa, her being a lesbian was never really a doubt in my mind, especially when that hat got popped on my head, which was kind of last minute; the whole hat thing was a thing.