Steven Krueger has an acting resume filled with notable shows: “The Originals”, “Roswell: New Mexico”, “Pretty Little Liars,” “Parenthood”, “NCIS”, “Hawaii Five-O”, and “Goosebumps”, amongst several others. Most people would be surprised to learn he originally intended on pursuing a career in law but delved into acting after encouragement from his mother. This leap of faith ultimately led him to being on the critically acclaimed, Emmy nominated series “Yellowjackets”, whose second season began streaming on Paramount+ on March 24th, and is available on Showtime on March 26.

Suit by Scotch and Soda
Shirt by Ocean Rebel

Tell us about your character Ben Scott.
Ben Scott is the assistant coach of the Yellowjackets girls’ soccer team. After the plane crash, he is the only surviving adult surrounded by a group of high school girls. He has to balance the weight of his responsibility to be the authority figure and protect these girls while also dealing with his own trauma in the form of a traumatic leg amputation as a result of injuries from the crash. Not to mention he's harboring a deeply held secret about his own sexuality while trying to stave off some unwelcome romantic advances. So, yeah, he's got a lot going on to say the least.

What has it been like being a part of such a hit show?
It's so hard to predict if, and when, a television series is going to find success. The TV landscape has been bursting at the seams for several years now and even really great shows can have a challenging time finding an audience because of the endless competition. Even though we all knew this was something unique and special, it's been an incredibly pleasant surprise to see it land with both audiences and critics in such a positive way. It has honestly exceeded my wildest dreams. To go from shooting the pilot at the end of 2019, through the pandemic which delayed the Season 1 order for all of 2020, to shooting the first season in the summer of 2021, to being at the Emmys in late 2022. It's been the most insane ride of my career so far. Life imitating art I suppose. But I've also tried to slow down and make sure I take time to really appreciate what we have here. It's a rare opportunity and I don't want to take it for granted.

**Left:**
Sweater by Zara
Pants by Paul Smith
**Right:**
Jacket by #DHStudio

What can audiences expect in season 2 of “Yellowjackets”?
We all felt the massive weight of expectations to live up to Season 1 when we went back to start filming the second season. I can't give enough credit to our showrunners and writers for pushing the envelope even further this time around, but doing so in a way that remains grounded in the authenticity of the circumstances and the characters. That's a lot of fancy semantics basically to say shit gets even crazier this season but without going over the cliff of absurdity. I also think we did a really great job of delving further into the characters' psyches, which adds a fascinating new wrinkle to the tangled web of mysteries that was laid out in Season 1.

What measures did you take to prepare for your role?
In order to get a feel for the vibe of the show and the circumstances that we were about to be thrown into, I read the book "Alive" and watched the movie based on it. That was about as close as you could get to source material for our experience. But for personal character work there were two main areas of research and preparation that I spent a lot of time on. The first was immersing myself in the time period and learning what it would have been like to be a closeted gay man in the mid-1990s in the New York City area. It was the tail end of the AIDS epidemic, the political climate was still incredibly lackluster when it came to protection of civil rights based on sexual orientation, and there was a myriad of cultural issues at play as well. I read about laws in place at the time in the states of New Jersey and New York that would have affected Ben Scott's job as a teacher and a coach at a high school. It all helped crystallize in my head exactly how closely guarded a secret my sexuality would have been at that time. And the second thing I focused on was the leg amputation. I was nervous about figuring out how to portray authentically a disabled character who had suffered a traumatic injury. The psychological and physical effects are so complex that I spent nearly the entire two-week quarantine in Canada prior to filming Season 1, researching and learning everything I could. It's an ongoing practice to learn and educate myself in the hopes that it continues to translate on screen.

**Right:**
Sweater by Zara
**Left:**
Suit by Scotch and Soda
Shirt by Ocean Rebel

Do you feel like you are more similar to or different to your character?
On the surface I don't think I'm all that similar to Coach Ben. But a big part of an actor's process is finding points of commonality with your character. You have to be able to draw from something in your own personal history in order to make a character come alive. As I started to develop Ben as a character, I realized that we actually do have quite a bit in common. We're both "helpers" and we strive to take care of others rather than to burden them. That may sound noble but it's really just a defense mechanism that can often lead to a reluctance to rely on anyone else and to live in a suit of stoicism rather than openly expressing vulnerability. I also think we've both struggled with finding and/or confidently expressing our true identity. With owning who we are as people, which means we're often afraid to let people see the real us. So, I've tried to bring all of those elements into my work as Ben.

Jacket and Shirt by Scotch and Soda
Pants by Vegan Tiger

You originally wanted to go into law. What made you want to pivot into acting?
I loved acting when I was growing up but at the time I only saw it as a hobby. Something that was fun and that might have boosted my college applications, in all honesty. It wasn't until I found myself in Los Angeles for an internship at a law firm that I started to flirt with the idea of pursuing it professionally. It's a hard thing to explain but I think there was just a deep seeded itch in the back of my mind. I knew I needed something different. I knew a traditional career path just wasn't going to make me happy in the long run. And, of course, when you're in your early 20s you think you have all the time in the world so I guess there was a certain amount of naivete that I have to thank for deciding to march down this road.

What's your advice to anyone wanting to break into acting?
I can make this really simple and regurgitate the same best piece of advice I got before I even decided to take the plunge into acting as a career. It's a long-term commitment. Dabbling in it for a couple years while keeping your eye on other pursuits will get you nowhere. It takes a long time to gain traction and to develop yourself as an artist and a person who can survive in this industry for the long run. Chances are they've been doing this for a long time and they just now happen to be breaking through. So, decide this is what you want to do, and commit to doing it.

Was it daunting to make the leap from law to pursuing acting?
Yeah, I was terrified. I had just spent four years in college studying to go to law school and then made a complete U-turn and dove into a business I knew absolutely nothing about. How was I going to make money until I started getting acting jobs? What if 10 years went by and I still wasn't making a living? Do I need a backup plan? But at the end of the day, I knew it was something I loved doing and I was just arrogant enough to believe if I worked my ass off, I could get somewhere.

What would you say has been your most favorite acting job and why?
I know it's the obvious choice but “Yellowjackets” has been far and away my most rewarding and enjoyable job. It's challenging in a way that I think every actor dreams of. And to be able to work with people of this caliber, to watch them, to learn from them, to be inspired by them, I could not be more grateful to be a part of this.

Which part of your job do you enjoy the most?
The people! I've made some incredible friends on this show. I've had a chance to watch people up close whom I've admired from a distance for years. I've been able to learn so much about all the different aspects of storytelling from some of the most talented people on the planet. It's the rarest of opportunities in this business and I'm relishing every minute of it.

In what ways has the role as Ben Scott been the most challenging for you?
I've never had the privilege of playing a character who is so complex. Both the external and internal forces that weigh on Ben at any given time are so monumental. There's an endless amount of analysis in every episode; there are so many possibilities to explore within every single scene. It's the kind of meaty role that I've dreamt of being able to play since I started in this business. It's simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating.

Elijah Wood is a part of this new season. Did you get to meet him or work with him at all?
He's part of the present-day storyline so I never had the chance to work with him but I did get to meet him at a couple of table reads throughout the season. I tried hard to play it cool but I was having a mild panic attack inside.

Are you interested in trying your hand at directing? (Any chance of directing an episode of Yellowjackets next season?)
I'm overwhelmingly interested in directing. It's something I've been quietly studying on my own for years now, and I'm taking steps to put myself in a position to direct my own project soon. I don't know if or when it will happen, but ultimately directing an episode of “Yellowjackets” would be one of my biggest dreams come true. I'm going to put that out in the universe and see who's listening. Or reading this article.

Social Media.
Instagram: @stevenakrueger

CREW CREDITS:
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director: Mike Ruiz + @mikeruiz.one
Talent: Steven Krueger
Photographer: Storm Santos
Fashion Stylist: Douglas Hickman
Groomer: Kimberly Bragalone for Exclusive Artists using Kypris Beauty and Kevin Murphy
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview by Ary Russell, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine