Stargirl’s Yvette Monreal on Yolanda’s Decision To Leave The JSA

Yvette Monreal from DC’s Stargirl talks about Yolanda’s Decision, the JSA vs. ISA fight scene, working with Jake Austin Walker again & more in her exclusive interview with AfterBuzz TV!

In the latest episode of DC’S Stargirl airing on The CW, we’ve watched Yolanda going through a really rough time dealing with what she had to do to Brainwave, her guilt over taking a life, and dealing with what she did because it goes against how she was raised. All of it comes to a head in the new episode “Summer School: Chapter 7.”

Chae’ Jones was able to talk with Yvette Monreal during a Zoom interview to talk about Yolanda’s decision to leave the JSA and give up being Wildcat, JSA vs. ISA fight scene, and working with Jake Austin Walker again.

Yolanda has been put through the wringer this season. A lot of it, not just mentally but spiritually as well, and she decides to leave the JSA altogether.

“She’s isolating herself. She’s trying to get away from the situation. She wants to run away for a little bit from the situation if she can. Which never really works out, um, tell me if it ever has, but, yeah, it’s very heartbreaking for her to leave the JSA, and she is trying to step away for her own sanity and mental health, and I think for her if she were to ever come back to the JSA it would have to be on her own terms because this is just too much. Yes, Courtney came to her rescue at the end, but I think it was a little too late when that happened. Like she kinda went over…she just lost it, you know? I think she needs some time away.” Monreal said.

When talking about the fact that now Brainwave has seemed to embed himself into Yolanda’s mind, Monreal has this to say about if she will be strong enough to fight him out.

“So I feel like honestly this is really taking a toll on Yolanda and confronting Brainwave that’s her biggest fear. The first episode that you see Yolanda this season, she thinks Brainwave is in the confession booth. So I think that it is definitely hard on her. I don’t know if she’s strong enough to do it again. Taking his life was something she really struggled with, so I’m sure if she had to, she would do what she had to do.”

What does that mean for the rest of the JSA members? What will they do down a member and Eclipso on the loose? We will all have to stay tuned.

“Summer School: Chapter Six” had the JSA vs. ISA. The villain kids versus our hero kids were one for the ages but also came with hefty penalties that cost two their lives.

When asked what it was like training for this episode, Monreal said, “Okay, that was the longest episode that we shot. We actually were filming…we went on to film other episodes. Episode 7, episode 8, we kept having to go back to that episode because that fight sequence was so long. There’s a lot of preparation. Our stunt coordinator Walter Garcia actually directed that episode which was great because he knows his stuff. He knows how long it’s going to take each stunt scene to film. So that was great. It was a lot of work, though. We were on set for rehearsals, we were on set to see our stunt doubles do their rehearsals so that we could mimic our landing, their landing, and okay, she fell like that. It was a lot of work, but all that time we put in. Did you see that episode? So proud!”

Despite Henry Jr’s jerk behavior when we first met this character, it seemed like he was on the rise to redemption when his life was cut short due to his father. Monreal adds about his popularity, “Everyone was like we were Team Henry. He was on the right path. He was helping you guys out and I’m like man we’re all thinking the same thing. No one was expected to fall in love with him so much. You know we all fell in love with him. Even our showrunner was like if there’s a way to bring him back I’ll think about it. I don’t normally do that. He really just captured all of our hearts. He was so fun to work with.”

Monreal continued on working with Walker again in the latest episode. “It was so fun to work with when he came back again. It was really fun, and I have so many photos I can’t wait for this episode to air so I can post them. Some BTS. We did a little dancing in the hallway. It was great.”

The new episode “Summer School: Chapter Seven” aired on September 20, 2021, on The CW.

Want to learn the biggest risk Monreal has ever taken in her life, what it means for her to be a part of the DC family and more, CLICK HERE for the full interview!

About the Author

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Chae Jones

Chae' Jones is an actress, host, and writer in Los Angeles. She currently hosts Disney News Weekly on Popcorn Talk Network.