Simone Kessell Revealed If She Would Return For “Yellowjackets” Season 4, And She Surprised Me

Some fans might not know this, but you won gold in the women’s singles and silver in the women’s doubles at the Australian Pickleball Championships! What do you love most about the sport?

This weekend, I just played another PPA tournament, and I’m the captain of a major pickleball league team as well. It’s just happened in the last year. I love exercise sports. I was a very good tennis player, so playing pickleball came quite easily, and I sort of got very good very quickly. I dedicate a lot of time to it.

I think the reason it speaks to me is because I can turn off from this industry. I can turn off Lottie. Playing Lottie really took an emotional toll on me because I gave so much to her, and she was so broken to me. I needed something other than just exercise, like going to the gym. So, pickleball came up, and I started playing, and now I play most days. In fact, after our interview, I’m going to play pickleball! But it’s a sport where you’re on a court. You can be playing for four or five hours, and you’re just thinking of strategies, stroke, where I’m playing, who I’m playing. It’s a wonderful way to switch between acting and having a sport that I can get better at as I get older, too. I want to not just work out; I want to learn. The level I play at is very fast, and it’s highly strategic. These competitors are incredible athletes, so I’m really pushing myself, and then I get to be an actress. My life is full and wonderful. It’s so great. It’s such a pleasure playing.

BuzzFeed: I love your attitude about continually learning.

If we don’t, we become stagnant. For me, I travel so much, and I work so much that I have to do something that fills my cup. But also, I’m learning [something] that I can get better at. And let’s be honest, I’m very competitive. You can’t win at yoga.