Grace Van Patten on Show’s Future, Jackson White

[This story contains spoilers from season three, episode seven of Tell Me Lies, “As I Climb Onto Your Back, I Will Promise Not to Sting.“]

Grace Van Patten gets approached by Tell Me Lies fans everywhere. It’s a spotlight she isn’t quite used to, but she’s leaning in. “Every step, we got recognized,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter about a recent trip to Nashville with her co-star boyfriend, Jackson White. “It was crazy and amazing. This season feels so different, in a great way.”

The pair began quietly dating after meeting in the audition process to play Lucy and Stephen — the toxic, psychosexual and nothing-like-them couple at the center of the buzzy Hulu series that is currently airing its third season with a viral weekly drop. With the penultimate hour now streaming, only one episode remains, and, without any renewal news to say otherwise, fans are speculating this could be the end of the saga from creator Meaghan Oppenheimer.

Think pieces about Tell Me Lies have been examining why so many viewers, especially millennials, identify so intensely with Lucy, Stephen and the rest of their ’08 Baird College crew. The group of young co-eds who make terrible decisions — Wrigley, the character played by Spencer House, rattled off a shocking list last episode — reminds the audience of their own toxic college romances and friendships. “We were all going through similar things in that time period,” says Van Patten, 29, also a millennial. “We were listening to that type of music and wearing those outfits. It makes a lot of sense why our generation is drawn to it.”

The seventh episode, titled “As I Climb Onto Your Back, I Will Promise Not to Sting,” leaves Lucy in her most vulnerable place yet when she shows up at Stephen’s door broken and begging for him to give her the piece of blackmail he’s been holding over her all season — a taped confession of Lucy admitting she lied about being sexually assaulted. “He won when he saw Lucy that distraught,” Van Patten explains of why Stephen ends up giving Lucy the tape. “When he sees her completely hating herself, he sees that there’s no more work to be done.”

Below, Van Patten opens up about being under the mega-spotlight of Tell Me Lies, how she handles her anxiety-inducing storylines, what frustrates her the most about Lucy and where this hour leaves her heading into what she calls a perfect finale — whether it’s the end-end, or not. “I love the ending so much. It’s an amazing ending, if it was the end,” she says.

***

Tell Me Lies hit peak popularity this season. Have you read or seen any reactions on social media that really resonated with you about why people are so addicted to this show?

It’s such a bad question for me because I’m very offline, and overwhelmed. I know that if I start to look, I’m definitely going to see something mean about me. So I just avoid it at all costs!

You are a very social-savvy cast who has been engaging with content and the press. So you like to put it out into the world, and then step away?

Yes, exactly. That is my goal, because I know I can go into a deep rabbit hole. I’m sure there are really fun, interesting things to read. Maybe I’ll just give it some time. I do have friends and my sisters [including her Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox co-star Anna Van Patten] who will show me funny memes or videos. I enjoy watching those. But I know that if I do it myself, I’ll probably take a dark turn.

Have you gotten more comfortable in this spotlight? Or does it make you uneasy at times?

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. It’s wild. But for this particular situation, it feels really loving. Every interaction with the fans has been so fun; they’re so excited. They’re all around our age. It feels familiar. It’s fun to talk about and hear their reactions. I really enjoy engaging with the people who like the show.

This press tour, you and Jackson White have really opened up about your off-screen relationship. Your Calvin Klein campaign went viral. I read that you two approach your relationship as not wanting to hide anything. Did you have a conversation about how much you wanted to share about your real selves going into this season?

No, there was no conversation. We’re just going with the flow. Life is first, for both of us. We both feel similarly that if we try and adapt for our jobs that it could start to maybe feel weird and inauthentic. We both want to feel free to be ourselves and put it out there as much as we feel is natural and not force it on people, but also not try so hard to keep it private. It’s about a balance, and he is similar to me where he’s also not hyper-social media obsessed, so we are on the same level. It’s easy and luckily, we agree on all of that stuff.

Have you gotten used to seeing yourself on billboards, or cozying up in your underwear on social media?

No, no. (Laughs.) I’ll never get used to that. It’s crazy! It’s different with seeing the posters for the show, because it’s hard to see Lucy as myself. But magazine covers and the Calvin Klein thing, that is me. That’s a really big me! And that’s a little more intimidating and trippy, but all positive. There’s nothing negative about it.

Thinking about Lucy now. .. when looking back on the entire season, what has frustrated you most about her decisions?

I don’t think she went the right way ever. It’s part of her makeup, but, gosh, every season, there are multiple mistakes. But what frustrates me the most are the things relating to the girls [Bree, played by Cat Missal, and Pippa, played by Sonia Mena], because I think she really takes those friendships for granted. You see how much they could care about each other, especially with Lucy and Bree.

Second season, they were each other’s confidants and got really close. And third season, they’d spent the Christmas break together and really created a bond. And it’s hard to tell if Lucy is doing that out of guilt because she slept with Evan [Bree’s then-boyfriend, played by Branden Cook] or out of genuine love for Bree. But I do think there’s so much love there, and I think she really fails to prioritize those friendships. So any moment where she’s going against makes me sad. And the storyline where Lucy, after lying for Pippa, went against Pippa [and spoke out about her sexual assault to her attacker] makes me sad. That’s a very, very serious, sensitive issue, and for Lucy to not see that, is very frustrating.

Meaghan Oppenheimer has said, two seasons in a row, there is a storyline that she thought might get her canceled, and it was that one — Lucy lying about being sexually assaulted, which she said so Pippa didn’t have to.

Yes. And this season with the tape.

Yes. Then she took it further with Stephen forcing her to confess it on tape. Have you talked to Meaghan about her bravery to tackle this sexual assault storyline?

She’s bold, which is what I admire about her. Every season, she one-ups herself, and there’s something crazier. It’s so fun for all the actors to see what we’re going to have to do, and it also gives us some anxiety! The anticipation of what is Meaghan going to have us do this season? is a little anxiety-inducing, but she keeps us on her toes. Going into every season, we feel like we’re the audience as well. We’re in line with what the audience is going to feel when they’re watching it. Like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe they’re doing this.” It makes it very exciting. I love that Meaghan is unafraid to go there, because it makes it very original.

Meaghan has said that toxic relationships are boring because they’re so predictable. Do you feel that way about Lucy and Stephen? Do you feel like they’ve been predictable, or have they taken you by surprise?

Both. You can predict Lucy is going to be hurt. You can predict Stephen is going to hurt her at some point. But the specifics of hurting her? No. I am surprised every time. I would never have guessed he would make her go on tape confessing [she lied about sexual assault]. He takes it really far, and the writing takes it really far. So in that case it’s unpredictable, but it’s inevitable that it’s going to be messy and that they are going to hurt each other.

You and Jackson have spoken about how having each other has helped you through difficult scenes. Lucy reaches a breaking point this week when she begs Stephen for the tape and, surprisingly, he seems to see her pain and gives the tape to her. How did you make sense of that scene?

Stephen is done when the job is done and Lucy is hurt. I think he felt like Lucy did it to herself already. He won when he saw Lucy that distraught. That’s all he wanted. That was the whole point of keeping the tape and hanging it over her head, and making her scared. When he sees her completely hating herself, he sees there’s no more work to be done. Whatever he was planning to do and make her feel, she’s already going through. So he pulls out.

I guess you could see it as a nice thing, but Lucy is so damaged at that point — and that tape is only one of the things that is giving her anxiety. It’s a huge thing, but she’s holding onto so many lies. So it’s hard to see it as a nice thing, because he still did it. He still made her go on tape. He still threatened her with it. He’s not getting a point in my book for giving it back when she’s literally hating herself so much in front of him.

When I spoke with you both earlier in the season, Jackson said there were some scenes where he had to walk off set because Stephen was being so terrible. How did you two get through these final episodes?

Jackson has it hard. He has to be so terrible to me. He has to say such horrible things. I would feel very icky saying those words, in general — to my boyfriend, my friend, a random actor. That’s dark. But it’s also why he’s so good. He’s in it, and he’s convincing. And it also makes him upset, which I think is why, every so often, you do see some vulnerability from Stephen that confuses you. That’s a testament to how much Jackson’s thinking about it and how much he puts himself into it, which makes people have such a visceral reaction to him.

This episode ended with Bree finally putting it together that Lucy is the girl who Evan cheated on her with, after she spots a photo from that night on Facebook. After you finished reading that script, did you theorize to yourself why this secret wouldn’t come out between these best friends for six years? In the future 2015 timeline, Evan and Lucy sleeping together is still a secret, until Stephen tells Bree in the voicemail.

I remember being totally shocked that Bree had known the whole time. The fact that it stays a secret tracks to me in this group of friends [but I can’t say more without spoiling].

Have you seen any viewers guessing what’s going to happen in the finale?

No. I’m so excited for it to come out. I might honestly read reactions for the finale, because I am very, very curious.

What conversations or whispers have you heard about a renewal for Tell Me Lies?

You never know. I think it becomes a conversation maybe after it’s all out. But I really believe that it could go both ways. I love the ending so much. It’s an amazing ending, if it was the end. And I also think they are amazing writers, and Meaghan could think something up to continue the story. So I’d be very happy either way.

As a cast, I know you’re all close. Have you accepted among yourselves that this could be the end?

We all talk about it. Both versions would be bittersweet. This show has been so amazing for us, not just friendship-wise and getting so close to each other, but also being a part of something that people love. We’re all so thankful for it. Of course it’d be emotional if it were be end, but I also think everyone would be excited for a new chapter as well. We’re also all pushing 30 — so to play college-aged might be a little bit of a stretch!

You and Jackson have talked about the ease of being on the same show and filming schedule. Have you mentally prepared, if this is the end, that your lives would change?

Not yet, because that’s always been a possibility, even when we’re doing this show. We only make the show for four months out of the year. He’s had to go do something. I’ve had to go do something. It’s happened, so it’s not something we haven’t experienced. Like anything, we’ll figure it out as we go.

What do you want to do next? Playing Amanda Knox was very different than Tell Me Lies. Are you looking for something different?

Always. I’m so open. I love the idea of doing a movie, and I’m always wanting to try something new. That’s what excites me. I’m reading scripts, and no matter the genre or the character, if I connect to something for some reason, that’s what makes me want to do it. I’m just trying to stay true to that.

Are you looking to book something quickly?

Whenever the right thing comes along. There’s always an anxiety of, “Will I work again?” But there are some things in the air that maybe I’ll be able to talk about soon. Right now, it’s really nice to be present and in the moment while the show is still coming out and almost done. We’re still doing so much press for it, so that’s my job right now.

***

The first seven episodes of Tell Me Lies are currently streaming on Hulu. Check out all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Tell Me Lies coverage.