There are TV dramas that you watch which make you rethink, re-question or reflect on past relationships: from the red flags you turned to green flags to the f*ckboy you allowed to mess with you for far too long or, without being aware of the situation you were in all along. Tell Me Lies is that drama.
Based on the best-selling addictive book by Carola Lovering, the show follows Grace Van Patten's Lucy, back in 2007 (the time of Blackberrys and Rihanna's Umbrella), who rapidly falls into an equally addictive relationship in the first year of college with Stephen (Jackson White) who is not what he seems. Over the course of eight years, we follow the toxic relationship from an intimate look at the power play of sex in the relationship to how the relationship's fall-out affects not just them but those around them too. It's a f*ckboy horror movie, of sorts.
Grace Van Patten herself is no stranger to addictive drama. Grace is rapidly making her name for herself as one of TV's great up-and-coming drama queens, having recently starred in Nine Perfect Strangers playing Zoe, who, in a bid to heal her family's grief checked into Nicole Kidman's wellness resort which wasn't all that it seemed. If you haven't seen it yet, run to Amazon Prime Video right now.
But Tell Me Lies is Grace's leading moment, and its release in the US sent the internet wild. "I feel like I'm on Love Island or something," she laughs as we chat over Zoom about the show's reaction stateside. "It feels like the same kind of fans, which I am so here for!" Well, we are here for this Tell Me Lies, and as it finally arrives on UK screens on Disney+, Grace talks about how the show's emotionally complex storylines related to her, how our perception of relationships has changed, reflects on the mental and physical impact of taking on the role of Lucy and the powerful importance of the show's sex scenes…
Audiences are going bananas over Tell Me Lies in the US, aren't they?
I can't even process it at this point. The anticipation of it coming out was one of the craziest feelings I've ever had. It's the first thing I've done where my friends are all really excited, which is really fun for me. They wanna know about it, they wanna ask questions, and I'm doing really well at not spoiling anything - I'm usually bad at that! People are really relating to it, feeling personally affected by it, and all I could ever ask for is for people to connect to it.
What spoke to you about Tell Me Lies?
So many things. When I first read the outline of the script, it reminded me of all of my favourite movies, like Blue Valentine or Urban Cowboy - my favourite movies are character studies of two people that end up in each other's lives. I'm so fascinated with relationships, why people end up with one another and how people fall into toxic relationships. The show took these young people's feelings so seriously, which you don't see a lot. I was so drawn to Lucy. I really felt for her and related to her a lot -, especially my younger self - and really just rooted for her. She goes on such a crazy emotional journey throughout ten episodes. It's just the beginning, Stephen was the catalyst for her self-discovery. Hopefully, if we get to explore more in a second season, she continues on that journey to find herself because I think it takes those toxic relationships to do that.
It's the worst that the toxic relationships in our life are the ones that teach us the most and not the nice ones…
"That literally looks like anybody else but Miranda Cosgrove.”
I know! The nice ones teach you things too, but they are not as critical. How did Lucy relate to your younger self, and how was it to step back into that younger you and really explore some feelings you possibly didn't even process at the time?
It was weird because the things that I related to, I got to watch the consequences play out for Lucy. I definitely had a wall up and was closed off in High School, and I wasn't aware of it in the moment, but looking back, I was like, 'oh that was definitely self-protection.' That was my way of protecting my feelings and avoiding getting hurt or rejected. Acting was my outlet for emotions; it was my way to express all of the feelings that I didn't come face to face with in my real life. Through acting, relationships, friendships and just experience, I've learned that vulnerability is the most powerful, beautiful thing in the world, along with communication and being honest with yourself. I really related to being stuck in that. I think this explosion of love, desire and sexual awakening for Lucy is just the start of her kind of downfall to then come back up and know what she needs and wants.
There are many subtle plot twists in Tell Me Lies. Which twist shook you?
The first episode, when we first kissed and then Stephen goes right to Diana's room. It's like, 'are you f**king kidding me? This guy is a sneaky, sneaky, dirty little rat.' And in college, that behaviour is allowed for some reason. Thankfully a lot has changed in society, but in 2007 it was like, 'it's really cool to be the player.' Everyone loved the douchey guy, the popular guy. And for Lucy coming into a new school, seeing it as a chance to reinvent herself and really try and connect - because she's been so numb for so long due to her past trauma - she meets this guy, makes her feel all of these new feelings, she latches onto him, and she looks past all of the red flags because, in contrast to what she was feeling before, this has to be love. It's very, very sad to watch, but I think we've all been through it.
How did Tell Me Lies challenge you mentally?
I definitely had to do a sanity check after we wrapped. I have always said that I felt like I was good at separating myself from the character, and I've just realised that I'm really not. I'm really bad at it. Subconsciously it gets twisted, melded, and it's hard to separate sometimes, especially when I'm playing a character that I really relate to. It felt super anxiety-inducing having to live through those moments that we've all lived through before or witnessed in a close friend or sister. It also made me very thankful that I know how to avoid those things. But in general, no matter what character I'm playing, it's super exhausting emotionally, and when you're playing somebody in the headspace like Lucy, it adds to that. But it was the best six months ever. The whole cast got along so well, it felt like summer camp. I never went to college. So this was like my college life.
Physically, the sex scenes in Tell Me Lies must have also been a very demanding part of the role. How did that make you reflect on your body image?
I remember first reading the script and just getting a huge pit in my stomach. Like, 'Oh my God, this is so exposing. This is so scary. I'm gonna feel so insecure.' My mind went to, 'Oh my God, I need to get in shape.' I really had to take a breath and reread the scripts. When I reread them, I was very thankful for those scenes because it's rare that sex scenes play a big part in the characters. They're so important for Lucy and Stephen, and it's such a huge part of their relationship and why Lucy falls so hard for him is because she experiences this sexual awakening with him, which makes her feel in her body more and wanting to feel her power. There's such a power shift throughout the season, and you see that through the sex scenes. I found that to be so real. It was very comforting knowing that those scenes had a message as opposed to just being exploitative and having naked people on the show. They also made it so safe and comfortable. There are intimacy coordinators, and there are never any surprises. They really create a safe environment for those things. It's such a big part of everyone's life is their first sexual experience and how that affects you now. It affects you forever and especially the person who it happens with. It's a really big part of everyone's life that I don't think anyone really thinks about, and I love that that got to play out in the show, even though it's not a happy one.
It's so interesting what you said earlier about how our perception of relationships has changed since 2007. Even with the way sex scenes are shown on screen, there's been such a shift too in terms of the representation of women, their bodies, their power and their sexuality on screen, too…
Yes! I loved Normal People so much. The way they shot those sex scenes were just so intimate and real. Not in a weird way, but it felt like you were there like a fly on the wall and in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable and makes you feel like you're reliving that first experience when it's awkward and you don't know who you are yet, what you want in life or sexually and it's just these two people that are pretending they know what they're doing. It's so interesting to watch and uncomfortable. That was the point of these scenes in Tell Me Lies to make people feel, 'Oh God, I remember that,' and really reflect.
If you were in the writers' room for Tell Me Lies season two what would you want to see happen?
I really hope she has it somewhat together and she is not seeing Stephen or anybody like him. You get a glimpse of the engagement party and her with Max - that shows a lot. It shows progress that she settled for a kinda, simple, sweet, boring guy, which she needs, you know, some people need that! She seems like she has her life together until she sees Stephen again for the first time. I hope she doesn't repeat, but I have a feeling she might.
She's d*ckmatised. That's the problem.
Exactly. That is the problem. It's a pandemic of its own
And there's no vaccine!
There's no vaccine!
Tell Me Lies season one is available on Disney now.
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