‘Tell Me Lies’ Jackson White On Working With “Amazing” Girlfriend Grace Van Patten: “We Have That Safety With Each Other”

While the two-episode Season 2 premiere of Tell Me Lies teased Stephen and Lucy’s relationship as more toxic than ever before, we’re pleased to report that actors Jackson White and Grace Van Patten’s off-screen relationship is still going strong.

For those unaware of the real-life Tell Me Lies romance, the leads officially confirmed they were dating IRL in August 2024 and had been since Season 1 aired in 2022. Following the Season 1 finale breakup , Lucy and Stephen’s Season 2 dynamic is even more volatile this time around, and White feels his real-life relationship with Van Patten only enhances those emotionally demanding performances.

7 Shows Like ‘Tell Me Lies’ If You Want More Sexy, Soapy Scandal

“It’s the best working with Grace. She is amazing. She’s so grounded, and generous, and just soulful and fucking — yeah she’s great,” White told Decider over Zoom ahead of Tell Me Lies’ Season 2 premiere.

“As for the relationship influencing the role — it helps because you’re so comfortable with someone. So you can go and feel free to try stuff and there’s not a politeness to it,” he explained. “It’s just very all out there.”

‘Tell Me Lies’ Thomas Doherty On Playing Leo And Working With The Van Patten Sisters

In Season 2’s first two episodes, Stephen and Lucy are mostly giving each other the cold shoulder in 2015 scenes. But back in 2008 at Baird College, the two have several face-offs — from an uncomfortable run-in at a party (where Lucy attempts to play it cool and assure Stephen she doesn’t hate him) to an intense lunchroom confrontation where Stephen aims to embarrass Lucy in front of her new crush, Leo (Thomas Doherty) . Oh, and there’s also the scene where Lucy throws Stephen’s iPhone down the hallway and warns, “If you keep fucking with me I will ruin your life.” After all the premiere drama, Episode 2 ends with Stephen intentionally becoming the teaching assistant for Lucy’s class, which suggests much more conflict between the exes to come.

“We have that safety with each other, which is really fun. So whenever we do get to do something — a lot of freedom, it’s really cool,” White told Decider when asked about the more intense exchanges between Lucy and Stephen.

CLICK HERE TO GET EMAILS FROM DECIDER

When chatting with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Van Patten also opened up about her relationship with White and took a moment to assure concerned fans, “…he’s not like that in real life, I swear.”

“We didn’t think too much about trying to keep it hidden because it felt right and people were nice about it,” Van Patten continued. “Our relationship is out there, but not too much of it. I think that just treating our relationship professionally, the way we treat it in our own lives, is the best way to go about it.”

Rest assured, however, that you’ll be getting a lot more of Lucy and Stephen in Season 2. So be sure to tune in and follow Decider’s Tell Me Lies coverage for more behind-the-scenes insights.

New episodes of Tell Me Lies premiere Wednesdays on Hulu.

For more entertainment news and streaming recommendations, visit decider.com