Tom Ellis calls 'Tell Me Lies' professor 'slightly broken soul with slightly bad intentions'

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Lucifer alum Tom Ellis says the married professor he plays in Season 2 of Tell Me Lies only adds to the complexity of the university-set psychological thriller.

"He is someone who is quite cold and withdrawn, quite intimidating to a lot of the students," Ellis told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"He's someone who keeps his cards very close to his chest, and I think that as Bree starts to get to know him a little bit, our audience starts to get to know him a little bit, or what they think they know about him," Ellis said.

"He presents as a sort of articulate grown-up, but as the series evolves, we learn that maybe it's not as well-rounded a character as we might think. He's a slightly broken soul with slightly bad intentions," he added. "He's somebody who doesn't think about consequences."

Season 2 of the adaptation of Carola Lovering's novel picks up as Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White) return to college after the spectacular breakup of their toxic romance.

The split leads to shocking ramifications for their friend group.

Lucy spitefully sleeps with Stephen's housemate, Evan (Branden Cook), the boyfriend of her friend, Bree (Catherine Missal), who then strikes up an affair with her teacher, Ellis' character, Oliver, who is married to Lucy's professor, Marianne (Gabriella Pession).

"This season, we see a lot of the same themes for Bree, like dealing with relationships, her friendships, her boyfriend," Missal said.

"I feel like she -- a lot of times -- is let down and here's this new character [Oliver] coming along who interests her in a way. It happens at the perfect time. So, he's this older professor at the college, and when they meet, she's in this very vulnerable state. I think it's kind of like the perfect storm."

The show about secrets and lies employs a flashback-flash forward narrative structure that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, trying to keep track of who knows what when and whose account of events is reliable.

The stars said having all eight scripts in front of them helped them figure out where they are within the non-linear storytelling.

"We knew exactly what the story was and where it was going, but I think we both acknowledged it was pretty important not to get ahead of ourselves when we were doing this," Ellis said.

"So, we took it step by step in order to kind of reflect what was happening on screen," he added. "We would film two episodes at a time, basically, and so we would never talk about further down the road.

"We'd always talk about what we were doing in this one and we'd go through material, and as Oliver and Bree got to know each other better, Cat and I got to know each other better, as well. And I think there was a sort of natural evolution that happened with our chemistry."

Asked what fellow manipulator Steven thinks of Oliver, Ellis laughed and noted that "like recognizes like."

"They're probably very similar characters in many ways, but they present very differently. I think Steven is much more, obviously, sociopathic and narcissistic and Oliver is very quietly sociopathic and narcissistic, but I'd say probably just as -- if not more -- toxic than Steven," Ellis said.

While Steven is still young and might someday seek redemption, Ellis said, Oliver seems to be past the point of no return.

"Steven's quite open about being a piece of [expletive]. Oliver, I don't think, thinks that he is," he added.

Bree, unfortunately, realizes too late she is ensnared in a spider's web.

"She's constantly, as Breed does, looking at the positives and seeing the great things about this man," Missal said.

"Even though, maybe it can be obvious watching it, there's clearly lots of red flags."