Taking their chemistry offscreen? After portraying love interests on Hulu’s Tell Me Lies, Jackson White and Grace Van Patten have played coy about the status of their own relationship.
Onscreen, the duo play college students Lucy and Stephen who get wrapped up in a toxic relationship. The series, which is based on a novel by Carola Lovering, follows Lucy and Stephen as their tumultuous connection affects everyone around them.
Amid the show’s premiere, Patten praised White for helping create a safe space on set when it came to filming the show’s sex scenes. “It’s really amazing that we had our intimacy coordinator who really just discussed everything and created such a safe environment for us,” the actress told E! News in September 2022. “Because the scenes are very, very intimate.”
The New York native recalled being on “the same page” with her costar.
White, for his part, also weighed in on how Tell Me Lies used those steamy moments to help tell a story. “It’s not treated as this big, scary thing. It’s just another scene that we have to block out and that we have to figure out beforehand,” he added. “Everyone collaborated to make it look organic and good.”
White and Patten later sparked dating speculation after they attended multiple red carpet events together while promoting Tell Me Lies.
In response, the California native gushed about having Patten by his side while bringing his complicated character to life. “Stephen is so intense, so manipulative, so crazy at times that I had a hard time being that guy,” he explained to E! News in October 2022. “Then when they cut, I would have to be myself and that was really hard for me. Grace was so good about compartmentalizing the character and herself and I just tried to follow that. She’s the best.”
That same month, White hinted that he wouldn’t mind exploring a romance with the Tramps star. “All I’m saying is that I’m obsessed with her because she’s f—king amazing,” he said on an episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast.
Meanwhile, Patten preferred to stay more tight-lipped about their connection. “Fans should just leave it up for mystery, keep it fun. Who knows?” she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “[The speculation] doesn’t bother me at all. It’s fun. It’s fun like any other discussion about the show. It’s engaging and it’s hilarious. I love it.”
Scroll down for everything White and Patten have said about their offscreen bond:
