Interview
‘Tell Me Lies’ Newbie Thomas Doherty Says Leo Is the Anti-Stephen, Teases ‘Healthy’ Romance With Lucy (VIDEO)
Lucy (Grace Van Patten), it’s time to forget about Stephen (Jackson White). Put that toxic relationship in the past! Tell Me Lies returns for Season 2 on September 4, and Thomas Doherty is stepping onto campus as Leo, a new guy who catches Lucy’s eye. Could Lucy leave all the Stephen drama behind and be happy with Leo? Doherty spoke with TV Insider about how Leo compares to Stephen and his new romance with Lucy.
“It’s day and night,” the actor said. “Leo is this guy who kind of comes in, and he’s not been involved in all this toxicity… Even when I was reading the script, I was waiting for the penny to drop. Like, where is his toxicity? Where is his toxic trait? I guess it’s a communicative, healthy relationship—the way that it should be, but Lucy’s just been so traumatized and decimated by Stephen that she’s got all of these trust issues and inabilities to trust him and be vulnerable with him, and then she’s got this toxic tie still with Stephen, so that makes for some good TV, I’ll tell you that much.”
It doesn’t take much for a guy to be more upstanding than the manipulative and scheming Stephen. Doherty noted that Leo is “a lot more self-aware” than Stephen, and he’s “trying to derive a sense of self and identity from within himself as opposed to leeching off of other people.”
But it’s not all about Lucy and Stephen in Season 2. Wrigley (Spencer House) and Pippa (Sonia Mena) will be figuring out a new relationship in the wake of their breakup. “They’re still in each other’s lives, but they see each other in a different light, I would say,” House teased. “They’re forced to open up to one another… I feel like they have such a front on, and I think it’s nice to see them—well, it was nice to play it—very open with each other.”
Meanwhile, Evan (Branden Cook) is keeping a secret that could blow up his relationship with Bree (Catherine Missal). Cook noted that Evan is “very stressed” this season as the guilt of his secret hookup with Lucy weighs on him.
To all the Tell Me Lies viewers at home, Stephen’s toxicity is crystal clear. So, do his pals recognize his calculating ways, or are they completely aloof to what he’s doing to Lucy, Diana (Alicia Crowder), and even them?
“I think what men sometimes do, and it’s not great, but sometimes they do turn that blind eye and there’s this thing of not wanting to get in everybody’s business and letting people figure out themselves, especially amongst guys,” Cook said. “But I think with maturity you learn to be able to call your friends out or something like that, and obviously, we’ll see what type of friendship this is with this season, but I think that’s kind of the dilemma sometimes. Do I call him out and risk the friendship essentially, or let it be and still have a familiarity with this person that I’ve known and have this relationship with?”
House added, “I think he’s also good at manipulating. I don’t think Wrigley really knows about a lot of the stuff that he does.”
Watch the full video interview above for more.
Tell Me Lies, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, September 4, Hulu
