'Tell Me Lies' stars Spencer House, Catherine Missal, Sonia Mena, Alicia Crowder, Jackson White, creator Meaghan Oppenheimer, Grace Van Patten and Branden Cook at the season three NYC premiere party on Jan. 12. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Grace Van Patten often gets asked the same question. Are you and Jackson like that in real life? "I get asked that a lot," she told me at the NYC premiere party for the return of Tell Me Lies. "That's the most frequent, crazy question to me." Even better is her usual response: "Yes." Of course, she's kidding. "No, it's very different. But I think it's a compliment," she explains. "This show makes everyone have a very visceral reaction and think it's real." Related Stories TV 'Tell Me Lies' Drops Surprise Episode With Season 3 Premiere (Exclusive) Lifestyle The Hollywood Reporter and Spotify Celebrate Golden Globe Nominees With Amy Poehler, Odessa A'zion and 'Heated Rivalry' Breakouts For its third season, Hulu convened the Tell Me Lies cast to SoHo hotspot The Corner Store on Monday night just hours before the first three episodes of the eight-episode season would begin streaming. Van Patten and co-star Jackson White - who are dating in real life ever since playing Lucy and Stephen, the tumultuous pair at the center of the series - were joined by the rest of the Baird College gang played by Catherine Missal, Sonia Mena, Branden Cook, Spencer House, Alicia Crowder and Tom Ellis, along with Katherine Hughes, Natalee Linez and season three newcomer Iris Apatow when they posed for photos and spoke with press about the buzzy series' highly anticipated return. Grace Van Patten, Jackson White and the #TellMeLies cast celebrate season 3 in NYC pic.twitter.com/HHcdLLi02Q- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 13, 2026 "There's a storyline where we could have shied away from something controversial or we could have dug into it, and we really went head first into it, which I think will be possibly polarizing but in a way that excites me. It was certainly polarizing in the [writers] room," says series creator Meaghan Oppenheimer in her biggest season three tease, echoing when she told us ahead of season two that there was a storyline that might get her canceled. Spoiler alert: that storyline did not get her canceled. In fact, Tell Me Lies has only gotten more popular as it's become a hit for Hulu, as was evidenced by the on-brand premiere party awaiting the cast, creator and press inside The Corner Store. Upon entering, guests including The Hollywood Reporter were greeted with a bar sign demanding them to "Play it dirty," as they nibbled on oysters and caviar and sipped dirty or espresso martinis on cocktail napkins reading "Now say you're sorry," which is a nod to a season three storyline. Partyogers could find out what lies ahead in their own lives by sitting with a tarot card reader, or they could get judged like they were in a Tell Me Lies episode with an appraisal from The Bumbys - the anonymous performance artists who provide "A Fair and Honest Appraisal of Your Appearance" using analog typewriters and charming wit. But the most diehard of fans in the room could do something even more permanent - and actually get a "TML" tattoo (yes, a real one). The Bumbys gave several Tell Me Lies castmembers, including Branden Cook and fiancee Katherine Hughes, an overall 9.8 appraisal when they stepped up to their typewriters. Courtesy of Jackie Strause Guests lined up to get inked when real tattoo artists set up shop on the red carpet. Courtesy of Jackie Strause "It's really hard to fool people on this show because they love to theorize, they love to predict," acknowledges Oppenheimer about the viral nature of the social media-savvy series. Of course, Oppenheimer knows exactly what she's doing, as she's set up several big questions in the dual timeline plot that spans eight years from college to young adulthood, with the biggest mystery heading into season three revolving around who is calling Bree (Missal) on the night of her wedding to college boyfriend Evan (Cook). "It's become a sort of fun challenge to surprise people [even the cast]. I think the most elegant way of telling the story is to leave 5 percent under the surface, and not over-explain things. But I tried to answer everything that I want to have answered," she says of how this season ends. "I didn't want to leave people hanging." Our conversation gets briefly interrupted when Oppenheimer's lead, Van Patten, playfully bumps shoulders with her. "The only thing Grace was nervous about this year was the karaoke [in the premiere episodes], which I think is incredible. I was like, of all the stuff we make you do?" the creators points out to Van Patten. The toxic romance between Lucy and Stephen wil