Grace Van Patten and Jackson White. Image Source: Cleveland
Grace Van Patten talks about the rumors of her dating Jackson White.
Tell Me Lies star Grace Van Patten recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight’s Deider Behar about her show, along with rumored partner and co-star Jackson White. On the show, actress Grace Van Patten plays the character of a college freshman named Lucy Albright, who falls for and enters into a toxic relationship with Jackson White's character Stephen DeMarco who is a manipulative upperclassman.
When asked if she is dating co-star Jackson White in real life, Grace said that fans should just leave it to mystery and have fun. She continued that the speculations do not bother her at all, mentioning that it’s all fun, just like any other discussion about the show, which is engaging and hilarious.
The actress, however, added that being able to work with Jackson White is so much fun as they get to do all of the interesting stuff together. It’s just great that they never stop hanging out with the cast. Grace said that Jackson White is so brilliant and playing a character like Stephen DeMarco is so hard for an actor. It takes a lot of work for an actor to be able to do all these terrible things and still maintain some empathy.
She went on to say that she remembered his first audition, where he came in and said all this mean shady stuff, but you still cared for him and were curious and strangely drawn to him. She believes that is what piques the audience's interest. Grace explained that it wouldn't work if he was simply despised. They needed to have the audience be perplexed by him while also intrigued and enamored, and they added that Jackson just killed it. The actress went on to say that the entire cast became so close that there were just long discussions about the evolution of the connection and making each other feel safe and cozy so that they could do all these terrible things to each other.
Grace also discussed their intimate scenes and said that there is so much that goes into that explaining that a scene that is supposed to be impulsive and seductive, is the most technical thing that requires so much interaction. She revealed that there is an intimacy coordinator, so they simply go through the overall process with no surprises. It's always very designed and follows the book. Proper communication and process always make an actor feel at ease and secure, Grace added.
Jackson White, who appeared on Dear Media’s Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, echoed similar sentiments to Grace Van Patten, admitting that he has a crush on her and he hopes that they do date. Jackson shared that their lives are built around each other and they have so much to do together, and he did not stop himself from praising the co-star, saying that she is the fucking coolest, most grounded, amazing person in real life that one could meet.
The 26-year-old actor went on to say that he has a huge crush on her and is almost obsessed with her because she is fucking amazing. He went on to say that she is a fearless leader on their show, noting that she is 25 years old and runs a set like she's done it for fucking 30 years adding that she's so consistent, grounded, and fucking good at it, and he felt like he was just following her lead. Jackson said of his character, "Stephen is so dramatic, he's so deceitful, he's so crazy at times that he had a difficult time being that guy and then they yell "cut" and he had to be himself." That was hard for him but he went ahead to praise Grace stating that she was so good at compartmentalizing the character and then herself.
Jackson stated when asked about filming of the intimate scenes, that there's a fucking intimacy coordinator to help the actors feel safe and at ease in the room. She's there to make sure nothing is suspicious and that everyone is okay. The actor went on to say that they would need a lot of advocacy and consent adding that they have very professional cameramen. Jackson shared that when they're de-robing, they turn away and the actors have got costume people there, putting their robes on, putting something in front of them while they get into the position. He explained that the actors are conversing with one another asking about whether is it good, whether are they okay, whether is everything okay, and if what they are doing is okay many such questions just to make sure that they are all okay. The actor lastly added that then they just do it and then stop and a customer runs in and covers their little butt up and then you go to lunch.
While Jackson White said that the scenes are very controlled, he did admit that the experience of filming them is "fucking wild." He said that it's the closest two people can be in a movie or TV show which is insane as he went onto explain that one can never know what that's like, and then it's so weird. It's so intimate and actors who are in that particular scene are just meeting each other stating that it's the weirdest job.
Tell Me Lies is streaming on Hulu.
