Tell Me Lies Cast & Character Guide

Hulu’s Tell Me Lies follows a toxic relationship between Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), and the secrets that come with it over the course of eight years. The show offers a dramatic look at the lasting impacts of adolescent relationships, and the importance of the friendships made along the way. The dramatic unraveling of the characters’ lives in Tell Me Lies is executive-produced by Meaghan Oppenheimer and co-produced by Emma Roberts. Hulu’s series is based upon the novel of the same name by Carola Lovering.

Tell Me Lies boasts a number of familiar faces, including Jackson White of The Middle and Grace Van Patten of Nine Perfect Strangers. Season 2 of Tell Me Lies additionally includes Thomas Doherty, who first made a name for himself in Disney’s Descendants and HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot. The natural chemistry between the actors coupled with the dramatic storytelling found in Tell Me Lies’ source material continues to create an entangled and engaging plot.

Grace Van Patten As Lucy Albright

Date Of Birth: November 21, 1996

Born and raised in New York City, Grace Van Patten was educated at the legendary Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. The daughter of director Timothy Van Patten, Grace was exposed to the entertainment industry from a young age. She is also the niece of comedic actors Dick Van Patten and Joyce Van Patten. Van Patten currently boasts several notable acting credits.

Grace Van Patten first guest starred on HBO’s The Sopranos in 2006 as a child. Her most notable role was as Zoe in Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, where she starred as the daughter of a troubled married couple, Napoleon (Michael Shannon) and Heather Marconi (Asher Keddie). The show also included the highly acclaimed Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, and more.

In Tell Me Lies, Van Patten plays the emotionally lost Lucy Albright, who struggles to adjust to college after her father’s death from cancer and her roommate’s shocking death in a car crash. She begins a relationship with Stephen DeMarco shortly after beginning college at the fictional Baird College in upstate New York.

Jackson White As Stephen DeMarco

Date of Birth: March 1, 1996

Jackson White was raised between Los Angeles, California and Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to his acting career, White was interested in pursuing music (via PEOPLE). He attended the University of California for a year, studying drumming, before leaving the university upon realizing his acting aspirations. White reflected that formal schooling was not for him, and instead embarked on the audition process for a number of projects in the late 2010s.

The actor went on to feature in The Middle in 2018 as Aidan, and as Ash Baker in SPF-18 opposite Noah Centineo, Pamela Anderson, Molly Ringwald, Keanu Reeves, and more. He later starred opposite Katherine Hahn in the HBO miniseries Mrs. Fletcher. White is the son of actress Katey Sagal, and he is currently in a relationship with his Tell Me Lies costar Grace Van Patten (via PEOPLE).

In Tell Me Lies, White plays the broody Stephen DeMarco, who struggles with his dysfunctional family and being the source of support for his friends. All the while, Stephen is a sociopathic womanizer who manipulates both Lucy and his ex-girlfriend Diana (Alicia Crowder) during the series’ college years. Stephen and Lucy’s trysts continue into their post-grad years, impacting a number of other parties.

Catherine Missal as Bree

Date Of Birth: November 15, 1999

Catherine Missal stars as Bree in Tell Me Lies, marking her first major breakthrough role. Missal previously made appearances in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Blacklist. She began acting when she was 10 years old, appearing as Sophie in a short film titled Shopping. Missal’s role in Tell Me Lies continues to earn her mainstream recognition.

Missal’s Bree begins Tell Me Lies as the core group’s most responsible friend, focusing on her academics in order to keep her scholarship and seeking a more stable relationship. However, things eventually unravel when she begins an affair with her professor’s husband. In the show’s timeline jump, Bree is shown marrying Evan (Branden Cook), who was Stephen’s roommate at Baird and a member of their circle of friends.

Spencer House As Wrigley

Date Of Birth: July 24, 1992

Spencer House, originally from Texas, started his acting career in 2014, acting in several independent films. His first major role was in 2019 on Netflix’s hit show The Society, where he played football star turned diplomat Clark Beecher in a town full of high school students in an alternate isolated timeline of their hometown. House also appeared in the 2022 adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Blue Bloods, Jessica Jones, Dr. Death, and more.

In Tell Me Lies, House plays Wrigley, a football star at Baird College who is working to adapt to his learning disability while helping his younger brother through mental health challenges after he witnesses Macy’s (Lily McInerny) untimely death. Wrigley is in a relationship with Pippa (Sonia Mena) throughout his college years, though they are no longer together in the show’s 2015 time jump. He later loses his brother Drew to a drug overdose and struggles to mourn him years later.

Sonia Mena As Pippa

Birth Date: 1996

Sonia Mena began her career as an actress in 2019, appearing in a number of independent films before HBO’s Search Party in 2020 and Hulu’s Love Victor in 2021. Mena stars in Tell Me Lies as Pippa, who works to find herself through female friendships at Baird College after a tumultuous high school experience. Mena delivers a dynamic performance as her character struggles with allowing herself to feel her feelings.

Pippa is in a relationship with Wrigley during the show’s college flashbacks, and in the future, is revealed to be in a relationship with Diana Linder, who first dated Stephen. The pair find an unlikely friendship with one another after Pippa struggles to cope after an assault, and their relationship turns romantic in 2015 when the show takes a time jump.

Branden Cook As Evan

Date Of Birth: June 24, 1994

Branden Cook attended Wake Forest University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater in 2017. He went on to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts from 2017-2019. The actor has appeared in a number of notable projects, including Chicago P.D., HBO’s Industry, and Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, where he starred opposite Academy Award nominees Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler.

Cook plays Evan in Tell Me Lies, who is Stephen’s roommate at Baird. Evan is more responsible than Stephen and cautions him against his manipulative ways, yet additionally covers for him and keeps his secrets from both Diana and Lucy. In Tell Me Lies season 2, it is revealed that he cheated on Bree with Lucy in the past. Evan’s multifaceted character moves between his responsible nature and his duplicitous instincts.

Benjamin Wadsworth As Drew

Date Of Birth: November 8, 1999

Benjamin Wadsworth was born and raised in Houston, Texas. The actor is of mixed Mexican, Iranian, English, indigenous American, French, and Swedish descent (via IMDB). The actor appeared in several short films from 2013 to 2016, when he was cast as Jordan in Disney’s Girl Meets World, a spinoff of Boy Meets World. He later appeared in the popular supernatural teen drama Teen Wolf, and as Rocco Baxter in 2020’s Your Honor opposite Bryan Cranston.

Wadsworth appeared as Drew in Tell Me Lies season 1. He is Wrigley’s younger brother and a freshman at Baird, eager to meet new people and start his college experience. While he is introduced as a bright-eyed young student, his world is turned upside down upon witnessing Macy’s death in a car crash, leading him to struggle with depression. Drew eventually dies of an accidental overdose, devastating Wrigley.

Alicia Crowder As Diana

Date Of Birth: November 11, 1997

Alicia Crowder was educated at the prestigious Juilliard School (via Juilliard). While Crowder has an extensive theatrical background, she made her television debut in 2019 on The Society, alongside fellow Tell Me Lies star Spencer House. She went on to appear in Instinct, Bleecker, and 99 Things I Think Of Before I Go To Sleep.

Crowder plays the highly motivated Diana Linder in Tell Me Lies, who is Stephen’s on-again-off-again girlfriend whom he conceals from Lucy for the majority of season 1. Diana is a high-achieving student and a member of the school’s a cappella group. In the 2015 flashbacks in Tell Me Lies season 2, it is revealed that Diana is now in a relationship with Pippa in the years that have passed since college.

Tom Ellis As Oliver

Date Of Birth: November 17, 1978

Tom Ellis is a Welsh actor who began his career over 20 years ago. He notably appeared in Miranda, Merlin, No Angels, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Doctor Who, and more on the BBC. He achieved international fame after starring in the titular role of Fox’s Lucifer. The show was adapted from the DC Comics of the same name, and follows Lucifer Morningstar’s journey away from Hell and to owning a Los Angeles nightclub, eventually consulting for the LAPD. Ellis is married to the showrunner of Tell Me Lies, Meaghan Oppenheimer.

Ellis plays Oliver in season 2 of Tell Me Lies, who has an affair with a young Bree during her student years at Baird. Bree is a student of his wife Marianne, who is a professor at Baird. Throughout their relationship, Bree presumes they are having a clandestine affair, while Oliver and Marriane are in an open marriage and neglect to inform Bree.

Gabriella Pession As Marianne

Date Of Birth: November 2, 1977

Gabriella Pession is an Italian-American actress with on-screen credits dating back to 1997. The actress has appeared in many Italian films, including The Fish In Love and Love Is Eternal While It Lasts. Pession most notably appeared on Station 19 and Those About To Die, and will soon appear in The Count of Monte Cristo opposite Sam Claflin, marking her path to international success.

Pession portrays Marianne in Tell Me Lies, an English professor who encourages Lucy to become a stronger writer. Her husband later has an affair with Lucy’s friend Bree, before it is ultimately revealed that the couple have an open marriage. Marianne has a stern personality, and adds a unique layer to the dramatic college flashbacks in Tell Me Lies.

Thomas Doherty As Leo

Date Of Birth: April 21, 1995

Thomas Doherty is a Scottish actor who was born and raised in Edinburgh, where he attended Royal High School Doherty first appeared in Sky Living’s adaptation of Dracula in 2013. Doherty later reached international fame for his role in Disney’s Descendants, where he played Harry Hook. He went on to appear in The CW’s The Vampire Diaries spinoff Legacies, where he played a mysterious vampire.

His success continued with his recent role in HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot, where he played Max Wolfe for two seasons. Doherty appears in Tell Me Lies season 2 as Lucy’s new love interest at Baird College. When he returns from studying abroad and strikes up a relationship with Lucy, he quickly finds himself trapped in the vicious cycle created by her and Stephen.

Edmund Donovan As Max

Date Of Birth: August 24, 1990

Edmund Donovan attended Boston University for his Bachelor of Fine Arts and later the Yale School of Drama for his master’s degree. Donovan has an extensive theatrical background, but made his onscreen debut in 2015 in an independent film titled Akron. He later appeared on a number of hit television shows, including Orange Is The New Black, Blue Bloods, High Fidelity, and the reboot of Gossip Girl.

Donovan appears in Tell Me Lies as Max, a waiter and bartender at his family’s restaurant near Baird College. Max and Lucy begin a relationship while she is still seeing Stephen. Max encourages Lucy to work through her trauma surrounding her father’s death, but acknowledges that she is too immature for a healthy relationship with him.

Natalee Linez As Lydia Montgomery

Date Of Birth: October 25, 2000

Linez was born in Orange County, California, and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She currently stars on Chicago P.D., and has also appeared on CSI: Vegas, 911, and USA’s fantasy drama Sirens. Linez also hosts a wellness podcast called Ground Up With Natalee (via NBC).

Lydia Montgomery is Lucy’s best friend from her hometown in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. The pair spend winter break together and appeared close during their college years, but the pair lose touch as the show progresses. Season 2 of Tell Me Lies ends with the shocking bombshell that Stephen is now engaged to Lydia, years after Stephen and Lucy’s dramatic toxic relationship. Hopefully, Hulu will renew Tell Me Lies for season 3.

Sources: IMDB, NBC, PEOPLE, Juilliard