Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the Tell Me Lies series finale.
Tell Me Lies star Jackson White is finally ready to shed the snake skin of Stephen DeMarco. For the first decade of his acting career, White unwittingly carved out a niche as the ultimate fictional toxic boyfriend, bringing with him a kind of unsettling intensity every time he appears onscreen. But for the past three seasons on creator Meaghan Oppenheimer’s buzzy Hulu drama series, Stephen has brought new meaning to the term “master manipulator” as the emotionally abusive ex of Grace Van Patten’s Lucy Albright—so much so that legions of viewers sometimes can’t seem to separate White from his character.
“He’s a very sick guy. I think he’s very impulsive, and I think he has done a lot of damage,” White, whose affable nature stands in stark contrast to his onscreen counterpart, tells Teen Vogue. “I don’t think he knows why he does things until they’re done. He just has that in him, something he can’t control. Stephen can be very calculating, and then he can be very impulsive.”
Case in point: In the hour-long series finale, which has already sharply divided viewers around the world, Stephen’s carefully constructed life comes crashing down around him after his acceptance to Yale law is rescinded over an anonymous tip about his abusive and borderline illegal behaviour. But years later, at his former college friends Bree (Cat Missal) and Evan (Branden Cook)’s ill-fated wedding, Stephen not only reveals that he has rebuilt his life, but he also manages to unearth just about every secret and lie that kept his college friend group from falling apart.
In the end, after blowing up his entire life (as well as the lives of those around him), Stephen manages to convince Lucy to leave the failed wedding with him—only for him to leave her behind at a gas station in the middle of nowhere without any kind of explanation. Viewers will be left with all kinds of lingering questions about whether Lucy or Stephen truly got the last laugh in that cat-and-mouse dynamic—and perhaps the most maddening realization that toxic men like Stephen seldom get what they truly deserve.
Below, White—who was Teen Vogue’s most recent cover star alongside real-life girlfriend Van Patten—offers a window into his character’s twisted psychology and opens up about what he thinks Stephen’s life will look like after he leaves Lucy behind. “I don’t wish anything ill on anyone,” he says, “but I hope that his conscience comes into play before he leaves this life, because everything comes around.”
Jackson White: I haven’t really heard any too-crazy fans. I think everyone’s just very excited. It’s unlocking a very visceral reaction in people, which is all you can really hope for. I think across the board, everyone just wants him dead. [Laughs.] I think if I’ve heard anything, it’s that [reaction], and I don’t know what to tell you there.
JW: At this point, I think the purpose is that he’s irredeemable. He began as an ambiguous, morally questionable character. We saw where he comes from, what makes him tick. We had more questions about this guy. You see him get the opportunity to change, but he doesn’t take it. For any normal person getting pushed around the way he has, he would want to grow and change from [those difficult experiences]. But because he is the way he is, you see him just regurgitate it and use it against people instead of actually taking it in and growing from it. And, at this point, all bets are off.
JW: I know, for the writers, they want [the dynamic] to be a game that they’re both trying to win. I’ve never gone about it that way. I think there’s something in her that resembles him. There’s a badness in her that he has, there’s a goodness in her that he has, and then, there’s intense physical attraction. I know Stephen is spiraling downward [in season 3]. He’s experiencing a crisis of faith. He’s having feelings and heartache, but he’s not really sure what that is or how to qualify that, so he takes that out on other people. With Lucy, I think he’s just trying to find comfort. He wants to have a thumb on her, and he’s trying to make himself feel better at all times. Stephen collects information and weaponizes it. He feels safe having control over people. I think that’s what he was taught; it’s inherited behavior. He also requires some type of psychological stimulation, and he gets pleasure in other people’s demise. He’s very good at making himself feel better.
JW: I like to think he does. I like to think he cares about her in his own way. I like to think that he maybe has some type of remorseful feelings about how far he’s taken things. I think the viewers and the creator could disagree with me, but as the guy portraying him, it’s my job to find some humanity. So, yes, on paper, it’s like he won the game. He’s not having any fun anymore, so he doesn’t want to play the game. But for me, I came at it maybe with some empathy for how much damage he’s caused. But because of the way the character is designed, no one’s going to feel that way. That’s just me trying to find a way in.
JW: I think he smells weakness. I think when he knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that he’s won, he relinquishes control because it’s not fun for him anymore. I know that’s the way the writers would describe it, but, again, I like to think maybe he has a sliver of remorse. Maybe that’s not true. I don’t know. All I know is that’s how I tried to play it.
JW: I think it’s an impulse. I don’t think it was very thought out. I think it’s another version of giving the tape back. I think he’s figured he’s won, and he wants to quit while he is ahead. I don’t think he planned on leaving her there. I think he thought about it and acted on an impulse and did it. But then again—you see, this is an interesting conversation because it’s my interpretation of the character versus what was intended [by the writers]. What was intended is that he is a game master and that he’s plotted this out for years. He’s held onto flash drives [with incriminating evidence]. He’s planned [how to ruin] this wedding. He just didn’t have all the pieces. He’s a chess player, and I think to a certain degree he is. But I come at it from a much different angle. I like to think he just doesn’t know what to do with his anger and his resentment, and he acts impulsively. But again, maybe that’s wrong. I don’t know.
JW: Yeah, I think he definitely went somewhere else. He’s a survivor. The unfortunate truth about people like this is that consequences are not always final. He’s maneuvered his life in a way that protects him. He’s kept himself from getting in trouble for a long time, so he does unforgivable things to these women and to the people around him, but he doesn’t face those consequences. So, yeah, I think he’s lived a pretty good life. I do. He’s compartmentalized everything. That’s a talent of his. I always see this when I look at film and TV—when I see somebody playing a great sociopath, they don’t stop to think about the consequences. They cover up. They just keep going, and they have a skill of putting those emotions away. That’s him. To be honest, I don’t think he’s thinking too hard about what he’s done.
JW: I don’t think he faces consequences, and that’s the argument. Did these people ever change? That’s what the whole show is about. Can people like this ever change? This is a dramatization of a person like this, but I think everybody has had somebody in their life where there’s something ambiguous about the way they treat you. There’s something you can’t quite place, and you can’t quite understand why something’s wrong, but something is wrong. And the safest bet with somebody like that is [getting some] distance [from that person], always. That’s what I would want anybody watching this show to know—it’s okay to take space, it’s okay to remove yourself, even if you’re not sure it’s wrong or right. If you feel it in your gut, you can go. When your heart speaks and you know that you’re not being treated well, it’s important to listen. And that’s what I hope Lucy does.
And for him, he probably just drives off into a ditch by accident after he leaves that gas station. I think that’s what everybody would want, right?
JW: I don’t wish anything ill on anyone, but I hope that his conscience comes into play before he leaves this life, because everything comes around. I sincerely believe that everything does come around.
JW: Yeah, I was very sick. Everyone was great around me. It felt like a last hurrah. It was like four in the morning and we were all delirious. We don’t get to do a lot of big, choreographed crazy, almost stunty things in the show. I think we’ve done it a few times over the course of the last few years, and every time it’s the most fun. We’re all together and we’re all such close friends, and everyone gets an interesting piece of that puzzle to play [in that scene]. Seeing Branden face-plant into that cake was one of the better parts of the last four years for me, definitely. That was pretty iconic.
JW: [Laughs.] That’s me! That’s me!
JW: Well, the good news is… It’s not the end of an era with Grace. I got to keep a lot of people close to me. I made lasting friendships and a lasting relationship. I feel like I won. [Laughs.] I feel like I came out of this on top! The show ending itself is bittersweet. I think it’s a dream to be my age and to get to play such a complicated person for so many years. That’s any actor’s dream. I feel so lucky, but it’s also a very complicated toxic person for many years, and that’s challenging. So it’s bittersweet. I will say I am satisfied with the way that it’s all buttoned together, so it doesn’t feel dissatisfying in any way. It’s just the normal sad feelings of something important ending.
JW: [Smirks.] Let’s see what that would entail. I love good stuff, so anything is possible.
JW: I want to do everything. Maybe I want to do some running and jumping and screaming just to shake off all the toxicity. Maybe I’ll play a runner! [Laughs.] I don’t know. We’ll see.
JW: Yeah, maybe something a little kinder, a little more life-affirming, a little more uplifting. But it would be a dream to work with her again. I think it’s definitely in our hearts. I think when you find a collaborator like that, it’s not for nothing—it means something. So, sure, we’ll do a rom-com.
