Tell Me Lies star Jackson White has revealed that he “laughed hysterically” when he read the script for the series’ last-ever scenes.
While he did not know at the time that he was learning the definitive ending of the entire Hulu drama instead of just the season finale, White said he was delighted to discover that in the end, his toxic boyfriend character Stephen DeMarco leaves his emotionally abused ex-girlfriend, Grace Van Patten’s Lucy Albright, at a gas station in the middle of nowhere — allowing the widely-hated character to get the last laugh.
“I laughed hysterically when I read it. We all did,” White, 29, said on Wednesday’s episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast. “Because it’s like, oh he wins? That’s so funny. That’s so cosmically funny, I’m sorry. I think it’s a big, tragic comedy at the end. I hope everyone laughs.”
Despite White’s wishes, the general reaction was more shocked than amused to find out that the series — which premiered in 2022 — was coming to an abrupt ending after the season three finale.
Show creator Meaghan Oppenheimer announced the show would not be returning for season four just hours before the last-ever episode aired Tuesday.
“After three amazing seasons of Tell Me Lies, tonight’s episode will be the series finale,” Oppenheimer wrote on Instagram. “Your incredible response to this season inspired us to explore whether there was another organic way to continue the story, but ultimately we felt it had reached its natural conclusion.”
She continued: “My main goal has always been to protect the quality of the show and give you the best experience I can give you. And so, while it is bittersweet to leave something that has been such a happy experience, I am very grateful that we are able to tell a complete story with an intentional ending — a privilege very few shows get.
“Thank you for loving our show,” Oppenheimer concluded, teasing, “We are excited to bring you more stories in the near future.”
White said on Call Her Daddy that Van Patten, his onscreen love interest turned offscreen girlfriend, was the one to first tell him that the show was ending.
“I felt really, really sad initially, even though I knew, creatively, that was what was supposed to happen,” he said.
He added that though it was a “great honor” to play his villainous character, he is ready to move on from playing the “garbage fire guy.”
“It’s hard to like that guy,” he added.
