“Tell Me Lies”’ Jackson White Admits He Goes Full ‘Super Villain’ as Stephen in Season 3 (Exclusive)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tell Me Lies season 3.

If you thought you’d seen the worst of Stephen DeMarco, think again.

In Tell Me Lies season 3, Jackson White‘s character goes further than ever before, which is saying something given the hit Hulu series from Meaghan Oppenheimer is maybe the most toxic show on TV.

As White puts it, Stephen is a “f—ing super villain” in season 3, generally speaking and, in particular, to his on-again, off-again girlfriend Lucy (Grace Van Patten).

“He started as a pretty ambiguous, ‘Oh, why is he doing [that]? What’s he doing? Who is this? And oh, where does he come from? Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe,’ ” he tells PEOPLE of his character’s arc since season 1 premiered in 2022.

Now, all bets are off, as Stephen does his best to inflict maximum pain on Lucy now that he knows her secret about hooking up with Evan (Branden Cook).

“I try and just show up and do the best job possible, but there’s no denying how malicious it all is now — the lengths he goes to,” White, 29, teases of Stephen’s antics in season 3.

During season 2, White said that his character “doesn’t shock me ever,” but the twists that come in season 3 seem to have changed that.

“The worse it is, the more I understand it. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I get it,'” he previously told PEOPLE. “It’s really cool, playing a bad guy. It’s really fun.”

“The hardest part about playing him is toeing that line of trying to be genuine, but saying these really f—ed up things. That’s hard,” White said.

In season 2, he said, he “tried to bring some levity to show that yeah, your manipulative friend is also sometimes your funny friend. He’s not going anywhere, but something’s wrong with him.”

Van Patten, 29, said that “everything’s coming to a head” in season 3 and the drama is reaching “the point of no return.”

“I’m scared for the audience,” she told PEOPLE. “Everything’s getting more and more tangled and intertwined.”

But season 3 also brings something new: “You start to see these characters actually face consequences, which is new,” she teased.

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Per the official synopsis, season 3 sees Lucy and Stephen’s “past indiscretions hinder their best intentions, and Lucy finds herself embroiled in a controversy she wants nothing to do with.”

“Meanwhile, the disastrous repercussions from the previous year also force Lucy and Stephen’s friends to face their own destructive behaviors. As scandalous secrets fester around campus, vicious consequences threaten Lucy and everyone in her circle.”

The first three episodes of Tell Me Lies are now streaming on Hulu.