‘Tell Me Lies’ Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer Loved Casting Husband Tom Ellis As Oliver: “It Was Great Having Someone I Trust In That Role”

Tell Me Lies Season 2 has arrived and school is back in session with Oliver, a hot new professor played by Lucifer star Tom Ellis.

The two-episode premiere introduced Ellis’ character as a no-nonsense Baird College professor and the husband of Lucy’s Season 1 English professor, Marianne (Gabriella Pession). At the end of Episode 2, Oliver crosses a romantic line with Catherine Missal’s character Bree, which is one of the reasons Ellis’ real-life wife, Tell Me Lies showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer, is so glad she cast him in the role.

“It was actually not my idea originally. Someone else pitched the idea of him playing the part after we’d already sort of conceived it. And I was like, ‘Oh, that actually could be really cool,'” Oppenheimer told Decider over Zoom. After she asked if Ellis was interested and talked him through her vision for the character, he joined Season 2 and was thrilled to professionally collaborate again.

“It was a pleasure. Genuinely. I’ve worked with Meaghan before, a few years ago on our show, Queen America. And any sort of feelings I had of ‘I wonder what it would be like working with my wife?’ were extinguished during that experience,” Ellis told Decider over Zoom. “I think we’re able to separate church and state quite easily. We have a huge amount of respect for each other creatively. And I just was thrilled to be part of it, because she’s such an amazing writer and gives really amazing notes as well when you’re working. It’s a privilege.”

Oppenheimer agreed that they “work really well together” and are “really able to separate work and home life.” Despite the heavy subject matter in Tell Me Lies, the showrunner also said that her and her husband “have a really good time” whenever they collaborate.

After Bree and Oliver share an intimate moment together outside his house in Season 2, Episode 1, they have a re-meet-cute in Episode 2 and engage in some seriously flirty banter on Bree’s birthday. Later in the episode, the two meet up again and creatively avoid cheating on their partners by exchanging extremely sexy cheek kisses. In true Tell Me Lies fashion, however, the episode ends with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger when Bree knocks on Oliver’s office door and declares, “I’m ready for you to kiss me,” prompting a passionate, illicit make-out session.

Any sort of on-screen romance can be incredibly awkward and challenging for actors, but because the student-teacher relationship trope carries an inherent imbalance, Oppenheimer was glad to have someone like Ellis, who she truly trusts, playing Oliver.

“I think it was great having someone that I trust in that role, because you never know when you cast someone — especially with the power dynamic and with someone so much older than our actor playing Bree,” the showrunner said. “It was nice that I knew Bree was safe with this person; that he was a good guy.”

As for what Tell Me Lies has in store for Bree and Oliver, you’ll have to watch and see. But rest assured that the intense Season 2 scenes between Ellis and Missal were filmed with care.

New episodes of Tell Me Lies Season 2 premiere Wednesdays on Hulu.