Grace Van Patten Says She and Boyfriend Jackson White Are 'Wildly Different' from Their Toxic “Tell Me Lies” Characters (Exclusive)

The actress tells PEOPLE it's "trippy" working with her real-life boyfriend on the Hulu series, but he makes her feel "so safe and so comfortable"

Grace Van Patten and Jackson White are well able to play a pair of college students in a never-ending toxic cycle, but their real-life relationship, thankfully, looks nothing like their onscreen one.

Van Patten, who plays perpetually self-sabotaging college sophomore Lucy Albright in Tell Me Lies, tells PEOPLE ahead of the premiere of the Hulu show's second season that it's "trippy" working with her real-life boyfriend "because we are together in real life and he knows me better than anyone."

As the pair geared up to return to the chaotic world of Baird College for a highly-anticipated season 2, she admits she had a "fear" about going back to her and White's toxic love story, albeit fictional.

"I had this fear of, 'You're going to know when I'm acting.' Before we got into it, I was like, 'Am I going to be insecure? Am I going to be... Because you know me so well, you're going to know.' And then once we were on set, I was like, 'No, it's actually the opposite,'" Van Patten, 27, recalls. "It makes me feel so safe and so comfortable and able to go there and be vulnerable, because I'm so comfortable with him. And that part of it was so beautiful."

Related: Tell Me Lies Season 2 Premiere Date Revealed! Plus, Get a First Look at the New 'Love Rival' for Lucy (Exclusive)

When it comes to how she and White, 28, operate in their own relationship, the Nine Perfect Strangers alum says that the toxicity of their character's love helps them keep that energy at bay.

"It's like, we get to fight and let it all out on camera and then we're great. It’s our couple’s therapy," Van Patten says.

As to whether there are any similarities between their fictional relationship and their real-life one, she affirms, "No. We're wildly different, thank goodness."

"But I understand," she continues of toxic relationships. "I don't condone it and I don't justify their behavior, but I understand it. And I've seen it and I've supported people through relationships like that. And it's so real and so normal, and I hope people feel that, watching it."

"I hope it's a cautionary tale to get out of something like that, and also to not feel shame about being in something like that," she adds.

Related: Grace Van Patten Dishes on Toxicity and Chemistry in 'Tell Me Lies' : 'I Saw a Part of Myself in Lucy'

In season 2 of the hit drama series from Meaghan Oppenheimer, Van Patten's character Lucy returns for her second year of college after a heartbreaking split from Stephen (White) freshman year, and Oppenheimer told PEOPLE that it's "more of a war story than a love story" for the pair.

It also introduces a new love interest into Lucy's life: Leo (Thomas Doherty).

"It was so shocking to hear that at first. Like, 'Oh, my gosh, she gets away [from Stephen]? That's crazy,'" Van Patten says. "But she doesn't."

She teases that Stephen is "still haunting her" despite her best attempts to move on, as she admits that she "love[s] working with [White] so much."

"It's so much fun and I love Stephen and Lucy's dynamic," she adds. "Each scene is so loaded and so tense."

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Season 2 of Tell Me Lies premieres Sept. 4 on Hulu with the first two episodes, followed by weekly releases through Oct. 16.

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