Thomas Doherty Says “Tell Me Lies ”Cast Was 'Very Chill' About Him Joining as Love Rival to Jackson White (Exclusive)

The Scottish actor tells PEOPLE about the on-set dynamic of the Hulu series given Jackson White and Grace Van Patten's real-life relationship

Thomas Doherty had some major nerves walking on the set of Tell Me Lies season 2.

The Scottish actor, 29, joined the Hulu series second season as Leo, a new love interest for protagonist Lucy (Grace Van Patten), throwing yet another wrench in Lucy and Stephen's (Jackson White) never-ending toxic love story.

Doherty tells PEOPLE that it was "such an amazing experience" coming onboard. Yet, he admittedly had some hangups given that Van Patten and White are not only onscreen love interests but are dating in real life.

"Obviously Jackson and Grace are dating in real life, so I was like, 'Oh,' but no, [he] was absolutely professional and as was I, and yeah, it was so chill," the Gossip Girl alum says, though he admits: "People always say, they're always like, 'It's your job, you're an actor.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I know, but still, f---ing hell.'"

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

Doherty notes that the cast and crew were "amazing."

"Just the whole environment — best craic I've ever had in my life. And working in Atlanta was really, really special. So yeah, it was just an amazing experience."

Doherty says he was drawn to the show — and more specifically, to the role of Leo — because he "really saw a lot of my younger self in Leo."

"I mean, I'm 29 now, Leo's not quite there yet. But I don't know, I guess that young adult... You leave home and you're in college for the first time and you're on your own and you're trying to establish who you are as a person and create this sense of self, but you're thrust into this environment with hundreds and thousands of other people doing the same thing," Doherty continues.

Related: Jackson White Says His Toxic Tell Me Lies Character 'Doesn't Shock Me Ever': 'It's Really Cool Playing the Bad Guy' (Exclusive)

Getting to work alongside Van Patten, 27, was another major draw for the High Fidelity alum.

The pair organized to meet for coffee the day before their chemistry read, and Doherty says, "For some reason, I thought I was going to go meet Lucy."

In reality, the actress "couldn't be more different" to her character. "That's how good she is at acting."

Doherty adds, "If I had to do the my rest of my career working with Grace, I'd be a happy man. She's just an incredible human being, incredible actor, so funny, so smart. And yeah, just a wonderful, wonderful human."

Their chemistry "really just came naturally," he says, and showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer agreed. In July, she told PEOPLE that Doherty was the only actor they saw for the role, because "he and Grace just had so much chemistry right off the bat."

"He was just making her laugh so much during their audition scenes. And I think we haven't seen Lucy laugh a lot with a guy, and we really wanted that side of her to come out because we forget this character's only 19," Oppenheimer said.

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As for what White, 28, thought about Doherty coming in as a rival to his character, the actor tells PEOPLE, "I just tried to bulldoze through the uncomfortability."

"I was like, 'Hey, man. That's just crazy. Where are you coming from? What's going on?' I just tried to break it up if I could," White says. "He's a super, super nice dude. He's a wild man. It was cool. I don't know, it's always nice to have some fresh talent in there."

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The first two episodes of Tell Me Lies season 2 are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes premiere on Wednesdays.

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