Emma Roberts Drama Starring Grace Van Patten Nabs Hulu Series Pickup

It’s time to lie at Hulu.

The Disney-backed streamer has handed out a series order to drama Tell Me Lies, the first project to stem from the first-look TV deal that Emma Roberts inked with the company in September. Additionally, Grace Van Patten has been tapped to star in the series.

Based on the book by Carola Lovering, Tell Me Lies follows a relationship as it unfolds over the course of eight years. When Lucy Albright (Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco meet at college, they are at that formative age when seemingly mundane choices lead the way to irrevocable consequences. Although their relationship begins like any typical campus romance, they quickly fall into an addictive entanglement that will permanently alter not only their lives, but the lives of everyone around them.

Related Stories

TV

'This Fool' Review: Hulu's Endearing South L.A.-Set Odd Couple Comedy

Business

Price Hikes For Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ Unveiled

Van Patten’s Lucy is additionally described as a sheltered but well-adjusted girl from an affluent Long Island town. Her acerbic humor and often cool demeanor has earned her the label of “ice queen” among her friends. But beneath her confident façade Lucy is hiding a childhood trauma that has left her feeling disconnected from her peers. When she meets Stephen, Lucy sees a dark streak in him that she recognizes in herself, and will inadvertently bring her demons to light.

Meaghan Oppenheimer (Queen America) will pen the script and exec produce. Roberts and her Belletrist co-founder Karah Preiss will exec produce the series from Disney’s 20th Television, Rebelle Media and Vice Studios. Lovering is a consulting producer.

Tell Me Lies was first put in development nearly a year ago as the first project under Roberts’ Hulu pact as the American Horror Story actress plots another chapter in her career that includes onscreen roles including The Hunt, Holidate, Scream Queens and UglyDolls.

Van Patten will next be seen in Hulu’s David E. Kelley-produced limited series Nine Perfect Strangers, opposite Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy. The series, due Aug. 18, has been earning high praise from Hulu sources. Van Patten’s credits also include The Meyerowitz Stories, Maniac, The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire. She’s repped by WME and Brookside Artists Management.

 Tell Me Lies joins a roster of Hulu dramas based on books that includes The Handmaid’s Tale, Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, Nine Perfect Strangers and Conversations With Friends.