Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss Talk Hulu’s ‘Tell Me Lies’

Moviefone speaks with Roberts and Preiss about Hulu's new series. "I'm a tough critic on book to TV adaptations and I'm very proud of this one," said Roberts.

Premiering on Hulu September 7th is the new series ‘Tell Me Lies,’ which is based on the popular novel of the same name by author Carola Lovering.

Executive produced by actress Emma Roberts (‘We’re the Millers’) and Karah Preiss, the series follows Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco’s (Jackson White) relationship over the course of 8 years.

In addition to Van Patten and White, the cast also includes Branden Cook, Sonia Mena, Catherine Missal, Benjamin Wadsworth, and Alicia Crowder.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with executive producers Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss about their work on ‘Tell Me Lies’ and adapting Carola Lovering’s material.

Executive producer Emma Roberts from Hulu’s ‘Tell Me Lies.'

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Roberts, Preiss, executive producer Meaghan Oppenheimer, and actors Grace Van Patten, Jackson White, Catherine Missal, Alicia Crowder, Branden Cook, Benjamin Wadsworth, and Spencer House.

Moviefone: To begin with, Emma, can you talk about why you wanted to produce this series?

Emma Roberts: This is our second TV show. Our company is called Belletrist, and it's a book club that we've now turned into a production company. We had a show earlier this year called ‘First Kill’ come out and now, our second show, ‘Tell Me Lies,’ is coming out next week for Hulu. But we have other stuff that is coming around the bend, as well.

MF: Karah, why did you want to adapt this particular book into a TV series?

Karah Preiss: As a show, I think we were sent this book by another producer who's actually another executive producer on this show and she was like, "I think you'll really take to this novel," and it turns out we did. It really highlighted a type of relationship that we haven't seen on TV. So, it seemed like something worthy of adapting. I sent it to Emma and she agreed, so that's what you're seeing. Obviously, a lot more went into it, but that's how it started.

MF: Emma, what can fans of the book expect from the series?

ER: I'm obviously a tough critic on book to movie, or book to TV adaptations, and I would say that I'm very proud of this one. I think that any kind of changes that were made are to better the story being told on television. But I think that you can equally get enjoyment from the book or the show. That's what I think makes a great adaptation is if you can enjoy it without having the context of the book, but also, if you've read the book, you can enjoy it.

Grace Van Patten as Lucy and Jackson White as Stephen on Hulu's 'Tell Me Lies.' Photo: Josh Stringer/Hulu.

MF: Karah, can you talk about the casting process for this series?

KP: I think early on, Grace Van Patten had been on another Hulu show, ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ and both of us were aware of her as an actor as she was great in many other things. When we were casting Lucy, she was the first name that came up and it was game over after that.

Because Lucy really is the central character in this series, once we cast her, we obviously had to look for a very complicated, but understandably likable kind of person for Stephen. We had seen Jackson in ‘Mrs. Fletcher’ and I remember even reading ‘Tell Me Lies,’ I was like, "He'd be really interesting for this," so it came together that way.

Then we have this amazing supporting cast of, I hate to say unknowns, but a lot of them have not been in many other things. I think what’s so great about this show is, hopefully, all of them will break out because they bring such specificity to each one of the characters. I hope this show is successful. If you look at shows like ‘The OC,’ ‘Gossip Girl,’ and ‘Euphoria,’ and you see people this age really breaking out as actors, I hope that it does the same for these actors.

MF: Finally, Emma, what has it been like for you working with Karah on this project?

ER: I think fate brought Karah and I together. I think a lot of people's hard work brought this show together, but fate definitely brought Karah and I together over a decade ago to be friends. Here we are, sitting here talking to you, which definitely feels like fate, for sure.

I think that there are certain things that happen that definitely feel magical, or certain people you meet, not even romantic, but friendship-wise where it's like, "Oh, if I hadn't gone there or done this, this person wouldn't be in my life." So, I do think that there are certain things that are just meant to happen, or at least I like to believe that.