The actress breaks down the shocking moment Love's true identity is revealed: 'She's not perfect,' Pedretti tells ET.
Warning: Do not proceed if you have not watched the entire second season of You. Major spoilers ahead. Read what Penn Badgley, Ambyr Childers and James Scully had to say about season two's biggest shockers.
Is Love Quinn the next Joe Goldberg?
You pulled off the ultimate ruse, revealing in the penultimate hour of its anticipated sophomore season that Joe's latest girlfriend obsession, the aspiring Los Angeles chef, is a killer just like him. Love's hidden murderous streak came spilling out in the ninth episode, when she violently and shockingly killed Joe's ex, Candace, by slitting her throat with a broken glass bottle, following a (faked?) bout of morning sickness due to her surprise pregnancy. (Penn Badgley confessed to being "crestfallen" after Love's big twist.)
Yup, she's also carrying Joe's baby. (More on that later.)
So what does this mean for Joe and Love? At the end of the season, it appeared as though the two were forging some semblance of a seemingly idyllic life, moving into a new home together as they await the arrival of their baby. But because it's You, the chances of them actually achieving their delusional view of picture-perfect happiness is much closer to zero percent.
"She's not perfect, because nobody is perfect," Victoria Pedretti, who plays Love, tells ET of her character also being responsible for the deaths of Delilah and Forty's au pair. "It brings us to this point where we see her really in an exaggerated form, which her protectiveness has taken it to another level in which she's somehow gotten it into her head that she has the right to end somebody's life."
ET caught up with Pedretti for a candid conversation about the consequences of Love's horrific acts, whether the baby will have serial killer tendencies, her desires for season three and much more.
ET: How did the role of Love come to you? Was it an audition or a situation where producers thought, "Oh, she might be a good fit for this," after seeing Haunting of Hill House?
Victoria Pedretti: I think they thought I might be a good fit for it after having seen me in Haunting, which I think is kind of funny because Nell and Love are nothing alike. But then I did a chemistry test with Penn in Los Angeles, and then we decided maybe we should make something work out. He had just gotten in from... I think he was in the Philippines. We hardly met and then just started acting together, which is always kind of a funny thing, that forced quick intimacy that is required of actors. And then I didn't see him again for a long time... until we started working together. But that's how I ended up having the opportunity to play the part.
How familiar were you with the character and this world before you jumped into it?
I haven't read the novels because they don't totally relate to what we actually do with the show, if you know what I mean? They're obviously, definitely related, but there are a lot of liberties that are taken, so I didn't want to latch on too hard to that, especially if I felt like the scripts were leading me in any other direction because, ultimately, that is my source material. I was familiar with the world in that I had watched the first season of the show and that was my introduction to the world of the show.
What kind of conversations did you and Penn have about bringing Love and Joe's dynamic to life? What was important to you guys?
Beck is a really wonderful character and person, but I think she lacked a little bit of the sensitivity to understand Joe because he doesn't choose to be vulnerable and share about his life. So, they don't really have the opportunity to connect and she doesn't really have the opportunity to care for him, because he doesn't really ask for help. I do think that him and Love connect on a deeper level as friends and they're capable of having a stronger understanding because of similar experiences and just the place that Love is in her life.
She's in a very different place than Beck is. Beck was still in school and hasn't really quite gauged how to provide for herself and whatnot, which is perfectly normal for any 25 year old. Love is also 25 but she happens to have gone through a lot of different experiences. I think that she is maybe more mature than Beck just as a product of that, but I don't think that that makes her any more deserving. But I think that Love, first of all, is clouded by her affection for Joe. And I think that that's more about how we as women are capable of pitting ourselves against each other instead of focusing on who can often be the real perpetrator in the relationship when the issue is related to a man and his shortcomings.
When I spoke to Penn earlier this year, he spoke highly of you and what you were bringing to the table, that you add "a new dimension" that hasn't existed yet on the show. What was the most important thing that you wanted to convey through your performance in your portrayal of Love?
Aww. I just really wanted to be able to stuff as much as I could into this performance to make the character as challenging and complicated as possible... as challenging and as complicated as necessary in order to maybe get us to see outside of Joe's perspective. And maybe draw Joe outside of his perspective that he has held for so long. It's really hard as a woman to listen to some of these conversations around the show.
Even in regards to Beck, I would like to say I'm so separate from her and I'm not capable of doing any of the things she does, you know? But that's bulls**t. Beck is very emblematic of a lot of young women living in New York today, and they don't deserve what happened in that show. So just hoping to God that the conversation can be more compassionate and respectful towards the women in the show, especially when the audience is primarily women, and to have these conversations now and to have these conversations with Penn during the show. Because that awareness that we can cultivate by having these kinds of conversations, we can bring into the show.
One of the biggest revelations of the season came at the end of the penultimate episode: Love is a killer too. What was your initial reaction to that twist and what was your take on that dark character turn?
She's not perfect, because nobody is perfect. And she's going to have all of these qualities that she possesses. It brings us to this point where we see her really in an exaggerated form, which her protectiveness has taken it to another level in which she's somehow gotten it into her head that she has the right to end somebody's life. This is supported completely, I think, by her interactions with people prior to this and the way in which she's been raised. She's already an extremely protective person. If she had not killed Delilah and Candace, something bad probably would have happened to Joe, and, oh no, we cannot have that, so she did everything to protect him. Love grew up with money and privilege. She says it; they basically own the LAPD. She doesn't have to think about the consequences for her actions as much as a lot of people do in the world. And so it gives her this ability to even consider killing somebody as the solution to your problems.
Did you find it difficult reconciling or justifying some of her decisions and kills?
I think that as an actor you do a lot of things that you would never do in your actual life. And it definitely sometimes takes an emotional toll and is an interesting thing to process because our bodies are really, really complex in the way they hold onto memories. For instance, if you're having an anxiety attack all day, and you're shooting it over and over and over again, that does have an impact on your body in multiple ways. One, your brain has been existing in a state of panic because you've been stimulating your body in a particular way in order to mimic the experience of having an anxiety attack. And then also your body is physically tired from the action of having an anxiety attack, which is breathing very heavy, shaking. These things are hard on your muscles. You have to process it. You have to work through it. You can't just pretend it didn't happen or the fact that it is an extreme action. But in terms of justifying it for the character, I think it fits in with the behavior of the character a lot. It just takes it to an extreme.
At the end of the season, Love is pregnant with Joe's baby. They move in together. They have this seemingly picture-perfect life. But we know that's not the case because it's Joe and he has a wandering eye already, with his next obsession in mind. How would you describe where Love and Joe stand at the end of episode 10?
I think that Love is really trying to mourn the loss of her brother and trying to create a safe and happy environment for her child while also trying to connect with Joe. But we don't really get to see any of the conversations between seeing Forty get shot and that moment, so I don't really know. It seems from what we talked about in relation to filming the section in which she's pregnant, that there's a lot of effort within her to try to paint a pretty picture with what she's got and do the best she can with what she's got. But we see her mother there. Love resents this person so much for the way in which she was treated as a child and the way in which she continues to be treated. I wonder what the significance would be for that and how that creates the world that she's now existing in and where they are exactly.
What is your bet that Love makes it out of this whole thing alive? I'm so worried for her after she gives birth -- she has at least nine months, I'm assuming -- and I'm worried for the baby. Does the baby have serial killer tendencies?
Are we going to kill a baby?! Are we still going to want to f**k the murderer when he kills babies?! Or is that where we draw the line? (Laughs.)
That's totally fair.
I don't know what would happen. I would be really worried for... I mean, I am and continue to be worried for anyone who chooses to be around Joe and also Love. If she would do this for Forty, what would she do? And for Joe, what would she do for her child? She would tear down everything. And I think that that's a beautiful thing, right? Mothers are protective of their children, but I think that is something that can often go too far. Parents are protecting their children, but they go so far as to maybe coddling their children, to go so far as to stepping on other children for the sake of their children. Where it can get to the point where it's not even serving your child at all. But I'm also not a parent, so maybe I don't have the right to say that.
You've had so many stunning moments as Love this season. Is there one scene in particular that really jumps out at you as particularly trying?
The murder scenes were all shot like action sequences, so in that way it cuts around so fast that you don't really stay involved in the action of what you're doing so much. But the breakup scene [between Joe and Love], that was sad and difficult. That one was definitely pretty challenging. Those are those moments where, because the show often focuses on these things that are through Joe's perspective that are so superficial or really clouded and delusional, to have a real moment where they could really connect and there could be a lot of heart there, I just wanted that to ring true and for people to relate to their story in that moment.
I will say Love slitting Candace's throat with a glass bottle in episode nine... I was like, "What is happening?! Holy crap!"
The blood machine started being weird while we were shooting it. Those kinds of things can be... almost funny to be dealing with, just because of the ridiculousness. Some of the most fun things to shoot are when you're utilizing special effects because, obviously, we're not actually hurting anybody, so doing stunts and that kind of stuff can be some of the most fun challenges to work through.
For a second, I was hoping that Candace and Love would team up and bring Joe down once and for all. But that's not You, is it?
There was a potential for that. That's what makes it even more sh***y is that there's this real moment where Love could have really done something to stop this man and chooses to protect him anyway.
The second season of You is streaming now on Netflix.
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