#One of Us Is Lying Cast Breaks Down Killer Reveal, Tease Season 2 Mystery

One of Us Is Lying is one of the best teen dramas in recent memory.

It had a carefully constructed mystery, excellent character development, and one of the most satisfying finales in years.

TV Fanatic got the chance to chat with Annalisa Cochrane (Addy), Chibuikem Uche (Cooper), Marianly Tejada (Bronwyn), Cooper van Grootel (Nate), and Barrett Carnahan (Jake).

We are about to delve into spoiler territory, so head over to Peacock if you haven’t watched the entire series. It’s eight episodes of pure fun! The best part about it is that it is best served binged.

I asked the cast what attracted them to the series, and for Marianly, she felt that Bronwyn was a Latin X character she hadn’t often seen on-screen, describing the character as a “nerd, with a little bit of sass.”

“She’s very unapologetic about being a brainiac. And I feel like there’s shyness around that usually in characters that we see on TV,” the actress added, noting that she read the book soon after she landed the role and that she wanted to delve into this character.

On the outside, Bronwyn seemed to have it all, but Marianly liked that we got to see she was not as perfect as we were led to believe and that she’s really trying to figure things out.

Cooper revealed he went into the first audition without reading the book but read the novel from start to finish before a producer session.

“Karen McManus does a beautiful job of creating such an in-depth world, and I liked the idea of four individuals that are completely different coming together and being put under these sort of circumstances where they have to bond and become friends and be put against all these trials and tribulations, and they have to figure it out,” Cooper said, adding that he liked these characters having to weather the storm.

The character of Nate was also a draw for Cooper because the character seemed rough around the edges, but when you delve deeper into him, there’s just a human being underneath.

The love story between Bronwyn and Nate was also a draw for the actor.

“That was really cool to explore,” the actor said, calling it a beautiful love story.

“Exploring love stories between teenagers is such a treat. It was so much fun.”

For Annalisa, the immediate draw was the source material.

“It has to be the book and just how deep and complex each of the characters are,” said Cochrane.

“And we get to see not just the surface level, but we get to see all of the different parts and sides of them that make them who they are. And then you get to see them change and grow, and the best story is the story of human growth.”

Chibuikem agreed that the book was a big part of why he was attracted to the show, but he also liked delving into the character of Cooper.

“The journey that he takes in the series is so compelling, and there’s so much growth.”

“There’s self-discovery. It was so attractive to me as an actor to get to portray a character like Nate.”

As for Barrett, he loved that the franchise had this fanbase because of the book.

“Over the time that I was auditioning, I was telling people about it, and other people would tell me that they were huge fans of the book,” Barrett shared.

“They had read it, or they know somebody who had read the book and enjoyed it.”

Barrett noted that he liked the theme of unlikely friendships and how it helped to change what we thought we knew about teen dramas regarding who people have in their cliques and such. 

The actor said he liked that these characters wouldn’t usually have connected, but they managed to bond over this mutual horror they were going through.

One of Us Is Lying Season 1 Episode 8 completely flipped the script by revealing that Jake was the killer. He wanted Simon dead to pin it on his girlfriend, Addy.

The reveal was flawlessly executed, and Barrett was unsure whether the show would initially follow the books.

“I went off, and I read the book, and I found out that Jake was the killer at the end of the book,  but I wasn’t sure that it was going to be Jake in the series,” the actor shared, saying the powers that be were playing with different ideas.

Barrett was bracing for anything with the show. 

When looking back on eight episodes, Jake seemed to have a dark streak, so I asked Barrett whether he thought Jake would kill again if he survived the finale.

The star said he would like to think the this would have been a one-time kill.

“A lot of people, when they would be talking to me about Jake, they would always refer to him as a sociopath. That always felt wrong to me,” he said. 

“Maybe he has some sociopathic tendencies, but I don’t consider him a full-blown sociopath.”

“I think one thing has led to the next, this massive snowball, that he’s become caught up in, and it led to him having to choose from looking out for his own ass or taking care of business and getting rid of somebody who could potentially ruin him.”

“I think that once he did murder Simon, he would never admit it to anybody,” the actor added.

“He felt incredibly guilty, but the truth is you don’t get to see many moments with Jake by himself. There’s really one moment where he’s in a room by himself, and that was a very, very tense moment.”

“You could just feel the anxiety that was kind of feeling through his veins. And that was him all the time when he wasn’t at school,” he added.

“I don’t think he would murder again. I think once he got away with this one, he would establish his life with Addy, and they would continue their next, you know, a 65-year plan of their life. But that’s just me.”

We didn’t find out which group member shot Nate, but we were left with a doozy of a cliffhanger when someone started texting the core four, plus Janae, saying they knew the truth about what happened.

The group stayed away from one another to avoid suspicion, but with someone now going after them, we’re left with an exciting bridge between the first and second seasons.

The cast is all excited about this new mystery if the show lands a renewal.

“Season 1 always has to focus on introducing characters and, we all had such great growth in that first season, but now that we’ve established them breaking free of their lies and their secrets, that’s going to be really interesting as the writers delve into them,” Uche said.

Cooper was a big fan of the twist because it means someone else is messing with them and could have been tied to this from the beginning.

“You’re now answering questions about who it may be, and is it someone that they know, is one of the baby four, or is it one of the characters in the story that we know so well?”

Marianly was incredibly excited about the storytelling avenues this opens up for the second season.

“It just like breaks trust again now. So like come season two. Maybe it’s all about building that again.”

Peacock has yet to renew the series, but there truly is so much potential with this show. Hopefully, we get to follow these characters some more!

One thing that was evident from the interviews with the cast was that they genuinely enjoyed working together, and you can tell that when you watch the show.

What are your thoughts on the conclusion?

Hit the comments below.

Stream the entire first season of One of Us Is Lying on Peacock.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.