Tati Gabrielle Talks You Season 4, Taking Agency Over Her Character, and the Champions Who Shaped Her as a Storyteller

Tati Gabrielle has quickly become one of the industry’s most revered leading ladies. She’s captivated audiences with her nuanced performances in projects including Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Uncharted, and Kaleidoscope.

This February, she can be seen reprising her role as the resilient Marienne Bellamy in Netflix’s critically-acclaimed series, You. Now in its fourth season, the award-winning drama follows a dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man who goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by. One of those people happens to be Tati Gabrielle’s character.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Tati about reprising her role in You, how she was able to take agency over her character, and the champions in her life who shaped the storyteller she is today.

PC: You’ve said in the past that one of the reasons why you were attracted to this role was the ability to shine a light on the realities of what it means to be a person of color in today’s world. Have you had the opportunity to see the impact that your character and your portrayal of her have had on audiences? Has it changed the way that you look at future projects?
Tati: Yeah, I’ve definitely seen the reaction to Marienne even after Season 3. I was so wonderfully delighted by the way that people started championing her and being able to resonate and connect with her in such profound ways. It really meant a lot to me. That is already the way that I look at the characters of projects that I take even now and even starting with Marienne. I want to make the most impact with the projects that I take on in the characters that I play. If anything, the reaction to Marienne was further reinforcement that, “Okay, you’re on the right path, kid. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

PC: You’ve played such a big role in shaping who this character is. How have you continued to take agency over her journey as we’ve headed into Season 4?
Tati: A lot of conversations with Sera Gamble (our showrunner) and John Scott (our producing director) this season. I wanted to stay true to her experiences. It was reinforcing a lot of what we established in Season 3 and her resilience and keeping her survival instinct strong. She’s not quick to scare or quick to lie down or be a victim. It was building on the things that we discussed last season. As new obstacles or situations arose, it was really coming together and having a conversation. There were times when I was like, “I don’t know if I feel this way or if I agree with this,” and being very grateful for Sarah and Jonn to be so open about having those conversations and humoring me and entertaining my many questions. We were able to keep that train going.

PC: How soon after filming Season 3 did the creative team clue you in that they were going to bring you back? How much information about the twists and turns did you get ahead of the season or were you learning episode by episode?
Tati: I knew when I signed on to Season 3 that I was going to be back for Season 4. They hadn’t divulged any details of what the story was going to be for Season 4 until about two months before we started filming it.

Last season, Sera was like, “Do you want to know everything or do you want to get it as it comes?” I was like, “No, no, no. I want to get it as it comes. I want to be surprised.” As an actor, I’m guilty that if I know too much information too soon, I will carry it in moments when I’m not to carry it yet. I wanted to be surprised when I went and read the scripts. I was surprised by all the twists and turns in that way, moreso in the “how” than the “what.”

PC: The last time that we saw your character is when she’s confronted by Love and the conversation does a complete 360 and goes from being hostile to this conversation about the importance of self-love and putting yourself first. You handled that scene and Marienne’s journey throughout both seasons with so much nuance. As an actress, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into these moments and her arc?
Tati: I believe that any character should be as close to a real-life person as they can be. We, as human beings in our day-to-day lives, have many facets. Many have a very wide emotional spectrum. We are learning more about ourselves every day. With Marienne, I tried to be as intentional and meticulous as possible with carrying pieces of her past, carrying the ways that she wanted to go to the future, and even things like what were the common phrases that she would hear in her rehab and recovery room. What does she play in her head for herself every day to keep her going? How many times does she think about Juliet in a day? Those little things that fill moments beyond moments and keep any scene or train of thought going. Because I don’t believe that anything is said or done just for the sake of it. There’s usually an intention behind something. The depth of that intention is varied, but everything has a purpose. I just wanted Marienne to, one, be a character that people could connect to, and in order to do that, I had to make her as real and as layered and nuanced as possible.

PC: You’ve definitely accomplished that! Throughout your career, you’ve played so many strong female characters. Who were the women in your own life who shaped the storyteller that you are today?
Tati: Oh, wow. That’s a really great question. My mom is a big influence on me and seeing how she lived life. I always use to tell her, even when I was a kid, that she was my superhero. She’s the closest thing that I know of a superhero in my life because she’s had a hard life, but she’s still so strong and has this joy and is still able to go at things full force. That’s really inspiring to me.

Another is my manager, who’s like my showbiz mom. She too is somebody that I’m like, “I want to be like Dee when I grow up.” She’s got so much energy and she’s had a long life and career, but she’s got so much energy and so much youth. She reminds me to always look at the beautiful things in life and to enjoy every moment of it—good, bad, and indifferent so that you never look back on life with regrets and always work hard.

Those are definitely two of the biggest female champions that I have in my life. And Eartha Kitt. I never got the chance to meet her, but she was my first idol as a kid. I just remember I was like, “I want to be as unapologetic as she was and tow the line of compromise very carefully. Those are a few of my champions.

To keep up with Tati, follow her on Instagram. Watch You Season 4, Part 1 on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: Tommy G