What Charlotte Ritchie found challenging about ‘You’s’ latest femme fatale

By: Rito P. Asilo
– 3 minutes ago

Part of the reason we find beautiful and glowing actress Charlotte Ritchie appealing is because of how she navigates Netflix’s suspense thriller series You, which releases the five-part second half of season four on Thursday.

The 33-year-old British actress and singer might seem intimidating at first on screen, but the former member of classic crossover quintet All Angels also manages to bring sensitivity and a good deal of vulnerability to her portrayal of cold-hearted gallerist Kate Galvin.

As an interviewee, Charlotte doesn’t embellish her answers with insincere statements meant to please. In fact, during our last one-on-one, we expected some sort of canned response from her.

When we asked what she would take away from the show, Charlotte admitted, “Gosh, I don’t know how to sum it up. But what I would say is that this show isn’t always what you think it is.” And we think that also explains why “You” has managed to keep its devoted followers in suspense over the years.

The actress even admitted she hadn’t watched the past three seasons after being asked to join the cast — with good reason.

“I decided not to watch all the seasons before filming because I knew it would take on a slightly different tone and kind of vibe,” she explained. “The last season goes in a different direction. Also, I didn’t want to know too much about Joe and the whole thing.

“I’ve watched a lot of episodes just to get the tone – how it feels, how the lines are delivered. But after seeing the whole thing, I find it amazing. And time will tell if that was a good choice or not (laughs).” Another polarizing theme at the heart of the series – which this time plays out like a bloody crime scene – is the contentious issue of redemption. Given Season 4’s row of uncouth characters, we asked Charlotte if she thought Joe Goldberg aka Jonathan Moore (Penn Badgley) and his darkly quirky London gang deserved a chance at redemption.

“Do I personally believe if they deserve redemption? Yes,” she replied. “But I don’t know how that works or in what form you can realize it. Of course, it is very complicated when dealing with real victims and depending on the extent of the damage caused by that person. “But it’s hard for Joe because he’s not ready to face who he is. And that’s the most important thing for me… self-reflection. But yeah, I hope they get their chance too. Otherwise, that’s pretty bad news (laughs).”

At what point during filming were the main cast made aware of the show’s bewildering bloodbath and other spoilers?

She quipped, “Oh, pretty late! I was groping about a lot of it in the dark…so I didn’t really know what was happening when it happened. I can’t remember exactly when, but I remember thinking, “I wonder what’s going to happen next (laughs).”

“Well, there were certainly points where I didn’t know what was going on. Now I obviously know – and I can’t remember how it feels not to know. I mean there’s a lot happening on the show.

“When I finally saw the season in all its glory, I thought, ‘Oh, wow, they really did that!’ There are so many different characters with so many little plots running through them – and it’s quite an impressive feat how they tie it all together.”

Another Person In terms of creating her character, the things the actress found most challenging were Kate’s mean side — and, as the actress pointed out, the shoes she wore!

“Kate is instinctively very different from me,” Charlotte mused. “First of all, she wears heels all the time – and I can’t wear them that easily (laughs). I’m sure I have my weak points, but Kate is just so mean! It was the severity of her seriousness that I found difficult to bring to light along with those heels because I’m in trainers all the time.

“This may not sound like anything, but those heels were such a big part of Kate’s character…because she wears them every day. And for any actor, a character’s shoes or outfit change how you walk or how you feel. So yeah, that was a big deal for me.” INQ