For Ritchie, it was liberating to channel someone who doesnt care about being likable.
So, is Kate Joes perfect match?
Or will she be the one to finally expose him?
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate in season four ofYou.
Then again, if anyone can outsmart Joe, its her.
Get to know Charlotte Ritchie, below.
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg and Charlotte Ritchie as Kate.
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg and Charlotte Ritchie as Kate.
Glamour: Part one is out.
Now were getting part two.
What has the reaction been like so far?
Lukas Gageas Adam and Ritchie as Kate inYouseason four
It was a treat for me to watch it, to see it all come together.
They do such a good job; I cant believe it.
Now that youve seen the show, is there anything you wouldve done differently or prepared in another way?
“I don’t admire her choices in a romantic partner for sure,” says Ritchie about her character.
Oh, I dont know.
I mean, no.
Im trying to work out how I feel about regrets and things.
Even if I do have any, I dont know how useful it is to think about.
Obviously I always think I could do everything a lot better.
But thats just not how life works at all.
I was very grateful to have the opportunity to progress Kate anyway.
The fact that she becomes more vulnerable [as the season goes on] was a pleasure to do.
It was hard to make her so sort of mean all the time.
Did you know that?
And what your conversations like with her about the character?
I think shes doing herself a disservice there, but only because of the first Kate that we meet.
No one wants to be just like her at the beginning.
But I mean, thats quite cool.
Kate definitely feels like a fully rounded person, in my head at least.
That is the ultimate tool for kids to be repressedto tell them, Dont feel anything.
I mean, what do you do with that?
How do you calibrate any of your feelings if youre not allowed to have any of them?
Shes completely unable to express them.
Theres a tinyshes stoic, basically.
I do admire that, but I dont admire her choices in a romantic partner for sure.
I dont think Sera has that in common with her.
Yeah, I love that.
Especially when you are a little girl, you want to be liked.
You feel like thats your currency, how sweet and charming you are or can be.
And it is really cool to play someone that doesnt care at all.
Where did you feel the most connected to Kate?
I found it easier to look in with her in the moments where shes connecting with Joe.
What was the hardest part of Kate to tap into?
The hardest part was her anger.
Again, it feeds into that thing of trying to keep yourself level or be calm.
What I said was basically, Does it make you happy?
I suppose its quite a good credo to go by.
I guess not everything good makes you happy all the time.
So without spoiling too much, it seems Kate is oddly a match for Joe.
What do you think works about their relationship?
That there seems to be total honesty and acceptance for who they really are and what theyve done.
you’re free to accept the reality of something without necessarily condoning it or thinking its great.
I get the feeling that Kates not like, I love that you did that.
Shes not into violence, but she accepts it.
So theres a reality to that.
Its a reality to her that she sees it for what it is.
I do quite like that about her.
Theres not a feeling that theyre falling into each other.
Theyre choosing to be with each other.
Tell me about the first time you met Penn.
How did you develop that trust with each other to build this relationship on screen?
We were just lucky, I guess, to have so much time to get to know each other.
I felt like he was difficult to know at the beginning.
It took some time.
So we didnt have any reason to or time to hang out together as normal people.
We got to start talking and it was nice.
It was a slow burn.
By midway through filming, when we were doing lots of scenes together, it was lovely.
I was on my way to work.
I was on a show calledGhosts, which is this lovely comedy I do in the UK.
Its never really until I sort of actually start doing it that I really believe these things are happening.
Its so boring, but my first response is always fear.
Im always like, I cant do this.
But that was definitely a part of it.
Poor Sera telling me on the phone.
I was like, Okay.
Anyone else would say, Yes!
But I was like, Right, can I do this?
Oh, my God.
But sometimes youve just got to be real about your response.
Its just the way I go.
I dont admire her choices in a romantic partner for sure, says Ritchie about her character.
Do you have anything you do to get past that initial fear?
Yeah, getting really into it, leaning into it is the way that I get away from it.
First, youre the worst judge of that.
And second, you have no control over how its going to go down.
You just have to do the job as best you’re free to.
It sounds like you did a lot of preparation for the role.
Is there anything in particular that went into playing Kate?
There were some really practical, basic things that I needed to get my head around.
I just dont wear them.
I wear trainers all day, every day.
I dress quite like a teenager.
A teenager who doesnt skateboard but would love to.
So it was like, All right, cool.
Ill see if I can do this.
I was like, Thats going to take some confidence.
Thats the whole point of being an actor, I guess.
Do you have any superstitions when you audition or on set rituals that you do?
No, but I am trying to work on my mindset for sure.
In general, and this is going to sound very…well, whatever.
I cant tell you, the self-consciousness of doing this job was just crazy.
And finally, if you could manifest your dream role, what would that look like?
Do you know what?
I cant imagine it right now.
I cant imagine there being a character that sits alone, isolated from that.
Its a lot to do with where they are with other people.
Thats always a big part of it.
I hope someone will just think of it for me, and Ill be like, Thank you.
Anna Moeslein is the deputy editor ofGlamour.
