Marienne Bellamy is one of the few people who has outsmarted Joe Goldberg. After being held captive in a cage by Joe in London, Marienne escaped by faking her own death with Nadia’s help. Tati Gabrielle delivered an astounding performance as Marienne was kept locked in that cage. Her wings were clipped for a time, but Marienne was able to fly again by the end of You season 4.
HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Tati about Marienne being able to escape from Joe’s clutches by the end of the season. “It feels pretty great, especially being that she is a woman of color. It’s a moment of championship for us, and it shows the way that we need to be moving in film and television in terms of diversity,” Tati said. “I feel like in the conversations that I have a lot with other Black people or just other people of color in general that often in TV and film, you do see a lot of the struggle of people of color. You often see that struggle end in a tragic way or in one that’s not the most ideal.”
She added, “So to be able to give the vision and give the reality of that struggle… basically with this season, we’re able to do both. It’s also speaking on the commentary of the resilience and the sort of innately born survival instinct that many people of color, particularly women of color, have as they go through the world because we have to. It’s a long-winded way of saying that yes, it’s really an honor for Marianne to be the one to outsmart and make it out.”
At the end of the season, Joe starts a new chapter in New York City with Kate. He creates a narrative that allows him to resurface as Joe and leave the alias Jonathan Moore behind. While in Paris with Juliette, Marienne comes across an article about Joe’s second chance at life. Will Marienne be at peace with letting Joe go on without suffering any consequences?
“I don’t think that she is. Marienne has worked very hard to correct her moral compass throughout life. Now that she is in a space knowing that this person is out there and can do whatever and is not paying for their crimes, I think just really wouldn’t sit right with her. No, not at all,” Tati told HollywoodLife.
As Marienne fled London to reunite with her daughter, Joe was able to destroy Nadia’s life. After killing Eddie, Joe framed Nadia for his death. Nadia is now sitting in a jail cell, but she doesn’t give up the information that Marienne is still alive.
Tati’s not entirely sure Marienne even knows what happened to Nadia. She doesn’t think Marienne could be capable of just “leaving” Nadia in prison. “I think all in all she would take it upon herself to go help Nadia, get Nadia out, team up with Nadia again to take Joe down, but I don’t think it would be to go and kill him. I don’t think that Marianne is a vengeful person, but one that is definitely very righteous to justice,” the actress admitted.
Despite having unlimited resources at his disposal, Joe still believes that Marienne died of an overdose. Tati doesn’t think Joe would be able to let Marienne go completely if he ever found out the truth.
“I actually would be interested on a psychological level how that would affect him,” Tati revealed. “Because what breaks Joe, what causes his launch into dissociation and all of that, is the moment in which Marianne is the first person to say to him, no, no, no, you’re a murderer. You gotta be willing to face the truth. That’s the first break that happens. So I almost wonder if he found out Marianne was still alive it would break him again. Because not only is that trying to retell your brain that this person that I loved is still alive, but also it would cause more trust issues because how did I deceive him and end up alive? It would make him question his reality once again. So I don’t know what would happen. He could get crazier. I don’t know if it’s the simplest thing like whether he would let it go or not let it go. We already see this season he’s able to top himself with the crazy, so I have no idea.”
To prepare for Marienne’s intense cage scenes, Tati “did a lot of research on solitary confinement, what happens to the human brain in solitary confinement, and what happens to one’s stress levels, emotional hormones.” The Sabrina alum had a lot of time off between episode 1 and when she returns later in the season, which actually helped her prepare.
“I was very lonely the first two to three months I was in London, like very sadly lonely. I’m a very shy person, so it was hard for me to even go out on my own and make friends,” Tati revealed. “I think that actually in itself prepared me in ways or gave me a taste of what the actual experience of being locked up and isolated would be. But I don’t think that anything could have necessarily fully prepared me for actually being in the cage. I very much took everything a moment at a time but also plotted all of it out once we got into the thick of it.”
She added, “It was very intense and just a very fun acting challenge. It caused me to really stretch myself and look at things on a broader spectrum and tested me on how much I can do by myself and without an outside stimulus or somebody else to just play off of on. I would totally go back and do it again.”
You hasn’t been renewed for season 5 — yet — but it’s almost a sure thing. For Tati, Marienne’s story isn’t over yet. “I would definitely be open to seeing her [in season 5] because I do want to see Marianne actually have her happiness and her peace,” she said. You season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.