'Tell Me Lies' star Jackson White calls working with mom Katey Sagal the 'greatest challenge'

We finally have a look at Stephen DeMarco's (Jackson White) backstory. In episode five of “Tell Me Lies,” which premiered on September 21, Stephen returns home to visit his family over the holidays and we meet his mother, played by none other than his real mother, Katey Sagall.

In Carola Lovering's novel, which the series is based on, Stephen's mother is mentally ill and he hasn't seen her since his parents divorced when he was a teenager. However, things are a bit different in the series. While her parents are divorced, her mother is still around, and she's clinging to her father and oddly obsessed with her new relationship. She is unstable and her children have to walk on eggshells whenever they are near her.

Of working with his mother, White admits to POPSUGAR that he "didn't even tell her" about the show until a month before filming began. He says, "I just saw her in Atlanta, and that was the hardest part of the show for me, but it was also the best challenge, the most fun."

Unlike Stephen and his mother, whom White describes as "extremely distant and weird with each other", White and Sagal "are very close in real life". He adds, "She does an amazing job with this role. It was perfect."

White and Sagal both celebrated her appearance on Instagram. On Sept. 20, White shared a photo of their characters embracing on her Instagram Stories, writing, "This is my real mom playing my fake mom which makes me really uncomfortable on a show about fakes. asses that people are definitely looking at." Sagal posted the same photo on his Instagram with the caption, "Who's ready to meet Stephen DeMarco's mom when he gets home for Christmas??