Warning! This article contains spoilers for YOU season 3
YOU season 3 guest star Marcia Cross would be down to play Joe Goldberg's love interest. For its third outing, which sees Joe (Penn Badgley) and Love Quinn-Goldberg (Victoria Pedretti) move to the suburbs of Madre Linda in California, the popular Netflix series welcomed a slew of familiar faces from film and television. The supporting cast of YOU season 3 included Grey's Anatomy star Scott Speedman, Shalita Grant, Travis Van Winkle, Dylan Arnold, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina alum Tati Gabrielle.
But for many viewers, the biggest surprise guest of the season was the involvement of Cross, who is known to small screen aficionados for her deliciously soapy portrayals of Kimberly Shaw on Melrose Place and Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives. The actress played Jean, the grounded lawyer of Matthew Engler (Scott Speedman), and she attempts to convince her grieving client that his wife wasn't murdered by the Goldbergs. While it's true that the character was a minor one, never quite getting roped into the main story, many fans have noted on social media that they'd like to see her return.
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, Cross discussed her experience working on YOU season 3. She also touched on reuniting with the show's executive producer Greg Berlanti, as the two previously collaborated together on the WB drama Everwood. When asked to reprise the role of Jean in the future, potentially as Joe Goldberg's love interest, the actress revealed she was all for it.
“Let’s just say this: If Penn Badgley’s character wants to fall for an older woman, I’m in.”
YOU season 3 ends with Joe moving to Paris after suburban life goes up in flames. It would be interesting if Jean were to cross paths with Jean for season 4. Before leaving Madre Linda, Joe frames Love for his murder and assumes a new identity. That setup is pretty flimsy as, eventually, even in another country, someone could conceivably recognize Joe's face from the various news stories about his troubled marriage. Jean would be a good candidate for such a storyline, given that she's already closely linked to Matthew Engler.
She would also be a good candidate, of course, because she's portrayed by Cross. Shedding light on the decision to cast such an accomplished actress for a relatively small part, showrunner Sera Gamble noted that it was helpful to have someone with Cross' gravitas to sell the despair that Matthew feels. There is a moment, in episode 9 of season 3, where this particularly pays dividends. As Jean repeats her client's elaborate and implausible theory about how the Goldbergs are skilled murderers, it briefly sounds like Cross is recapping a storyline from Melrose Place or Desperate Housewives. She'd be right at home on YOU.
Source: The Daily Beast