Who Is Tati Gabrielle From 'You'?

The rising star joins the Netflix hit show as librarian Marienne.

you
(Image credit: JOHN P. FLEENOR/NETFLIX)

Season 3 of Netflix's hit show You dropped three days ago, and if you're like us, you've already binged the whole thing. The wild new season follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) as he navigates fatherhood and marriage to his wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) in the claustrophobic suburb of Madre Linda. Though he tries to make it work with Love, he becomes fascinated with his new boss at the library, single mother Marienne, played by Tati Gabrielle.

The Bay Area native is a familiar face to some Netflix fans, having played sympathetic mean girl Prudence on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Now, she's brought the same nuance to Marienne, a smart, no-nonsense mom who doesn't fall for Joe's tricks that easily. Here's everything we know about the rising star.

She was a child model for Macy's and Nordstrom.

Gabrielle was born in January 1996 to an African-American father and Korean-American mother in San Francisco. She got her start as a child star, booking modeling gigs for department stores at age 3. She told Wonderland Magazine that she had her mother to thank for the early work.

"My mom volunteered to get me in a few fashion shows for Macy's and Nordstrom at the Westfield Center in San Francisco and a couple others in high school, but nothing serious or paid. My mom recalls me freezing in the middle of my first ever runway. I was a shy but eccentric kid and I always had a fire in my heart. I feel that fire is where I got my confidence from!"

She studied acting in high school and college.

According to her official bio, Gabrielle fell in love with acting as a kid, when she played Lemony Snicket in a stage production of A Series of Unfortunate Events. As a teen, she studied in the theater program at the Oakland High School of the Arts in the Bay Area, where she directed several shows and performed in theater festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

She moved to Atlanta for college, majoring in Drama and French at Spellman College.

She was a fan favorite on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Gabrielle started her professional acting career with short films and a guest spot on Disney's K.C. Undercover. She later landed breakout roles on two teen fantasy shows: CW's The 100 and Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She gained tons of fans through her fun and nuanced portrayal of Prudence Night, CAOS' resident mean girl and Head Witch in Charge.

"My previous roles were all in fantasy, and so this was my first time being able to play a “real-life” person," Gabrielle told ELLE of her You role. "I just wanted to make sure that Marienne was grounded and try to separate her—excuse my French—bitchiness from, like, Prudence's [the character she plays on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina] bitchiness."

Her fashion icons are Rihanna and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez from TLC.

In an interview with CR Fashion Book, Gabrielle described her style as "very tomboy-ish," revealing that she loves vintage clothing. She also name-checked two musicians as her ultimate fashion inspirations.

"I like old school and new school. When it comes to old school, Left Eye [Lisa Lopes] from TLC is big inspiration for me—the whole crazy, sexy, cool, tomboy-with-a-feminine flair vibe," she said.

"In today’s time, Rihanna is a big inspiration for me. She’s very eccentric and eclectic in the way that she dresses and is very expressive, like, ‘This is me.’ You can understand her personality just by looking at her, and that’s something I try to do with my fashion sense as well."

She's close friends with rapper Kehlani.

One of the Bay Area native's longtime friends is "CRZY" rapper and singer-songwriter Kehlani. The glamorous duo were even classmates, with Kehlani writing that they've been close since seventh grade.

See more

She was a big fan of You before she joined the show.

In an interview with VarietyGabrielle revealed that she was a "big fan" of the series before she was cast. She also talked about building her own backstory for Marienne's character outside of her interactions with Joe, including her history with addiction.

"I definitely needed to sketch it out for myself. I had the opportunity of being able to speak to a mother who had Marienne’s situation happen, where she had her child taken away due to her own issues. And so, I wanted to know what the ins and outs of that really looked like so I could inform Marienne with the depth and the baggage that does come with that," she said.

"She is a bad-ass woman, she is a bad-ass mom fighting for her kid, but she is also trying to heal, and in order for those things to bleed through, I needed to have a really clear picture of who she was when she wasn’t in the library," she added.

She's open about her history with anxiety and depression.

Gabrielle spoke on her mental health history in a conversation with TheWrap. She said that, while being in the spotlight has been "a beautiful experience," it has also been "extremely hard" for her.

"I have a history with anxiety and depression. Having so many eyes on me while still being young, developing my own identity and trying to understand myself can be starkly overwhelming and anxiety inducing. I strive to be unapologetically myself as much as I can."

She also shared her thoughts about representation in Hollywood, saying that the industry still has a long way to go in terms of Asian representation.

"I do feel though that it’s still this token thing – the fact that the world got so excited and ramped up about 'Crazy Rich Asians' is beautiful, but it shouldn’t have to be that way. What I mean is, an entirely Asian story about Asian people reaching the mainstream film market shouldn’t be a shock to us. Art to me is supposed to reflect life and reality. You can’t reflect reality accurately if you refuse to respectfully include the people and stories that make up the majority of our population. That’s the 'minorities.' The people of color."

Quinci LeGardye
Contributing Culture Editor

Quinci LeGardye is a Contributing Culture Editor who covers TV, movies, Korean entertainment, books, and pop culture. When she isn’t writing or checking Twitter, she’s probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car.