In the words of actor Madeline Brewer, starring in the final season of You as Joe Goldberg's final girl felt like destiny. 'I had been telling my agent for years that I wanted to be part of You. And my agent - if you tell her you want something, she'll make it happen one way or another. I'm very lucky to have her.'
Straddling some of TV's most in-demand shows on her CV - The Handmaid's Tale and now Netflix's You - the New Jersey native is enjoying a stellar 2025, thanks to some manifestation and relentless hard work. But Brewer's success is anything but accidental — it’s the result of over a decade in the industry, navigating complex roles in Orange Is The New Black, Hustlers and Black Mirror.
FIND OUT MORE AT ELLE COLLECTIVE
Read Next
Like many of us, Brewer has been hooked on You, ever since Guinevere Beck made the fatal decision of walking through Mooney's doors and unknowingly straight into Joe's obsessive gaze in episode one of the first season.
'Season one is one my favourite standalone seasons of television. It's smart, subversive, entertaining, sexy and silly - it's got everything,' she tells ELLE UK. So, after sitting down with the series' showrunners and hearing she'd not only landed the role of Bronte, but would play a major role in bringing the series to it's conclusion, Brewer didn’t hesitate. 'They told me early on that, in the seres finale, Bronte would hold Joe's fate in her hands. And I was like, "Oh my God, say less."'
What starts as a classic Joe-meets-girl storyline quickly unravels. When we first meet Bronte, she appears to fit the classic You mold—a naive, bookish twenty-something (with a great bob) who has just moved to New York City to become writer. Joe finds her sneaking around Mooney’s at night, believes that she’s homeless, and offers her a job and a place to stay - the series sets us up for the familiar.
Mid-season, it’s revealed that her real name is Louise—an undercover friend of Beck, and is working alongside Clayton, Dominique and Phoenix. They have been investigating Joe for years, and are on a mission to seek justice for their friend and Clayton's wrongly imprisoned father, Dr. Nicky.
What begins as another obsession becomes a thriller with Bronte at the centre. 'I get to play this freaking awesome character who’s two characters at once,' says Brewer. 'She’s brave, crazy, flawed, very smart, while being a little bit tragic and frustrating.' Unlike Beck, Love or Marienne, Louise is in control, and is prepared for Joe's charm. 'She is set out to answer one question, and she doesn’t stop until she gets an answer,' Brewer says. 'And I love a girl with follow-through.'
Louise’s journey is a reflection of the cautionary attentiveness that many women carry into modern dating, her arc speaks to how easily charm can mask control, and how dangerous that illusion can be.
One of the most hard-hitting lines in the finale comes from Bronte herself: 'The fantasy of a man like you is how we deal with the reality of a man like you.' It’s a line that carries the weight of the entire series and reflects the undercurrent of modern dating: how romanticising dangerous men has life-threatening consequences. 'It can be really, really frightening to date men,' Brewer says. 'Not all men are scary, not all men are dangerous, but enough of them are… that dating can feel like putting yourself into what could potentially be a dangerous situation.'
At one point, Louise begins to struggle with separating fact from fiction and finds herself siding with Joe and abandoning her friends - a nod to the how emotional manipulation can blur the truth and isolate a victim.
Eventually, she listens to herself and the women around her. In episode nine, a conversation with Marienne shifts everything. 'Trusting your intuition, also trusting other women. That conversation… really locks it in for her,' Brewer says. In a world where red flags can be subtle and easily dismissed, Louise pays attention.
'I’m very proud of her, but I’m also prepared for people to not like her very much,' Brewer says. Because Bronte challenges the viewer, too. Joe has long functioned as TV’s most seductive anti-hero - and fans have romanticised him. But Louise, is a much-needed wakeup call to that illusion, her character disrupts that fantasy.
In an era of true crime fandoms and 'sexy serial killer' edits, Louise exposes our cultural blind spots. She doesn’t see Joe as a misunderstood loner or a man in need of saving—she sees him as dangerous, and she acts accordingly.
'When time passes, you’ll just be some asshole I dated,' Bronte narrates in the final episode. And with that, You gives its final 'You' the last word—sharp, self-assured, and refusing to become written into Joe's ending.
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
