Cast and Creator Spill Secrets, Regrets

“I’m still here bitches, and I know everything –A,” read an anonymous text to four best friends 15 years ago.

During the summer of 2010 in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, Pretty Little Liars, which was based on the book series by author Sara Shepard, premiered on Freeform, sent social media into a frenzy and has remained a highly talked-about show in pop culture. The mystery drama centered around the self-titled Pretty Little Liars — Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale), Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario), Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson) and Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell) — who reunited due to the ominous texts after having drifted apart for a year when their best friend, Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse), went missing.

Throughout the show’s seven-year run, the girls try to find out what really happened to Alison (aka “Ali”) the night she went missing and presumably died, only to find out in season four that she was actually alive and there was someone else in her grave. Along the way, there were three major “A” reveals. There were also secrets exposed, several killed-off characters, lots of love and heartbreak, as well as struggles with drugs, food and beauty standards, to name only a few themes.

Beyond all of the twists and many, many, many turns that kept viewers tuned in every Tuesday night, the core of the show was about true female friendship and the loyalty that comes with that, no matter what.

In honor of Pretty Little Liars‘ 15th anniversary, creator Marlene King and key castmembers Hale, Bellisario, Benson, Mitchell, Pieterse, Ian Harding (who played Ezra Fitz), Tyler Blackburn (who played Caleb Rivers) and Keegan Allen (who played Toby Cavanaugh) spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the most talked-about storylines and answered burning questions while reflecting on the most beloved — and most controversial — relationships. The group also talks about spinoffs, a potential reunion and a legacy that’s followed all these years since the series ended in June 2017.

Breaking Down “A”

The biggest question throughout the series was finding out who “A” was. At the end of season two, viewers believe the anonymous character is Hanna’s best friend, Mona, played by Janel Parrish (like in the books). Then, in season five, it was Alison’s transgender adopted sister and biological cousin Charlotte DiLaurentis (aka “CeCe Drake,” played by Vanessa Ray). At the end of season seven, viewers got the unveiling of the final “A” — or A.D. — when she was revealed to be Spencer’s British twin sister, Alex Drake. Bellisario, who played both sisters Spencer and Alex, knew about the final reveal for about three years before the finale aired.

TROIAN BELLISARIO (“SPENCER HASTINGS/ALEX DRAKE”) I was very grateful that Spencer wasn’t “A.” I feel like that would’ve made no sense whatsoever. As much of a jump-the-shark moment Alex might have been for many, for it to be Spencer and for her to have tortured herself for seven years would’ve been a really hard landing. I was really fortunate when I was on set in year four and I guess Marlene was feeling generous enough that I just asked her the right question and she sat me down and told me what her plan was for Alex. But of course, if it got out in any way, then it was not going to happen. So, I had to be very, very secretive and not tell anybody — not even my castmates. Not until the table read.

Everybody was really, really worried about the reveal getting out. Toward the end, I think we could have trusted our audience more with the information. What I mean by that is that we only had two scenes where Alex was interacting with the cast before the finale. I wanted more scenes so that it could have been more satisfying for the viewer to look back and say, “Oh my God. That was her, and that was Spencer and that was her.” But I also understand that so much had to happen with the finale.

Marlene King explains the decision to make the final “A” someone outside the original characters.

MARLENE KING (SERIES CREATOR, WRITER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) They were all equally tortured by “A.” I know a lot of fans were always wanting it to be one of the girls, one of the Liars, but how could you torture yourself like that? It just didn’t make any sense. So, it was the closest I could come up with, trying to please the fan base while being authentic to who these characters were. The fun part of creating the show was always twisting and twisting and twisting the storylines as far as we could. That was probably the genesis of Alex.

Despite the clues of “A” being one of the Liars, specifically Aria (Hale) — like Mona calling her “Big A”, the Liars agreeing she was the best at keeping secrets in the group and her signing her name as “-A” in the Halloween episode of season three — the intent, according to King, was never to have her be “A.”

LUCY HALE (“ARIA MONTGOMERY”) One-hundred-percent I thought Aria was going to be “A” in the end. Marlene, the producers and the writers were very good at keeping the storylines and scripts under wraps. Sometimes, we were getting the scripts days before shooting, so it kept the mystery alive for us in real life as well. In my mind, I kept thinking, “Surely it’s going to be Aria in the end.” I think all of us wanted that for our characters. 

KING It wasn’t changed, and it wasn’t going to be her. It was always a final destination that wasn’t one of our four Liars, but we had fun with it. We had lots of red herrings to try to keep people guessing and [Aria] was one that we thought about a lot. We were definitely on the track of trying to convince people that Aria was “A,” and I think when she wasn’t, the people who thought she was “A” got angry, and that’s because they want to be right. I have so many photos of people who would send me their bedroom walls with their murder boards asking, “Who is A?” It was so much fun to keep people guessing.

BELLISARIO It would’ve gone against the DNA of the show [if it were one of the Liars]. The show’s DNA was these four women and what they meant to each other and to Ali. It wouldn’t have worked, so I’m very glad that they didn’t go in that direction.

ASHLEY BENSON (“HANNA MARIN”) I was begging every season [to be “A.”] I was always in the writers room asking if there was a slight chance I’d ever have the opportunity. There was this one episode in season seven [episode nine: “The Wrath of Kahn”] where I’m spying on Noel Kahn and wearing a blue hat. And they were like, “Just take this as your ‘A,’ this is your little investigation.” [The writers] would make things happen like that, but [my cast] would be like, “You’re not ‘A,’ there’s no way.” I would be like, “OK, well, I guess I’ll take these storylines then.” (Laughs.) I always wanted to be “A” so badly.

King discusses the reactions to the finale.

KING It’s always mixed. Sometimes I will read that it’s a notoriously horrible finale, and sometimes I’ll read that people really loved it and got what they wanted in the end. To me, as a storyteller, it was about saying goodbye. It was less about who ultimately ended up being “A” and more about that last scene where the girls are together and saying goodbye. It was really hard to film that, and it was really hard to write, actually.

Reflecting on Ezria and Those Age Gaps

“Maybe he fools around with students all of the time. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your dad. -A”

One of the most talked-about couples in the show was the teacher-student relationship between Aria and Ezra (Harding), which birthed the couple name: Ezria. They met at a bar right before Aria began her junior year of high school and endured ups and downs throughout the series. They ended up marrying in the series finale.

HALE It was a different time. Would that storyline exist if it were being made now? I’m not sure, but probably not. At the time I was cast as Aria, I was 19 years old and I wasn’t really thinking about the bigger themes of it all. I was just stoked to be cast in a TV show. Of course, it hits differently at my age now and I think about the bigger message in anything I play. I don’t have regrets, though. I stand behind their love story forever. That forbidden love story drew a lot of people in. 

IAN HARDING (“EZRA FITZ”) What we tried to demonstrate over and over was that there was a meaningful connection. Hopefully, that was enough to justify the deeply problematic relationship that was certainly not great at the time. Especially as society has progressed, we realized how wildly inappropriate it was. But I’m happy with the way it turned out because maybe that makes it a little less icky, which is always tough to say because I also love those characters. I love Ezra and as an actor, you have to advocate for this person, no matter who they are. They both found happiness, and there was little collateral damage or pain inflicted by the relationship. There was plenty of pain and horror everywhere on the show, but oddly enough, their relationship seemed to be a safe haven in the storm.

KING What we know now about grooming, that was not something we talked about 15 years ago. I’ve always thought that if we revisit the world, we would have to deal with that. That would be a storyline we’d have to pay attention to and give focus to. But I think they can have their happily ever after because they were everybody’s favorite couple. I know people argue that they weren’t, but they were very popular. And they really loved each other in spite of the fact that he knew who she was before she found out. We tried to always make sure there were consequences to their relationship. It wasn’t easy.

HARDING It was purposely taboo. We were playing into this fantasy. I certainly had the teacher fantasy thing when I was in high school, but at the same time, just because you depict something on TV doesn’t mean you condone the behavior. It is a story meant for entertainment, and the show was a thriller. Now that I look back on it, I see that it was just like the show, with the twists and turns, and it had some horror elements and then it also had this romance component. So I don’t deeply regret it, because it’s fiction. But I also realize that it did bring up a lot of harder discussions about what is actually considered abuse and what is considered love.

BELLISARIO I remember, in the first season, my husband, Patrick [J. Adams, who played Hardy] came on the show and was one of the only people whose character was a friend of Ezra Fitz, and was like, “You can’t be with a high schooler. This is not OK.”

KING We were definitely probably crossing a line I wouldn’t cross now, but I don’t want to take away from what they had, either. It was very satisfying for a lot of fans. Lucy and I were on set the night the episode aired where she kissed Ali’s brother, Jason [Drew Van Acker]. We got so much hate on social media. It was crazy. I was like, “I need a bodyguard to go home tonight.” People were really, really obsessed with Aria and Ezra together.

HARDING Marlene and the writers did a really good job of giving Lucy as much agency as possible. I didn’t feel as if my character initiated a lot of encounters with her. It always felt like she was the driver of that part of the relationship. Half the time, the scenes she and I had were practically domestic. We were talking about what was happening at school while I was cooking or we would be journaling together. I was talking with Troian, who made this observation years ago. She said: “You are right now a teen heartthrob, and yet you are the most sexless character I think that has ever been.” When you’re putting on sweater vests, that doesn’t get the libido going. (Laughs.) The writers and creators tried to play down that side and ramp up Lucy’s sense of agency. There was never a moment where my character was trying to somehow leverage the power he had. 

SASHA PIETERSE (“ALISON DILAURENTIS” AKA “ALI”) To Ezra’s credit, he met her at a college bar. Why would he think she was underage? In so many ways, it’s Aria’s bad. It’s an interesting storyline that everybody just inherently loved. I had a crazy fan experience the other day where this girl told me she was dating her teacher because of the show. She was like, “And I started dating my teacher.” I was like, “Oh, no!”

HARDING There’s no part of me that is feeling such great shame for having played this part. I don’t have any apologies for playing this character. I do think he was definitely icky in some knowledge, but on the whole, he’s fictional.

Notably, Spencer was also on the receiving end of attention from older men like Ian (Ryan Merriman), her sister Melissa’s (Torrey DeVitto) then-boyfriend whom she later married, and Wren (Julian Morris), Melissa’s fiancé.

BELLISARIO Those relationships were all in the books. It was a different time and there was a different expectation of the age gap with high school girls dating older guys. Even 10 or 15 years ago with books, TV and movies. So, I think we were a reflection of that time. I was also in my 20s playing a high schooler. The way that I looked was fine with people because they were my peers. They might’ve been one, two, three years older than me, but were also in their 20s. Now, I often think about what I looked like in high school and, had I met guys in their 20s, how it would’ve been an entirely wildly different experience. There’s something about the show using women already in their 20s or just about to be in their 20s, in Ashley’s case, and pairing them with men already in their 20s that visually made a lot more sense.

PIETERSE The Wren and Spencer dynamic in the first season, I’m like, “Why was he so obsessed with her? They met twice!” He gave it all up for that halter top; it changed everything. And if you rewatch that episode, you will understand what I mean.

The same thing happened to Pieterse’s Alison, but the actress was only 12 years old when they shot the pilot. She is the youngest among the Liars.

PIETERSE I graduated when I was barely 14. I was homeschooled. I’ve been in the industry since I was 5. I have always felt more comfortable with adults than I felt with people my own age. So it never felt weird to me in the moment. Looking back now as a mom, I’m very aware of it. When I go back [and watch] I think, “How did I feel filming that?” I always felt protected. But it’s a weird thing that we do because even though everybody else was over 18, those storylines are still depicting minors. I feel comfortable with it, but it’s an odd thing to wrap your head around. There were a couple of moments over the years filming that I was not comfortable with, but our crew stepped in, and they were amazing and always looking out for me. You need people like that. In the industry, it’s been proven time and time again that not everybody gets to be protected and bad things can happen. So many teenage girls deal with that. It’s rare that you come across a female at 14 who hasn’t felt uncomfortable in some capacity, which is sad. And what’s expected of them and the attention they get, whether it’s valid or not, I think we’re all dealing with it to some degree. So, it’s not that far-fetched. I just happened to be playing it on camera.

Emison: The Storyline They’re Most Proud Of

During the show’s first season, one of the main Liars, Emily (Mitchell), came out as gay. In 2010, LGBTQ+ representation was lacking onscreen, and her storyline and later romantic relationship with Alison was groundbreaking for inclusive stories in TV and film.

SHAY MITCHELL (“EMILY FIELDS”) Emily was such a trailblazer, especially at that time and on that network. It was super important. That storyline is such a crucial one. I wish it had been a lot more common, but her character really started the conversation for so many people, and continues to and I love being able to see people who are rewatching the show. I haven’t watched any of the episodes since we stopped, but there will be a day when I will show my girls the show and we’ll start from season one. And that will be kind of cool. The fandom around Emily’s character, I can’t be anything but proud. I have an “Emison” shirt. I wore it out to a Pride party six months ago and it was quite a hit.

KING I am very proud of the Emily-Alison and the Emily coming out storylines. I’ve gotten so many messages from people who either watched it with their parents or it gave them the courage to come out to people they loved and cared about. It was really important to me that when she came out to her friends, they continued to love her unconditionally and set the example for other people’s friends to be there when their loved ones come out.

PIETERSE It’s a huge honor and not something I take lightly. Shay and I were very aware of that responsibility while we were filming and it’s something we are really proud of. I care so deeply about Emison. I’m so proud of the way we presented it on the show because we were one of the first shows to do that; it was important that we did a couple of things. Emily was afraid to tell her parents. That was a big storyline, and the fact that one was supportive and one wasn’t at first. It would’ve been a mistake to make it all OK, and it would’ve been a mistake to make everything dark as well. I’m glad we showed that it’s complicated and that every family is different, and that people can come around and the struggle, but also the joy that can come from that.

KING I’m married to a woman, so it was also important to set that example for my children, to say that we’re proud of who we are and who we love. It was always really important to me that Emily was also sporty on the show, but she was a Pretty Little Liar. She was glam, too. She looked hot at homecoming. Shay is such a gorgeous human inside and out. She brought a little of Shay to Emily, especially toward the end of the show. She had a lot more say. They all had a lot more say in their wardrobe; they all picked their Halloween costumes. We were together for seven years. You really want to keep people happy and engaged.

PIETERSE I am actually rewatching Pretty Little Liars right now for my podcast and it’s a trip. We’re on episode five. It’s the first time I’ve rewatched it and it’s weird, not just with Emily and Alison, but in general the way we speak to each other. Some things make me cringe, and other things I’ve forgotten and will be like, “Oh, wow, I love the way that was said and how that was done.” If I could go back, there would be a couple of things that Alison has said to Emily that I think now, as an adult and as someone with more perspective, I would change. There are a couple of things that have made me sad, but at the time, they were so normal in society, so nothing’s ever perfect. I think it was done well and in a way that we feel really good about and something that I will always protect.

HARDING I remember one specific moment in the second or third season when we found out one of the advertisers dropped out. Some advocacy group petitioned to withdraw money from the show because of a relationship they considered “inappropriate and disgusting,” whatever the quote said. I went, “I understand Lucy and I is probably not a good thing.” Then we found out it was actually Shay’s character. We were constantly hearing about how we were depicting this abhorrent lifestyle when, in reality, we were just depicting two women of the same age learning to love each other. When I look back on it, sure, my relationship was probably the most problematic. And the one I was most proud of was often Shay’s story. 

After Emily and Alison get engaged in the series finale, the two divorce in the spinoff, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists — a move that surprised fans.

KING Honestly, it was Sasha and Janel [Parrish] who wanted to do the spinoff, but Shay wanted to go in a different direction. I wouldn’t have had Alison be single if we were successful for five seasons of a show. But it seemed like the best way to give her a fully realized character [was the divorce].

PIETERSE I care about our fans so much, and I understood how many people that storyline touched globally and how many people were brought together because of that storyline. I love our writers and everybody involved, and I know it’s hard to keep people interested and give them excitement, especially when it comes to a spinoff. So this is not a direct insult to anybody, but I feel like it was a bit of a slap in the face to fans who have been there and supported that relationship for so long and how much that meant to people. It still does make me sad, and it’s important to acknowledge it because I think what can happen with relationships on television like this is that it can be a token or clickbait, or a box to check and that was never what Emison was supposed to be. It’s never what that relationship was meant to be. It’s important to acknowledge that was a mistake.

MITCHELL I had no idea [they split up]. I haven’t followed that or kept up to date with it, and my memory is not the best. I didn’t know they break up, so that’s news to me.

The Love Triangle: Spaleb

Back to the flagship, season six saw the pairing of Spencer and Caleb (known as “Spaleb”). Since Hanna (Benson) and Caleb (“Haleb”) dated for most of the series (even ended up marrying and, in the series finale, find out Hanna’s pregnant) and Hanna and Spencer are best friends, so when Spencer and Caleb dated at one point, it received criticism from viewers.

TYLER BLACKBURN (“CALEB RIVERS”) I really respected Troian as an actress and thought this could be interesting, but it was a little bit like, “What the hell are you guys doing? The fans are going to kill you!” And they kind of did. It was fun shooting with Troian, though. We had a whole different dynamic. Her character was on par with Caleb. Not that Hanna wasn’t smart in her own way — she was a smartass maybe. (Laughs.) But that was a fun element, to play both Spencer and Caleb as cerebral together. By the time that happened, the show had fast-forwarded five years. We were a little older, and there was the scene where I come to the door of Spencer’s house, but I don’t know Hanna’s in there. I’m trying to beg Spencer to forgive me. It lent a hand in creating tension. The dynamic was short-lived, but it was fun.

BENSON I was furious. So mad. Not in a crazy way, but I was just sad. I had been waiting to have Hanna and Caleb get back together, and it just wasn’t happening. It was weird too, because him dating Spencer was so close to Hanna — her best friend and then the love of her life. I felt so attached to the storyline. But I thought there were really great moments with all three of us while they were together on the show that were heartbreaking and super vulnerable. It wasn’t my favorite, but I love Troian and Tyler, so I thought it was cute they got to have their storyline. But as a Haleb [Hanna and Caleb’s] No. 1 fan, it was hard.

BLACKBURN There was an opportunity for Hanna to step up, and she didn’t. So Caleb was like, “Then I’m done.” Then, time passed and he decided to move on and it happened to be Spencer. There was probably some tension. But at the end of the day, they wanted each other to be happy, or Hanna wanted Spencer to be happy. Life is complicated. Sometimes things are a little bit wonky, but you have to communicate and really be honest.

BENSON All those tears, I think I could say for all three of us, were very real, because we were all so close. We were like family and all loved each other so much. I remember that scene [at the house] specifically. I didn’t even have to try and go into a certain headspace. I was listening to their performances on the other side of the door because a camera was shooting me at the same time. They had one on Troian and one on Tyler; it was very real and raw. That’s one of my favorite scenes I ever shot. I’ve watched that scene over and over again because of the little fan edits on social media. It’s just heartbreaking.

BELLISARIO I said [to the writers], “You have these women who are going through so many different relationships, but this is a group of friends that includes guys. I know that what often happens between men and women is they sometimes get together after a long time. It’s like, ‘We’ve been friends since high school, and now it’s college, and you’re not with my best friend, and there are sparks between us’; that’s totally human.” When they wrote it and we started filming it, the reaction of the fans, and still to this day, was so visceral. They were like, “No, it is so awful that Spencer and Caleb were ever together for a time.” But I felt that this is what human beings do. And obviously, it doesn’t matter. Hanna and Caleb get to be together in the end, which is amazing and beautiful, but it’s also really wonderful that Spencer and Hanna get to go through this growth period where you’re with somebody else and have these feelings. When Hanna says to her, “You can go and explore that,” it’s a wildly evolved moment. I really loved it, but I know it was definitely not a fan favorite.

KING I always had a rule that no one could date someone else’s person unless they ask for permission. Because the show really is about friendship, unconditional friendship between these four and then five girls. So when they were broken up and she asks Hanna for permission and Hanna gives it to her because she wants Spencer to be happy, I think it launched one of the most interesting and dramatic storylines we have in terms of relationships. Ashley and I still talk about the scene where she is listening to Caleb outside the door vowing his love to Spencer. I still think it’s one of the best scenes in the show. Just rips your heart out.

Spoby: The Unexpected Lovers

While Spaleb wasn’t Spencer’s endgame. “Spoby” (Spencer and Toby) was. The pair began dating at the end of season one when they bonded over being outcasts in Rosewood because the community thought they were involved with Ali’s murder (back when everyone still thought she was dead).

BELLISARIO Their relationship was so special because it wasn’t in the books. In the books, Toby dies very early, and we were so grateful to have such an amazing actor in Keegan Allen; we had so much fun together. [The writers] were like, “Why don’t we see what these two are like together?” And then it blossomed. I feel very partial to that relationship because it was so particular to the show and divorced from everything else. They really balance each other. I just adore Keegan still to this day.

Like every couple in the show, Spoby had their challenges. The biggest was in season three when it was revealed that Toby was a part of the “A-Team” by helping Mona. After Spencer finds out and later finds a dead body and thinks it’s Toby, she has a breakdown and ends up in Radley Sanitarium, a psychiatric hospital.

KEEGAN ALLEN (“TOBY CAVANAUGH”) That was one of those moments where I thought, “Well, there goes any chance of a normal relationship.” Watching Spencer unravel and knowing Toby was playing this double agent game was agonizing. Fans were furious. Rightfully so. But as an actor, I loved it. That arc gave us both such emotional depth to play with. Troian was marvelous, of course. It was high-stakes, painful and completely addictive. Any scene that puts Spencer Hastings in a psychiatric institution over Toby Cavanaugh is peak PLL chaos. I miss it, along with the fans.

BELLISARIO So much of the conceit of the show was: You’re being blackmailed, you’re under horrific circumstances. You’re having to lie again and again and then keep it together, and show up at school with a cute outfit on and pretend it’s all normal. So it was such a relief when I started hearing and receiving these scripts about how Spencer couldn’t do it anymore. First, it followed her experiences with drugs and substance abuse. Then it went into Toby’s betrayal and then, finally, into Radley. I remember feeling so liberated getting to play what I felt like was really going on for her. 

While the couple breaks up and has an on-and-off again relationship in the following seasons, they end the series finale back together.

ALLEN I think every Spoby fan, myself included, let out a collective exhale when [they got back together]. Because after everything they’d been through — the breakups, secrets, fake deaths and the whole A-Team saga — it felt like a full-circle moment. It wasn’t just about romance; it was about forgiveness, growth and two people who always found their way back to each other no matter what. In a world as twisted as Rosewood was, that kind of love surviving is a miracle, or maybe just really good writing. 

The Liars’ Complex Relationships, Ali’s Redemption and Why She Wasn’t Killed Off

Even though Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily were all best friends with Alison before she went missing, from what was seen in flashbacks, Alison could sometimes be cruel to the four girls and use their secrets to gain control. To Spencer, Ali was competitive and discovered she was abusing amphetamines; to Emily, she knew about her sexuality and led her on romantically; to Aria, she was aware of her dad’s affair and threatened to expose it; and to Hanna, she made fun of her weight and encouraged her to throw up — which caused her to develop an eating disorder. All of this leads to the question: Why were the girls friends with her? Castmembers explain why they believe their characters remained so loyal to Ali despite everything they experienced and how it relates to what people — especially young girls — go through in real life.

BELLISARIO There’s so much fear and desire. I can’t speak about generations now, but I can certainly speak about what it was like for me in high school. I had a best friend who could also be super mean to me, and it was just part of the dynamic because I so badly wanted her approval that I would take whatever she threw at me. I never at any point was like, “Hey, don’t say that. That’s unkind.” You put up with a lot of stuff because you’re desperately trying to fit in and figure out where you fit.

MITCHELL I think she knew her heart was good. She knew that Alison had been through quite a bit and that, at the core, she was a good person. Despite her ups and downs and maybe not treating her the best at all times, she still was like, “I’m going to stick around. I am that friend who is here through the good and bad and I’ll support you. Even though it hurts sometimes, I’ll let you know.” [Emily] is that super-loyal friend.

BENSON Filming those scenes reminded me of what people go through every day, and the mental struggle to either eat or not eat or be bullied was really heartbreaking. What Marlene did so well on PLL was that each character had an issue that a young girl or a guy, whoever it may be, or even an adult, could relate to. She touched on harder subjects. Hanna grew from being bullied and made fun of, being heavier and losing [the weight], not in the best way. As she got more comfortable with herself, she was able to grow into a really confident woman. She went through her ups and downs, but she was able to stand up for herself and not fall back into the place where she would feel defeated and go back into an eating disorder or negativity. She had struggles with other things, like when she was drinking, but she learned a lot from all that. She came out stronger, more independent and had more of a sense of knowing who she was.

Hanna just wanted to be accepted by Alison. Even visually on the show, every time Alison was onscreen when we were younger in flashbacks, there’s this aura and glow about her. Even though she’s mean, you kind of are addicted to her. Hanna saw something in her that she wanted. Her hair, her clothes, she was so pretty. Hanna really wanted to be accepted and to also be like her.

PIETERSE Alison picked those right moments because when there’s somebody you admire who notices you, it feels really good. That is human nature, but it also leaves an opportunity for people to treat you terribly, knowing that you’re chasing that moment. When somebody has power over you like that, if they are aware of it, it’s really easy to manipulate. The girls at that age were so infatuated by the life they could have when they were around her that they would do anything to keep that, including covering secrets that were terrible and enduring treatment that was toxic and being OK with seeing it happen to somebody else because it wasn’t happening to them. To some degree, we can all be guilty of that. Hopefully, never as drastic. But it’s something everybody experiences on some level. It is weird to see it glorified now as I’m rewatching it, but I don’t think it’s far-fetched. It happens all the time.

BELLISARIO What I loved about the four girls is they all have their own insecurities: Spencer and her over-competitiveness and Hanna and her deep insecurities about her weight in the beginning and the way she looks and the way she carries herself. Emily hiding her sexuality, and Aria hiding her insecurity around who she is and how she fits into the world. I love that you get to watch these four girls as they grow into women, love each other out of their insecurities and accept each other for who they are. It’s just a really beautiful story.

During the show, Pieterse experienced health issues with PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, which caused her weight to fluctuate and she was bullied online. While she experienced this offscreen, Pieterse says she didn’t request much from her character, but noted: “It would have been nice to have a conversation about it.”

PIETERSE Everything was kind of unsaid. There was no real sit-down conversation or strategy that I was a part of. It was just done for me, I guess. We were such a big family; there was only a handful of people that changed over those seven years. So we did everything together. We spent more time with each other than with our own families during nine months of filming. We went to weddings and funerals and birthdays and parties. It’s a hard thing to experience when you’re trying to figure out a media side and then your day-to-day side. But our crew was always so supportive of me. Because I was so young, it was like I was a sister or daughter. I always felt protected by our crew.

Early on, I was doing a radio interview and the guest before me was a mom whose daughter had committed suicide because she had been bullied at school. It was very much an Alison sort of person who was bullying her daughter. She wrapped up her story, and then they were like: “OK, now it’s Sasha Pieterse from Pretty Little Liars to talk about Alison.” It was such a weighted conversation because here’s what’s actually happening in schools, and now here’s this television series and ones like it that are glamorizing that mean girl. It was these two ugly sides together. That was an interesting thing to navigate. Then, when I went through my own health issues on camera, I faced a different version of that. That was the real-life back and forth on Instagram and Twitter. It was an interesting experience going from being 12 when starting the show and ending as a 19-year-old and going through a lot of life experiences while I was filming. In so many ways, it mirrored what was happening in real life. So it was an amazing experience and I’m so grateful for it. But challenging in its own right.

The first scene when Ali comes face-to-face with all of the Liars after allegedly being dead was in the Halloween episode of season four, [“Grave New World.”] Remember the iconic turnaround in a red coat: “Did you miss me?”

PIETERSE I will never forget that night. Everybody was so excited. Everybody was there. Even if somebody had finished their day, they would stay just to watch it off-camera. It was iconic. I think it was 3 a.m. that we shot that. It was the last shot of the day, and there was a lot of excitement. We knew everybody was going to go crazy for it. I remember watching it back on the camera because they did that slow-motion thing, and Troian said, “You have to watch this, it looks so pretty.” It was such a cool shot with the barn in the background. We felt it. We were like, “This is going to be a moment.”

In season five, when Ali enrolled in school and was officially back in Rosewood with the Liars, her mean-girl attitude viewers loved to hate began to change drastically and she experienced a lot of growth returning after all of the traumatic events she endured over the past few years, like being forced into hiding from Mona, living on the run, being buried alive by her mom and getting stabbed by someone she trusted.

PIETERSE It was really fascinating to see where we were going to go with Alison. I remember having a lot of questions about: Where was she? What happened that night? All of those details were fun to piece together. It made sense in my head as far as, “OK, we’re finding out that this is what happened and that’s what caused her to be this way to that person.” You laugh about a lot of it, because nobody could ever do all of that in one night if they try. But in this fun, heightened reality, wouldn’t it be cool? And how terrible it was to be almost killed by your mom? So many crazy things would happen on that show. But it was a different type of fun. It gave us a lot of energy.

King says the original plan was to kill Alison off in the season five finale [“I’m a Good Girl, I Am”] — instead, the season wrapped up with Ali going to prison after she was wrongfully convicted of Mona Vanderwaal’s murder (though Mona was never really dead).

KING We had a lot of fun on the show, making people villainous and then redeeming them. Paige (Lindsey Shaw) was one of them — she tried to drown Emily and then we redeemed her. We redeemed Mona, even though she was the original “A.” We actually considered for a minute truly killing [Alison] in the season five finale and having her come back in flashbacks. I don’t remember why we didn’t do that. I think I did even talk to Sasha about it, that she would remain on the show but in flashbacks. But then we just thought it was too mean to do to fans. We would come back after the time jump and it would be Ali’s funeral. [When asked who would’ve killed Alison, King responded: “I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. I guess it would’ve been Alex Drake.”]

PIETERSE Marlene is so much fun. It was ominous. We knew if you were going to have a conversation or if [King] called you, something was happening to your character. I was on set when she told me I was going to be alive. I never got the call that I was dying because they changed their minds. But I did hear about that afterward. I had so much fun being alive. However, it would’ve been really interesting to explore what that would’ve looked like and what would’ve happened instead, whether it would’ve been the twin, whatever road they would’ve gone down there would’ve been fun to explore, too.

KING I’ll tell you the one regret I did have, and it didn’t feel right at the time, but I think we all just wanted to shake things up when we did break up all the couples between season six A and B. When we did the time jump. I did regret that. I felt like we should have kept at least one couple together just to keep the ship afloat because I think fans were a little annoyed that every one of their couples were broken up.

A Trip Back to Ravenswood

In the season four Halloween episode [“Grave New World”], Caleb Rivers leaves Rosewood to enter the mysterious town, Ravenswood, to help a girl, Miranda Collins (Nicole Gale Anderson), find her uncle. Ravenswood launched as a spinoff starring Blackburn in 2013 and was canceled after one season.

BLACKBURN It was a PLL spinoff, but it had all these supernatural elements to it. I think people were really confused as to what does this have to do with Pretty Little Liars. But it really could have been cool. It could have been its own stand-alone thing. The reason they wanted to make it a spinoff was because of the success of PLL, and it was the same creator. It was a genre that I love; supernatural stuff is so fun. I feel like it could have really gone to some cool places. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance.

After Ravenswood got canceled, Blackburn returned to PLL for season five.

BLACKBURN The fact that they even wanted me back was so amazing. Also, when Caleb came back, he had darker qualities because he had been through some stuff over there. He was a little bit of an alcoholic for a minute and that added a different layer to him when coming back. Prior to that, he was kind of a bad boy, but this was a darker side. I got a haircut and it was fun.

Although, there would’ve been more to explore.

KING We had this interesting somewhere-in-time storyline going on where we call him the original Caleb and the original Miranda. They were a couple on the show, and their ghosts were going to have this epic ghost story romance and we never got to pay that off. I think part of why Ravenswood didn’t connect so much with fans was because the Hanna-Caleb fan base was so upset with us.

BLACKBURN [Hanna and Caleb] were both quick-witted and snarky, but their love was so deep for each other and I knew that was the fan favorite. The Miranda thing was a little less romantic and I think Caleb fell for her because she, too, was an orphan. He needed to help this girl and he developed a strong feeling for her. But I don’t think it was the same way as Hanna or Spencer, even.

However, Blackburn admits the chemistry with Benson wasn’t all acting.

BLACKBURN A lot of people think that Ashley and I dated offscreen, and we did not officially date. We had a couple of romantic little pecks on the lips and stuff like that, but there was just so much love there. We were just having fun. There was a lot of speculation that we were dating, but we never did date. We had good chemistry on- and offscreen, but it never really went to any place romantic.

BENSON [In response to Blackburn’s comment] (Laughs.) We definitely did not date. We were very, very close. We had our own sort of relationship offscreen, but, yeah, we never dated. But we were very, very close.

Reunion

As it has now been 15 years since the show premiered and nearly eight since it wrapped, the burning question in any PLL fan’s mind is: When will they do a reunion?

KING We always kick it around. I like the idea of maybe doing a movie or limited 10 episodes back in Rosewood. I’d have to come up with a good idea to bring everybody back and where we would go for it. But I think the cast would love to. We do talk about how it feels like maybe it’s time to start talking about that. It’s been enough time that we could come up with more life-lived experiences for those characters and that would make it similar but different.

King also addresses whatever happened to the potential film mentioned years ago.

KING It was for business reasons. It was going to be the bridge between season six A and B, and that was going to lead us into the time jump. But then the wheels in motion couldn’t get it together fast enough. That would’ve been really fun. But I feel like there would be some big event that brings them back together — probably a funeral. And then there would have to be an “A.” The two elements would have to be a funeral and an “A.”

BELLISARIO It would need to be a film because I don’t think it could sustain another season. But definitely, it would be really cool to see what’s going on with these characters. We love them so much. They were in our lives for seven years, and now they’ve been out of our lives for seven years. So it’s the perfect time to see where they are.

BLACKBURN I would love to do [a film]. I always thought also that the show could be really badass if it was not on a family network. If it was a film that was at least PG-13, we could make it a little bit more intense and gory or gruesome or sexy.

BENSON Maybe Hanna could finally be “A!” I’ll do it if she can be “A.” (Laughs.)

MITCHELL I always told Marlene and all the girls know that I think in the future, there could be something where we all get back together and do something fun, like Sex and the City did. I think that could be cute if we were to all agree to do it. I would always be down for that. They know that. It would have to be a whole group situation. I can’t do it without my girls.

PIETERSE I’m always open to that idea. I love everybody that we worked with. It would be a fun thought experiment to figure out what it would look like for our characters if we all came together.

HARDING I’d love to see where those characters are now, but it also depends on the script and the story and who was involved. So yes, I’d be very open to that. And if it isn’t made into a movie, I think I’d also be OK with where it was left.

The Show’s Legacy

With new audiences — and generations — now finding the show thanks to streaming, the cast and creator reflect on what it means to them to have been a part of the show and how it changed their lives.

KING I feel really blessed and lucky. We captured lightning in a bottle. The cast, the girls were perfectly cast and all brought great depth to their characters and humor. The writing and the scripts and everybody who worked on it, from the way it was shot down to Hanna’s pink lamp in her room, which I have upstairs in my office, it just worked. It’s not easy to do that. It was my first TV show, so I didn’t understand how difficult it is because everybody just meshed so well together. We had a brilliant line producer, Lisa Cochran, who kept the ship afloat all the time. On the day we premiered, I was in New York for an ABC family event and Pretty Little Liars was trending worldwide on Twitter all day long before the show even aired. We knew if we didn’t screw it up, we had something that people were really passionate about. I attribute a lot of that to Sara Shepard, too, for creating this world that we all got to play in.

I’ve met so many people who named their daughter Aria or Emily. Someone came up to me recently in a restaurant and said she named her daughter Aria and was so thankful for having Pretty Little Liars in high school to get her through tough times. It’s nice knowing that you were coming into people’s houses and bedrooms on-air nights and giving them some relief from what they might have been going through.

ALLEN When we started, I don’t think any of us knew it would become this cultural moment, that people would be getting Spoby tattoos, theorizing about “A” and what ifs and alternative scenes and endings, or introducing the show to new generations. I still meet people who say, “Y’all were a huge part of my formative years,” and I don’t take that lightly. It meant being part of something that made people feel seen, excited, terrified and connected. Watch parties, friend groups, social media zeitgeist and, at the time, very contrarian points of view. That’s the power of storytelling and I’m forever grateful for the role I got to play in it and what it has become since then. 

BLACKBURN Newer audiences are watching it, so it feels like I’m a part of a history-making show, a pop culture phenomenon. I feel removed from it, but also I still hear of it all the time and people on social media say, “I love Caleb!” Or they just call me Caleb. Now, there’s a nostalgia. When you watch it, you’re like, “This randomly still works, but it’s a little outdated and what are these outfits?” But it still works.

PIETERSE It’s an honor and cool to be a part of history in that way. I love my character, I look back on it all so fondly. It’s weird to know a fictional person so well, but that’s why I love acting so much. It’s stepping into somebody else’s shoes, and how fun to be buried alive and pregnant. I mean, I did everything. I did it all.

MITCHELL I always joked about it back in the day that we could do the Golden Girls version of it. I can’t wait to see the future. I love that we’re still talking about it 15 years later.

BENSON It’s so nice to be a part of something that people are now just discovering. I see on TikTok all the time these little 12- and 13-year-old girls who are watching it for the first time. It’s crazy that people are still invested and interested. I’m really happy to the fans for sticking with us for so long. It wouldn’t have been the same without everybody fully supporting us. That meant the world to us.

The friendships began onscreen, with a notable fan favorite of the Liars being Aria and Spencer, which fans dubbed “Sparia.” Those relationships further developed into lasting friendships with the core castmembers — many even referring to each other as family.

HALE Man, I loved that people grew to love that duo so much. I think Aria really looked up to Spencer. And I really looked up to Troian. Definitely art imitating life in this one. My favorite quote from Spencer to Aria: “You’re little, but you’re big.”

BELLISARIO It came very organically, sort of a chicken and the egg when Lucy and I were working together and our dynamic. It could have been the height difference. (Laughs.) There’s something really cute about that. We were all friends, and I absolutely adored doing the scenes where it was the four of us. I also really liked it when the girls got to split off into their own little twofers. Spencer and Hanna had such a wonderful dynamic. She had so many great one-liners. Spencer’s so dry and so earnest that there was something about them that was really cute. There was something about every time I got to be with Shay when she was playing Emily. They were both so driven that I was like, “Nothing’s going to get in the way of these girls.” When Aria and Spencer were together, they really matched off of each other’s humor and intellect. I’m still so grateful to everybody in the cast and crew who made this show a possibility because they worked above and beyond. It was a real family.

BENSON We are still all in a group chat. All the castmembers with Marlene. We always check in there. I was just talking to Tyler the other day, and I was trying to see him, but I just saw Shay and Troian and I see Marlene a lot. I saw Lucy and Sasha at some events this year. Every time we all see each other, it’s like no time has passed. We did spend seven years really not even seeing family or friends because we were working so much. We saw each other more than our family and friends, so we became that. I’m so thankful we’re still stay in touch. It’s really fun to be able to see everyone grow up, where they’re going in life and see their little kids. Because we’ve all remained very close, we’ll be in each other’s lives forever.

MITCHELL The best part of being on the show was these long-lasting relationships. I don’t see everybody all the time, but I bump into Troian a bunch. We have kids around the same age. I just talked to Ian the other day, so I keep in touch. This was such a huge part of my life.

HARDING I’m so grateful these people are still in my life. Torrey DeVitto got married last year, and I was there at the wedding. Keegan and I will send each other these long and overly philosophical voice notes. I think the reason I still have an Instagram is just to troll Shay Mitchell. Lucy is such a bud and actually Troian and I just texted the other day. There’s still such a love there.

BENSON That’s one thing to take away from the show. Every single crewmember, everyone who worked on the show, along with the actors, every person on this show was so hard-working and dedicated and so genuinely nice. It really helped us stay on for seven years, because everyone really loved each other and it was a family. When it ended, it was so upsetting and sad, but I think it ended at the right time.

Secrets Answered

[King answers the most burning questions left from the series.]

Why did Eddie Lamb recognize Aria in Radley?

KING Aria visited both Spencer and Mona in Radley, so it would make sense that Eddie would recognize her. 

When Mona says to Aria in Radley, “Miss Aria You’re A Killer Not Ezra’s Wife,” the first letter spells out: “Maya Knew.” What did Maya know?

KING Mona was literally just messing with Aria when she tells her the clue about Maya. Mona loved to play with her dolls.

Why were Alison, Charlotte and Bethany all wearing the same yellow top on the night Ali disappeared? And do you remember where the yellow top was from?

KING Ali’s mom would often buy the same clothes for Charlotte and Alison. And both had the same yellow tops. Bethany stole Charlotte’s clothes when she snuck out of Radley. We just had [the tops] made. We went through a lot of them.

How did Bethany get the bracelet that said “Alison” on it? 

KING The bracelet still stumps me. By the way, we made those bracelets very famous. I forgot the woman’s name. But we found them online, and then she started a whole line of them and started selling them.

In season four, audiences were shocked to see one of their most beloved couples crack when it was revealed Ezra knew Alison and who Aria was before they met. Viewers at first suspected that he was “A” or at least was involved with the “A-Team” in some capacity. However, the storyline ended up being a red herring when Ezra explains he initially approached Aria to gain information for his book on Ali’s disappearance.

KING He was another one of those “Let’s make everybody think he’s ‘A’” moments, only to realize that he does have different intentions. But he wasn’t “A.” He had a big secret, but he wasn’t “A.” And we gave him a lair, which I thought was really cool.

BELLISARIO There’s something interesting about the fact that they wanted to go into that storyline and I think there were actually quite a few writers in the writers room who were very interested in playing that out and looking at it as a grooming relationship and following it to that end. But because of the popularity of them as a couple, I’m not saying who had the final say or who [made] the decision, but it was really interesting that when they were going down that path, I was like, “Oh, cool, we’re finally going to see the end result of this, that it was a little bit of a grooming situation and that there is an inappropriateness to this relationship.” But then it turned out just to be a red herring, and it was like, “No, we can’t have Ezra be a bad guy.” I’d be interested to hear what Ian would have to say about that.

HARDING There’s a little bit of a history with that storyline. At one point, I was feeling a little frustrated. I felt at times a little stuck on the show, like I couldn’t do other things. I wasn’t being used as much, and I had a little freakout where I thought this is going to kill my career and I’m not getting to go audition and try other things. So, at one point, I actually asked to be written off. If I remember this correctly — this is now probably 12 years ago — they started that process that maybe if I was bad, then I would be written off because I would get arrested or I had to leave Rosewood. But at the last minute, they decided not to do that, and suddenly, the relationship was too valuable, which was flattering to me, so I ended up not leaving the show. So what ended up happening was that I did get a chance to explore this shadow Ezra. (Laughs.) And it felt great, as all baddie characters tend to be. To actually flip it and say, “Yeah, he’s been spying on them,” felt awesome. To step out of that likability prison felt great. Afterward, as I was getting to do that, I was realizing, “Actually, maybe I don’t want to leave the show.” And luckily, I didn’t.

HALE There would’ve been so much to play around with character-wise. Like, would Aria join in on the evil fun? A part of me feels like she would have. She would ride and die for Ezra. For better or worse.